Solar Panel Guide Discussion

Sirlaughalot

Thanks Mart i`m happy with the comparisons and issues you make. Have had my details submited to 6 PV companies so i will report back as and when they quote. The link you supplied yesterday which mentioned immersion heater elements looks interesting as we still have a really old boiler which makes use of loft cold water tank and a hot water tank which we replaced last year.

Thanks again

John_Pierpoint

orrery wrote: »

I'm faced with the probability that I'm going to need a new roof (i.e. battens and tiles replacing with identical). This will mean having the solar PV panels taken down and then replaced exactly as they are now. This is the result of a persistant leak (in fact 2) which was repaired twice before the panels were fitted and has returned in the latest downpours. I've just had enough of it and want it sorted once and for all. It appears as though the house was extended many years ago and the tiles 'spaced' a little - presumably to save money.

Any implications, other than the, er ... cost!

http://www.labc.uk.com/technical-faqs

Q: I want to carry out repairs to my home, or any other type of building. Do I need permission?
A: No – if the repairs are of a minor nature: e.g. replacing roofing tiles with the same type and weight of tile; replacing the felt to a flat roof; re-pointing brickwork; or replacing floorboards.

Yes– if the repair work is more significant: e.g. removing a substantial part of a wall and rebuilding it; underpinning a building; or installing a new flue or flue liner. In the case of re-roofing; if the new tiling or roofing material is substantially heavier or lighter than the existing material – then the Building Regulations may apply; and if the roof is thatched, or is to be thatched where previously it was not – then the Building Regulations will apply.

BUT:

http://www.nfrc.co.uk/docs/public-access-documents/part-l-home-owners-guide.pdf?sfvrsn=0


Basically the local authority has the right to inspect works to the envelope of the building to ensure that its thermal properties and its strength are maintained and in the case of insulation enhanced to meet modern regulations.

Several local authorities tried to get in on the act when the PV panel rush started. With some justification, they claimed the strength of the roof now needed to carry an extra 20 kg per sq mt.

So how good are the thermal properties of your roof? Have you the best part of a foot of insulation ?

I am not sure of the regulations about doing work on your panels, but obviously you need to use a competent certified person.

How you handle this situation is really up to you, your roofer and electrician, but there is a risk that some local official might turn up in the middle of this operation and cost you time and money.

How visible is your roof ?
Has your local authority gone from "nobody is building, so we are playing with facebook to overstretched austerity mode"?

Personally, I needed to strengthen my roof to take the PV panels and my insulation is "inadequate" at 6 - 8 inches.
So I turned that part of the roof into a truss frame structure and the rolls of extra insulation have been purchased in the run up to December 31st 2012 (the "free" insulation window); but I have yet to fit them.
Did I have anything to do with the local authority?
What do you think?

Cardew

Martyn1981 wrote: »

I fail to see why an investment that does better over a set time period, is judged critically on the basis of when cash balances intersect. It shouldn’t really have any bearing, unless there is an outside time factor, such as a property move.

My view on profit also doesn’t require waiting for capital repayment. For me, profit is reached when income exceeds costs, one of those costs being the cost of capital. .

A novel view of an 'investment'.

orrery

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

http://www.labc.uk.com/technical-faqs

Q: I want to carry out repairs to my home, or any other type of building. Do I need permission?
A: No – if the repairs are of a minor nature: e.g. replacing roofing tiles with the same type and weight of tile; replacing the felt to a flat roof; re-pointing brickwork; or replacing floorboards.

Yes– if the repair work is more significant: e.g. removing a substantial part of a wall and rebuilding it; underpinning a building; or installing a new flue or flue liner. In the case of re-roofing; if the new tiling or roofing material is substantially heavier or lighter than the existing material – then the Building Regulations may apply; and if the roof is thatched, or is to be thatched where previously it was not – then the Building Regulations will apply.

From that, I'd say a definite no. What I will have is exactly what I had before, but mended.

The roofer doing the job will be the one that installed the solar PV panels in the first place.

EricMears

orrery wrote: »

From that, I'd say a definite no. What I will have is exactly what I had before, but mended.

The roofer doing the job will be the one that installed the solar PV panels in the first place.

Every chance that he'll be able to 'self-certify' his work for Building Regs purposes.

(Local councils no longer have a monopoly on building regs supervision. 'Builder' can elect to use a different organisation and that might even allow him to self-certify. My SP installer worked that way.)

John_Pierpoint

Cardew wrote: »

A novel view of an 'investment'.

Not really all companies buy assets add then to the capitalised register of assets and write them off over a life time, only the depreciation gets taken off the profit.

Once upon a time I wrote a piece of software to adjust the depreciation and produced a £3,500,000 increase in the bottom line profit.

Scanned the published accounts see if I would get a mention, no chance.
Had I been a banker, or a hedge fund manager, I would have got a bonus?!

John_Pierpoint

I trust the roofer knows that those panels are packing a punch of DC and understands which end of the string to hold onto. My instruction booklet talks about covering them with black polythene.

My MCS installer must have been on site for 10 minutes, while I helped him unload the van.

The lads had been held up on the previous job and there was another delivery to make and a more complex installation to plan.;)

Martyn1981

Cardew wrote: »

Martyn1981 wrote: »

I fail to see why an investment that does better over a set time period, is judged critically on the basis of when cash balances intersect. It shouldn’t really have any bearing, unless there is an outside time factor, such as a property move.

My view on profit also doesn’t require waiting for capital repayment. For me, profit is reached when income exceeds costs, one of those costs being the cost of capital.

A novel view of an 'investment'.

Hardly novel. Boringly standard I'm afraid!

Definition of 'Profit'
A financial benefit that is realized when the amount of revenue gained from a business activity exceeds the expenses, costs and taxes needed to sustain the activity. Any profit that is gained goes to the business's owners, who may or may not decide to spend it on the business.

Calculated as:

Profit = Total Revenue - Total Expenses

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/profit.asp

and,

Profit is the money a business makes after accounting for all the expenses. Regardless of whether the business is a couple of kids running a lemonade stand or a publicly traded multinational company, consistently earning profit is every company's goal.

If you consider a business' accounts, you'll find the asset values and capital investment, sitting on the balance sheet (BS), but the profit and loss (P&L) will reflect the cost of capital and the depreciation on the assets.

Domestic PV/FITs isn't taxable, but try convincing the tax-man that a business hasn't generated a profit, despite a positive P&L, because the BS still contains investment expenditure not yet repaid/fully depreciated!

Mart.

[Edit - Sorry John, you beat me to it. M.]

EricMears

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Had I been a banker, or a hedge fund manager, I would have got a bonus?!

Understood bankers & hedge fund managers get huge bonuses even when they've made losses

orrery

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

I trust the roofer knows that those panels are packing a punch of DC and understands which end of the string to hold onto. My instruction booklet talks about covering them with black polythene.

He is the roofer who put the panels there in the first place on contract from the solar company who supplied them. That's precisely why I went to him first for a quote.