Neighbouring Solar Panels?

Egg_custard_2

jennifernil wrote: »

I think they are only sensible if you are keeping the house for 10 years+.

We have recently had 16 panels fitted, it will take about 7/8 years to get back the money, but then it is all profit.

From the street you cannot see them, they are Sanyo panels, so virtually all black. You have to be above them to see them.

Same here, we had 16 Sanyo panels fitted a week or so ago and based on predictions they will be paid off in 7/8 years.

Mine are on the back of our house, with no houses opposite to look at them, and you can't actually see them from our garden either because we have a 3 storey house with 40% pitched roof.

I actually think they are nice looking, and I like wind farms too. I think they're both modern looking.

I'm not exactly an eco-warrior. We did it as a financial investment, and also as an investment environmentally for our children's future. Yes we are not self-sufficient, but if they become more commonplace, and with more wind farms etc, we would be so much less reliant on resources that are simply not going to last forever.

Tiddlywinks

LudaMusser wrote: »

If you were looking to buy a semi-detached house and the neighbour had 12 solar panels on the front roof, visible from the road, would that put you off buying?

No problem with the solar panels.

Off topic - I'd be more concerned about how thick the party wall was and whether noise from next door would be an issue. I only like a semi if the living rooms and main bedrooms are on the external wall and not the shared wall so that noise encroachment is kept to a minimum.

thenudeone

JQ. wrote: »

And what if you want to sell your house in 2 years time, will you get the capital back on top of the sale price - I doubt it?

If you were thinking of moving you probably wouldn't fit them.

But if you did, the new owner would get up to £1600 of index-linked tax free income every year for the rest of the 25 year period, which is equivalent to free council tax or a 1% reduction in the mortgage rate on the average mortgage. If this isn't a selling point, I'm not sure what is!

WeegieWumman

Someone's solar panels certainly woudn't deter me from purchasing a neighbouring property. We'll probably be seeing more and more of them in the future.

JQ.

thenudeone wrote: »

If you were thinking of moving you probably wouldn't fit them.

But if you did, the new owner would get up to £1600 of index-linked tax free income every year for the rest of the 25 year period, which is equivalent to free council tax or a 1% reduction in the mortgage rate on the average mortgage. If this isn't a selling point, I'm not sure what is!

I don't doubt that it is definitely a selling point, but will somebody pay £20,000 more for a house with SP's than one without? Timed will tell, but my personal opinion is that they won't. How many people remain in the same house for 25 years these days?

GDB2222

LudaMusser wrote: »

If you were looking to buy a semi-detached house and the neighbour had 12 solar panels on the front roof, visible from the road, would that put you off buying?

I think that a photo would help. That might look awful on some houses, not so bad on others. Doubt it will enhance the looks on any, though.

FLAPJACK

A "green" friend of mine moved recently to a nice rural location (with the idea of living "The Good Life") with only one other house on the road....right opposite.

The idea of Solar panels was a major subject of discussion with him for a while...until he moved!

The house opposite has Solar panels and apparently when the sun shines (when was that??) it reflects directly off the panels into the front room and front bedroom of my friends house, so much so they have to draw the curtains for most of the afternoon/evening.

Oh dear!

jimjames

JQ. wrote: »

I don't doubt that it is definitely a selling point, but will somebody pay £20,000 more for a house with SP's than one without? Timed will tell, but my personal opinion is that they won't. How many people remain in the same house for 25 years these days?

More to the point - would you buy a house that was paying you £1500 a year? I think the free electricity and FIT payments if the panels were paid for would actually be quite a big incentive to a buyer.

Still trying to work out which company to install ours, any recomendations by PM would be welcome:)

poppysarah

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

It would make me wonder if the neighbour was some eco-wierdo who would go through my bins and tell me off for not composting my teabags or keep me awake at night from the sound of their loom weaving nettles into blankets.

But providing the rest of the place looks fairly normal, not too off-putting.

Or is just happy making £1300 a year for having panels on their roof?

Suzy_M

I know nothing about solar panels and am sure everything would be OK BUT thinking back to the problems caused when slates were being replaced with heavier tiles. -

As it's a semi-detached I'd just want to check the roof structure hasn't been compromised and, depending on the type and method of fixing the panels, that the roof isn't susceptible to damaging gusts. Otherwise no problem at all with them.