MSE News: Solar subsidies to be slashed under government plans

magyar

Equaliser123 wrote: »

It's not quite comparing apples and apples. I don't see it as a £10k investment but as a £10k purchase which is now making /saving money.

Unlike just about every investment I know, I cannot access my capital.

OK that's a fair point, it's not a liquid asset (not now, anyway). In theory you could have removed the panels and sold them to someone else.

Equaliser123

magyar wrote: »

OK that's a fair point, it's not a liquid asset (not now, anyway). In theory you could have removed the panels and sold them to someone else.

Yes, but ultimately the asset is depreciating particularly as there will be technological improvements over the years and that the FIT will not be available in such attractive terms in the future.

zeupater

magyar wrote: »

OK that's a fair point, it's not a liquid asset (not now, anyway). In theory you could have removed the panels and sold them to someone else.

Hi

Under existing rules you must use new equipment (by serial number) in order to be able to apply for FiTs and an installation is unique to a property, so cannot be relocated. This effectively kills the ability to raise any realistic capital from a sale of the system and destroys a future revenue stream at the same time ..... I suppose that you could transfer FiT payments to another through some form of purchase/leaseback agreement and leave the panels in situ ..... doubt many would like to do that though, so the only way to effectively raise capital is to sell the house that the panels are attached to ... .

HTH
Z

SallyKing

I found this rather interesting, found elsewhere on the web:

"Greg Barker, minister at DECC, made a special point of mentioning, when questioned in the House of Commons the other day, that the UK Feed-in Tariff was being cut to 21p and this was the same amount that Germany was cutting its PV Feed-in Tariff to. This is correct."


"But there is one equivalence between FiTs in the two countries that should be highlighted – another that Greg Barker failed to mention.
The budget figure for FiTs payments in the two countries is also the same figure – around 1 billion Euro.
The difference, however, is that €1 billion is the figure spent in Germany every month while here the same figure is DECC’s budget for FiTs for five years."

SallyKing

And a little info about Greg barker from wikipedia:

"Barker also developed strong links to the Russian oil companies, being Head of Communications at the Anglo Siberian Oil Company from 1998–2000 and also worked in Russia for the Sibneft Oil Group, owned by Roman Abramovich."

magyar

SallyKing wrote: »

I found this rather interesting, found elsewhere on the web:

"Greg Barker, minister at DECC, made a special point of mentioning, when questioned in the House of Commons the other day, that the UK Feed-in Tariff was being cut to 21p and this was the same amount that Germany was cutting its PV Feed-in Tariff to. This is correct."


"But there is one equivalence between FiTs in the two countries that should be highlighted – another that Greg Barker failed to mention.
The budget figure for FiTs payments in the two countries is also the same figure – around 1 billion Euro.
The difference, however, is that €1 billion is the figure spent in Germany every month while here the same figure is DECC’s budget for FiTs for five years."

That's because Germany has been doing it for far longer. Germany has HUGE amounts of solar PV - something like 10GW I think.

magyar

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

Under existing rules you must use new equipment (by serial number) in order to be able to apply for FiTs and an installation is unique to a property, so cannot be relocated. T

Didn't realise that. Thanks.

magyar

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Yes, but ultimately the asset is depreciating particularly as there will be technological improvements over the years and that the FIT will not be available in such attractive terms in the future.

Also agreed.

HalloweenJack

Equaliser123 wrote: »

It's not quite comparing apples and apples. I don't see it as a £10k investment but as a £10k purchase which is now making /saving money.

Unlike just about every investment I know, I cannot access my capital.

thats because your looking at it wrong - its an annuity , £10k invested in a £1500 per year return

sly_dog_jonah

HalloweenJack wrote: »

thats because your looking at it wrong - its an annuity , £10k invested in a £1500 per year return

Indeed. Although again Annuities are different beasts again as they pay out for a variable length period depending on how long you live for.

But solar as an 'investment' is incomparable with savings and bonds which DECC referred to in justification for cutting returns back to 4.5% for householders. Savings and bonds generally have some degree of access to your capital (not to mention FSCS protection for savings). At a 4.5% return the 'payback' time is 15+ years. Show me a householder who can assert with any degree of certainty that they will still be living in the same house in 15 years' time.