free solar panels

scarlet55

hi every-one..as the title suggests i have been offered free solar panels from my local council...they want to put 8 on my roof..i wont be able to 'store' electricity for winter months but use it when i get it..the paperwork they have sent me says i 'could' save £120 anually on my electricity bills....has any-one any experience with solar and is it worth all the disruption and mess just to save £10 a month.....thanx in advance.

HappyMJ

Is this a council property? You won't necessarily save £120 per year. You will save all the daytime usage in the summer whilst you may be out or at work and don't actually use any. You'll also save a bit in the spring and autumn. You would need to buy timers to make the washing machine start up at midday to save the most. Assuming you are on a good tariff and your unit rate is 10p/kWh you would need to use 1,200kWh of the generated electricity to save £120. I wouldn't save that much. I have calculated my savings to be around £50 a year on a standard tariff and as I am on a E7 meter I would save £70 a year.

scarlet55

HappyMJ wrote: »

Is this a council property? You won't necessarily save £120 per year. You will save all the daytime usage in the summer whilst you may be out or at work and don't actually use any. You'll also save a bit in the spring and autumn. You would need to buy timers to make the washing machine start up at midday to save the most. Assuming you are on a good tariff and your unit rate is 10p/kWh you would need to use 1,200kWh of the generated electricity to save £120. I wouldn't save that much. I have calculated my savings to be around £50 a year on a standard tariff and as I am on a E7 meter I would save £70 a year.

yes its a council property..not sure what my tariff is, i'l have to look..i have a delay start on my washing machine so that wont be a problem..i suppose as they are doing it for free then any saving is better than none, especially with the new price increase..thankyou for your advice..:)

neilmcl

The only real way to get money out of solar is to pay for it yourself and take advantage of the feed in tariff.

HalloweenJack

which council is it btw?

neil - its a council house so she only rents it , therefore its the council paying for it and taking the fits, and she couldnt put her own panels on if she wanted to anyway.

the energy saving trust have worked out the average saving to be around £70 a year for an average 3 bed house which doesnt have much occupation through the day - going up to £120 a year for a 4 bed with heavy day time useage.

8 panels doesnt sound like a big system - i would take a guess and say a 2kw system - unless theres been some improvements in teh systems recently?

basically you`ll save money , the only inconvenience is when they put them up with scaffolding for a day or 2.