Solar Panels - are they worth it? (not the free ones)

hippey

I have had contact with 2 firms after we enquired about have solar panel fitted to our West facing roof.

The first Squaredeal Solar qouted just over £10K for a 16 Panel system and claimed it would pay for itself in 8 years.

The other firm is SolarKing but we had to cancel the salesman twice due to my work commitments, but what was a bit wierd is that this company started talking about being a 'showhome' for them to get a big discount and wanted both me & Mrs H to be at home when he came. I said we don't purchase anything from anyone without doing a bit of research which is when the saleman got a bit mad. In the end he never called back to book an appointment.

Is solar really worth it, and is there any independent way of checking payback claims?

I have heard that some of the equipment may need replacing in as little as 5 years (Inverter) is that right?

My main concern is that the FIT may be withdrawn before the end of the 25 year period, more so if a new government comes along in 4 years or so. Is this possible?

Any help greatfully received...

Cardew

There are thousands of posts in the green section on this subject.

Firstly beware that there are a lot of cowboys operating in this field.

Secondly get an estimate of generated power for your west facing roof. Use one of the big firms like Tesco.

Thirdly you don't say where you live - Cornwall is a lot better than Northern Scotland!!!

The consensus of opinion is that it will be a good long term investment - but 12 years is more realistic for payback. You have to compare savings with the lost interest on the capital invested to buy the system.

Obviously there is a risk that future governments might renege on the FIT deal - but as all political parties are in favour of anything Green and electricity consumers pay the subsidies(not the Government) that risk is small.

There is a probability you will have to replace the inverter after 5 to 10 years.

paidinchickens

we had ours fitted in feb. we had a quote from mr t then four others. We played them off against each other for a few weeks and finally got one company down to £7 200. Mr T would not budge on price though. The company we used were really good and I would recommend. We asked to be a show home for a bigger discount and they said they do not need any as they have a load of work on. I am not saying they were the best but I am happy with them.

Just like booking a holiday........compare everything.....look into all the details........then haggle!!!

hippey

Forgot to add- I'm in The Midlands