Solar Panel Guide Discussion

Gaaraz

Are solar panels still a good financial investment? Or just a good environmental one?

digitaltoast

Gaaraz wrote: »

Are solar panels still a good financial investment?

If you're talking about PV panels, then yes, for millionaires, landowners and homeowners with a roof facing the right direction, they are a very good investment.

For the old lady, the person in social housing, the struggling family renting a property or those with the "wrong" roof who pay for the people above, no, they aren't.

Gaaraz wrote: »

Or just a good environmental one?

Never have been.

Martyn1981

Gaaraz wrote: »

Are solar panels still a good financial investment? Or just a good environmental one?

It'll depend on several factors, location, size of roof, roof orientation, roof shading and so on. There's a starters guide here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3872445

If you have a 'quick' read of section 1 (and 2?) that will start you off. Then ask away.

You might want to start a thread with your specific situation. Here are some recent threads which might cover general info and advice to get your brain working, or overload it:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4549037

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4438599

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4580955

All the best.

Mart.

Gaaraz

digitaltoast wrote: »

If you're talking about PV panels, then yes, for millionaires, landowners and homeowners with a roof facing the right direction, they are a very good investment.

For the old lady, the person in social housing, the struggling family renting a property or those with the "wrong" roof who pay for the people above, no, they aren't.

Hm! I have a feeling I'm the latter... my roof faces directly south which I always believed would be good, but looking around at other houses nearby they have solar panels facing different directions?

digitaltoast wrote: »

Never have been.

Really? I thought solar power would be good for the environment

Martyn1981 wrote: »

It'll depend on several factors, location, size of roof, roof orientation, roof shading and so on. There's a starters guide here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3872445

If you have a 'quick' read of section 1 (and 2?) that will start you off. Then ask away.

You might want to start a thread with your specific situation. Here are some recent threads which might cover general info and advice to get your brain working, or overload it:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4549037

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4438599

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4580955

All the best.

Mart.

Great links, thank you!

John_Pierpoint

Gaaraz wrote: »

Hm! I have a feeling I'm the latter... my roof faces directly south which I always believed would be good, but looking around at other houses nearby they have solar panels facing different directions?


Really? I thought solar power would be good for the environment


Great links, thank you!

Feel free to spend the next two days reading the threads contributed to by the "nay sayers", that will bring you up to speed on all the political arguments.

In the mean time, it is possible to install panels, which have more than halved in price over the last few years pointing in any direction between East and West.
If the roof suffers ANY shade between (say 7 am and 7 pm BST) then the output from the panels can be seriously reduced, if special measures are not taken. A good installer should be able to explain and calculate the trade off between direction of the panels and counter measures for the shadow(s) and show the resulting reduction in your rate of return.

If you have a "perfect" roof on the South Coast at a slope of 30 degrees with no shading 365 days per year, then that is the best you can get, provided it is large enough to generate 3,6 - 4,0 kWp.

Only when you understand your roof and ist shading now and when that stupid little seedling your new neighbours have just planted, is it worth getting to understand the relative merits of different manufacturers panels and inverters (the humming box of tricks that changes the electricity from the panels into something that is matched to the alternating current in your supply cable).

If you explain about your roof and put up a picture on here, I expect you will get lots of remarks about it. Probably best to put a small entry on here that says "come and look at my roof" and then link to your own thread complete with pictures.

Here is a picture of what could be my inverter:

Here is an East and West roof.

Angora

Hi I'm new here so sorry if I am jumping in a bit with a random question but; I am looking to buy a house very near the South coast with a South ish facing roof, so in theory it would be ideal for solar panels. It's in an AONB however it seems that so long as the panels cannot be seen from the road that isn't a problem. The issue that I can't find out about is that it has an agricultural occupancy condition and I read somewhere that this means there is no permitted development. Does this mean I would need to seek PP? Just wondered if anyone else has had SPs fitted to a property with an ag tag. Thanks

John_Pierpoint

A lot of local authorities try to make up the rules as they go along.
As far as I know the AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty) is well and truly trumped by your desire to make your home more "sustainable".
[The National Trust has an installation on the roof of a grade1* listed castle but you could only see it from a helicopter or a mountain using a telescope]

Are you the owner of the adjacent agricultural enterprise? How can you prove your need to live on site?

For a second opinion, try this thread:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.php?searchid=144859117

ToonArmy

Dont Buy Solar Panels, unless you are going to stay in the same house for at lease 10-15 years, otherwise its not gonna save you. Also within 3-5 years technology with increase the power of panels so they will be half the size and a quarter of the price!

digitaltoast

Am I going slightly mad, or getting my forum threads confused, but was there not a post here earlier where someone said their panels had increased their valuation by £20,000? I came to ask some questions and now the post is gone.

Angora

Hi thanks for your reply John. I did read that if it was an AONB it was OK to have the panels so long as they house cannot be seen from the road, which it can't be. Well not really.. The ag tie is OK as it has 15 acres and I am planning to keep some livestock and not work full time elsewhere. Good point though.