Free solar panel discussion

Sunnyboy

:jI'm a solar installer (not free).

The Feed in Tariff will be funded by a levy which will be applied to all our energy bills so yes it is paid by us and not the government although the Govt will be responsible for distributing the tariff via the electricity companies who will administer the scheme. The current rate is 41.3p per kWh for up to 4 kW of installed solar generation. Above 4kW the rate drops on a decreasing scale. These rates are set until April 2012 when Degresion will start and they will reduce by 7% (at the moment) per annum for anyone who is new to the scheme. If you are on the scheme before then you will get the full rate until 2035. Whatever the rate is when you join the scheme you will receive until 2035. This may be offset as the tariff is linked to the retail price index which I think is currently around 5%.(don't quote me). If you've got enough money and it's invested in an ISA then you're throwing money away. If you have a suitable roof you can put solar panels on it and earn between 8 - 10% until 2035, tax free and linked to the RPI. Why give this away to some company? In the next year or so the Govt are starting a loan scheme. The repayments will be covered by the amount of tariff you generate and will be scaled so that you will always receive a surplus payment after the loan repayments are taken. I think it makes more sense to do this, at least you own the generation system. There shouldn't be any issues with the roof if the job is done properly and the system is virtually maintenance free.

dbreeze

As a home owner, I would probably be better of extending the mortgage to cover the cost of the Solar system (I have a fantastic south facing roof), and taking both the buy back payments *and* the increase in value on the house.

My mortgage is less than 25% of the value of the house so this is probably a no brainer for me.

Darren B.

Encraft

Glad that Poo and BeGee have had clarification from Sunnyboy, he is right - we ALL pay for the Feed in Tariffs. The energy companies merely administer the scheme which is paid for by a levy that is on all of our electricity bills. So, if you don't have a suitable roof, you are clean out of luck as you will not benefit financially from the scheme - the argument being that our grand children will benefit instead in the long term from the lowering in UK carbon emissions. The effect on all of our bills will amount to about 1% by the time the scheme ends, but in the context of rising energy costs (predicted to be 20% - 30% over the next 5 - 7 year), it will be relatively small. The government have signed up to a target of 2% of our energy coming from microgeneration by 2020, and the Feed in Tariff scheme is one of the carrots as opposed to sticks.
I hope that clarifies the who and and why, Now what's it worth to you?
Clearly, if you have no access to funds (i.e. can't borrow at a sensible rate) then the "Free PV" scheme may well work out for you. In fact there are a number of companies looking to do the same thing on varying scales. If you do have funding however, have a look at a FREE to use calculator on Encraft's website if you want a better understanding.


They allow you to enter your postcode, roof angle, orientation etc and then calculate what it's worth to you. Sunnyboy is correct - your money is better off on your roof than in the banks at the moment, in fact I wish I had a bit of spare cash myself! And a suitable roof of course....

brenda10

Does anyone know of any similar offers in Northern Ireland as I would be very interested in this type of offer.:j

50Twuncle

I remember about 2 years ago - watching a program on TV (Sky ?) about a new method of producing PV panels by "printing them" on a form of inkjet printer
The panels were printed on thin plastic film and were considerably more efficient than present day panels and were much, much cheaper
I haven't heard any more since then - but if true - it may be worth waiting a while to see what the future brings
After all - 25 years is a long time to be "tied in" to any form of contract ....

gonzo127

i would have been quite interested in this however it sucks as i dont have a south facing roof, got massive east and west facing sides but hey ho no south facing part

skelly01

Does anyone know if Isis or any other company offer this type of scheme in Scotland (central/ South)?

EcoPower

I have installed a 1Kw system last November and have been very pleased with the result. After the Govt grant for installation the cost was £5K. FIT payments look like being circa £300 PA giving about a 17 year pay back. I cannot see how this makes any commercial sense for people to give away free panels. Am I missing something?

baldmosher

I live in a 22-storey tower block in Salford. The entire south facing side of the building, minus windows, could easily be panelled. This would, according to the Encraft calculator, generate some £90,000 of electricity, at current prices, each and every year, practically indefinitely. There are two identical tower blocks and that's before we take into account the "seven sisters" in Pendleton that are 17 floors tall.

I wonder if the schemes to regenerate Pendleton in the coming years are taking this into consideration. They blooming well should be. They're talking about cladding our twin towers in snazzy dark grey cladding anyway!

It amazes me that with schemes like this available councils don't fit them on all their properties as standard. If nothing else, it'll help keep the rain off the roof and prolong its life. And it will help those on low incomes who really need help with their bills.

farmersboy

I had one of the A Shade Greener systems intalled at the beginning of June and pretty happy with it. I got it more for environmental reasons than financial, but it does help to save a bit.

The system has so far produced 713kWh over a period of 9 weeks, and I've consumed 111kWh in the same period from the grid (during night time or dull day when I'm using more than it produces). My consumption for the same period last year was around 225kWh, so I reckon I've saved 114kWh, or around £15 off my electricity bill in two months.

Might not be a lot, but at least I know I've exported more than double the energy that I've used. I know it's at its peak performance now and winter might be another story...

Just a shame there aren't any suitable batteries out there at the moment, at least affordable ones, to store the excess energy! I'm just hoping in the next few years battery technology will catch up and then I'll be quids in.