We're missing out on £thousands each here in NI!

jigglerjohn

I work with some contractors in telecomms who are from England and working in Belfast. They are getting solar PV (electricity generating) panels fitted in their homes.

Wow, you want to see the grants that they get everywhere else in UK but NOT, of course, in NI!!!

The systems cost about £10k-£12k to fit (not cheap, but wait to see the returns)

1. The generating company pays you about £1,200 per year (say, 10% of initial outlay), index linked, Govt. guarenteed, for 25 YEARS! PLUS :-

2. You get the electricity generated (about 4Kw) free and offset from your bill. PLUS :-

3. The surplus power generated (usually 50%) is fed back into the system and the generating company pays you for it!

As you can see, it is well worth borrowing the initial outlay and letting the income pay off the panels (payback period is about 7 years)

What do we get? NOTHING

Why is this scandal allowed to continue? Who is rattling the Assembly's cage and demanding parity with the rest of the UK?

wacko911

Maybe they get more sun in England as they are further south?

warmhands.coldheart

This is something I've known for a while. Only large commercial companies get the feed in Tariffs when running CHP's or the likes. I think it may be down to the larger number of Energy companies in GB who have to have a certain amount of "green" energy making up their overall supply. As we are a small area with essentially only two suppliers, maybe they don't need the input from "the Public" to make up their %???? Only a guess!!

saverbuyer

I think it's more likely that the Assembly is reluctant to offer a feed in tariff because it would need to be funded from their budget. I may be wrong but the tariff is about 40p per unit. Not an insubstantial cost. We don’t currently have the legislative powers to implement a feed in tariff.

steveymp

This has been running for quiet a while in England and it is a real 'No Brainer' in terms of money saving, several of my relative have in on the mainland and swear by it. Unfortunatley I don't see it coming here anytime soon:(

JulieElizabeth

Aye but sure we don't pay for prescriptions or water and our students don't pay as much for uni

jigglerjohn

The calculations were done for Newcastle in England, almost identical latitude to us in NI. I calculated that I could have made £35,000 tax free - free prescriptions wouldn't make a dent in that.

This money is coming from the government under the obligation to generate renewable energy. Why are we not getting our share of the cake?

Companys in GB are fitting the panels free and taking the feed-in tariff and leting the home owner get the free electricity.

A.L.D.A

I am not so sure that solar PV makes real overall economic sense (as the technology currently stands). In the UK would anyone do it without the incentives?

That said I would like to see serious grants in NI to generate electricity (and energy) locally more cost effectively. I think larger community Coops and small businesses are the way ahead. In many instances scale does matter, but dispersal of production also has advantages. Plus we need incentives to install proven technologies in homes and businesses.

We in NI import over 99% of all our energy. If we could reduce that to even 70% think of the difference that that would make to the local economy.

Ballymackeonan

Jigglerjohn - the calculations were done in Newcastle? OK, it's about the same latitude, but it is on the east coast, where there is a lot less rain than here (any sweeping in from the Atlantic has already mostly fallen on us!) I've seen effective installations a lot further north on that coast (the university museum in St Andrews is entirely solar powered, for instance.)

I've a solar water heating panel, this summer it has been less effective than usual because, if it's been bright in the morning, it became overcast by the afternoon (and several other people have confirmed the same trend with their panels.) But technology is improving all the time, so that in a few years I expect that solar PV will be a lot more efficient - and at a price level which will make it economic to install, even without grants!

jigglerjohn

Check out your house on the excellent calculator at comparemysolar dot co dot uk. It uses Google maps to plot your roof and then shows what you can make. My house isn't ideal (low pitch & West facing) but it makes a £50k profit in 25 years! (£14k outlay)

Now, tell me that that's not worth having.

Bribrian_2

jigglerjohn wrote: »

Check out your house on the excellent calculator at comparemysolar dot co dot uk. It uses Google maps to plot your roof and then shows what you can make. My house isn't ideal (low pitch & West facing) but it makes a £50k profit in 25 years! (£14k outlay)

Now, tell me that that's not worth having.

If it is so profitable why do you not go ahead & install it without a grant as your £50k will more than pay off your initial loan......