Free solar panel discussion

RRatchet

Jon_Tiffany wrote: »

I doubt if any of the existing companies will be willing to cover Scotland, you are probably better off looking into the free wind turbine offer.

Thanks for that lead; which I've checked out. Unfortunately we do not have three phase which is a requirement for the type of wind turbine on offer. A three phase supply was last quoted for in the 60's and was prohibitive back then as it would have had to come several miles from the nearest place that had 3 phase elecy. The then problem was solved by having 2 single phases which were used together to start some items of machinery and then reverted to running on one phase.

In any case we are going to be installing our own wind turbine, as large as we can afford. Having a relatively small farm we need to diversify to produce some income whilst reducing our physical effort as we age. We've little to no pension provision and we won't retire voluntarily.

I understand the nearer the equator the better. We are 500ish ft above sea level, nearish to Aberdeen & far away from the coast to avoid most of the haar. The solar pv option at no cost/hassle to ourselves would have just been of incremental benefit. At least that's one option I now won't waste time/energy persuing.

PK49

M4ximillion wrote: »

Sorry to interrupt all this technical stuff, most of which I don't understand, but has anyone reading this thread actually had an install from Homesun or isis - just wanted to find out what the experience was like with either of those cause there are people whove posted on this thread and the other free solar panel thread who've already got ASG systems, but up to now I can't find anyone who's had dealings with the others. Also, has anyone seen their contract? I know isis is for free so is probalby like ASG but I just wanted to konw if with the Homesun one you just pay the £500 or does it depend on your roof? I also want to know how much it costs if I want to buy homesun out, say a few years down the line. I have emailed both companies but not got any response yet so thought I'd ask here because i want to apply and only got a response from ASG up to now.

I have contacted both ISIS and Homesun with absolutely no response from either of them - are they there??
Alledgedly, you can buy back from Homesun - I think their time scale for pay back is linear from day one to end of contract, or whenever you chose to buy back.
I would also like to know, from them or any installer, if there is an extended warranty scheme for the inverter, as this seems to be the weak link in the system.
Reading through the e-mail trail, it also seems to matter which type of PV panel you have - monocrystal; polycrystal or amorphous ??
Peppercorn rent, as quoted by ISIS, is derogatory given how much money they will make over the 25 years - an amount (£100) as mentioned earlier ought to be a minimum start point.

RRatchet

Just wondering what happens if there is no mobile phone reception at a property intending to pv have installed. How would the likes of ASG monitor energy production?

M4ximillion

PK49 wrote: »

I have contacted both ISIS and Homesun with absolutely no response from either of them - are they there??
Alledgedly, you can buy back from Homesun - I think their time scale for pay back is linear from day one to end of contract, or whenever you chose to buy back.
I would also like to know, from them or any installer, if there is an extended warranty scheme for the inverter, as this seems to be the weak link in the system.
Reading through the e-mail trail, it also seems to matter which type of PV panel you have - monocrystal; polycrystal or amorphous ??
Peppercorn rent, as quoted by ISIS, is derogatory given how much money they will make over the 25 years - an amount (£100) as mentioned earlier ought to be a minimum start point.

Thanks for that - a bit more info at least. I'll wait patiently see if anyone else has any more info and hope homesun and isis get back to me eventually, i guess theyre busy.

Theres annother poster being going on about chargiing rent to these companies but it would then be income and i'd have to pay tax on it and also do a tax return each year and i wouldnt want that hassle it might even tip some people into a higher tax band

Perry525

RRatchet wrote: »

Thanks for that lead; which I've checked out. Unfortunately we do not have three phase which is a requirement for the type of wind turbine on offer. A three phase supply was last quoted for in the 60's and was prohibitive back then as it would have had to come several miles from the nearest place that had 3 phase elecy. The then problem was solved by having 2 single phases which were used together to start some items of machinery and then reverted to running on one phase.

In any case we are going to be installing our own wind turbine, as large as we can afford. Having a relatively small farm we need to diversify to produce some income whilst reducing our physical effort as we age. We've little to no pension provision and we won't retire voluntarily.

I understand the nearer the equator the better. We are 500ish ft above sea level, nearish to Aberdeen & far away from the coast to avoid most of the haar. The solar pv option at no cost/hassle to ourselves would have just been of incremental benefit. At least that's one option I now won't waste time/energy persuing.

===============================
The nearest I can get is Dyce.
You will probably produce about 2958kwh per year
at optimum setting.

beedydad

M4ximillion wrote: »

Thanks for that - a bit more info at least. I'll wait patiently see if anyone else has any more info and hope homesun and isis get back to me eventually, i guess theyre busy.

Theres annother poster being going on about charging rent to these companies but it would then be income and i'd have to pay tax on it and also do a tax return each year and i wouldnt want that hassle it might even tip some people into a higher tax band

Yes I have been suggesting actually getting some form of rent from these companies offering "free" solar PV.

However cannot imagine that receiving £100 a year would or could tip someone into higher tax bracket!!!

There is more ways of skinning a cat - so maybe by getting people to think whether a "free" offer is good without some proper return, be it actual rent, is a start to find VFM. Would not want to force people into having to fill in tax returns but surely there must be a way of earning from this in compensation for not getting the full FIT.

People can rent out rooms within their homes up to a limit without have tax to pay so there must be a means to get this?

Regards

Jon_Tiffany

beedydad wrote: »

There is more ways of skinning a cat - so maybe by getting people to think whether a "free" offer is good without some proper return, be it actual rent, is a start to find VFM. Would not want to force people into having to fill in tax returns but surely there must be a way of earning from this in compensation for not getting the full FIT.

Regards

If you want the best deal, you buy the panels yourself and get the full FITs. Oh, but of course there is a downside, you need to have anywhere between £10k - £20k spare, depending on what size system you have space for.

It seems to me that you want to have your cake and eat it The compensation for not getting the FIT is some free leccy and not having to stump up £1,000s for the panels, or having to worry about maintenance and repairs.

Regarding the £100 per year of income, I'm fairly sure the IR ignore anything less than £300 per year of income, maybe someone can confirm this?

Cardew

Perry525 wrote: »

================================
The EU have directed that over 4 million smart meters be installed.
The idea is that by pricing electricity higher at times of maximum demand, maximum demand will drop.
Lower demand means, fewer new power stations. and
That means less pollution and less installation cost, less demand on the National Grid.
We will then follow the example of America where in return for people agreeing to let their power supplier turn off the freezer and other equipment they will received lower bills.
Most industry and offices are closed down before peak evening demand and more will be encouraged to do so by power companies charging them more for consumption at peak times.

All the above is very true.

However it has nothing to do with your claim that the contribution of solar panels reduce our requirement for 'very expensive' generation capacity.

If the laudable aims of reducing UK peak demand from, say, 60GW to 50GW are achieved then we will still need a generating capacity to cope with that peak demand. Importantly as that peak demand is at a time when solar generation is zero, the panels contribute nothing toward coping with that peak demand.

Even if the whole of UK was covered in sufficient solar panels to cope with 100% of UK's normal daytime consumption, we would still need the same non-solar generating capacity to cope with peak demand.

Jon_Tiffany

Cardew wrote: »

All the above is very true.

However it has nothing to do with your claim that the contribution of solar panels reduce our requirement for 'very expensive' generation capacity.

If the laudable aims of reducing UK peak demand from, say, 60GW to 50GW are achieved then we will still need a generating capacity to cope with that peak demand. Importantly as that peak demand is at a time when solar generation is zero, the panels contribute nothing toward coping with that peak demand.

Even if the whole of UK was covered in sufficient solar panels to cope with 100% of UK's normal daytime consumption, we would still need the same non-solar generating capacity to cope with peak demand.

Unless the introduction of smart meters meant that leccy was very cheap at 12 noon and very expensive at 12 midnight, moving the peak demand to 12 noon when the solar panels are producing max output...

Cardew

Jon_Tiffany wrote: »

Unless the introduction of smart meters meant that leccy was very cheap at 12 noon and very expensive at 12 midnight, moving the peak demand to 12 noon when the solar panels are producing max output...

So we switch our heating on full at 12 Noon on a sunny June day;)

Sadly, as domestic consumption still accounts for the majority of UK's consumption, there is no way that peak demand will be other than on a winters evening - lights on, cooking, heating, TV and people on MSE forums!!