Solar PV...Still worth it?

Trumpeter

Or have I missed the boat? With the planned changes in FIT payments is it still a reasonable option. I now have money that wasn't available last year to be able to go down the "bought" panel route & pay outright .(I would never have considered the "roof rent" type schemes) I haven't done much homework on the subject but I do know I've got a fairly large south facing pent roof. I haven't looked into the structural implications but will of course do all this before making any final decisions. But for now, just back to the original question. Thanks in advance for any help & advice.

jamesingram

get a few quotes , look at thier figures .
4kWp system some are quoting around £8000.
very few Pv companies consider return of invested sum in thier claimed returns .
If you look at yearly profit on money invested , even after return of original capital , over the 25 year term , it will beat any thing offfered by banks/building soc. ISAs (FITs is also tax free return for domestic installs).
I beleive there's still room to borrow the install cost , if say an additon to a mortage and still turn a profit via the FITs returns.

celerity

I haven't done the sums for the new FiT I'm afraid. But for me the old rate worked out to be worthwhile if you intend to stay in your property for at least 11-12 years. With the new rate I would expect this to extend out to something like 15 years.

Please share your thoughts with us about what you decide to do!

EDIT: actually, it of course may not increase your break-even point at all, I hadn't factored in the new, cheaper system prices - doh!

/\dam

RoxyK

I'm having the panels installed on Tuesday and am getting a much better system than I had expected we could afford due to the prices falling. I have no trouble with a reduced FIT as no way could we afford the panels last year. But now to me they are worth it. I'd get a few quotes from reputable companies and see suitable your roof is. Mine is very suitable

Martyn1981

Trumpeter wrote: »

Or have I missed the boat? With the planned changes in FIT payments is it still a reasonable option. I now have money that wasn't available last year to be able to go down the "bought" panel route & pay outright .(I would never have considered the "roof rent" type schemes) I haven't done much homework on the subject but I do know I've got a fairly large south facing pent roof. I haven't looked into the structural implications but will of course do all this before making any final decisions. But for now, just back to the original question. Thanks in advance for any help & advice.

If you can post a few details, we will quite easily be able to work out approx income and savings figures for you. Coupled with any prices you've had, or as James said, our guess at what price you should aim for.

South is great. Do you know the exact orientation?
Large is great as the bigger you go (towards a 4kWp system) the cheaper it is proportionately. Do you have approx measurements of your roof, or do you already know what size system could be fitted.
What's your roof pitch, this won't change the annual generation much, but the more accurate the better?
Where are you approx, nearest town / city?
Lastly, do you get much/any shading on the roof, any dormers, any trees etc, that could effect generation?

One more thing, under the new rules, to get the higher tariff your house will need to have an energy performance of D or better, the good news is that the extra points from the PV system itself can be included.

As an example, let's assume you're northern England, some space issues, and a little shading, so maybe a 3.5kWp system giving 3,000kWh's pa.
So approx £630 FITs, plus £50 export, plus £100 electricity savings (if you try average hard), and you pay 'not quite' cheap at £7.8k

So if you're willing to ignore capital repayment, and think of this as an annuity then you'll earn £780/£7800 = 10%pa

Mart.

Kernel_Sanders

jamesingram wrote: »

very few Pv companies consider return of invested sum in thier claimed returns.

That's because you should still have a system returning 80% of the electricity it did when new. In fact, they could argue that this will be considerably more valuable than the capital sum of a comparable cash investment after inflation has eaten away most of its value over a quarter of a century.

Trumpeter wrote: »

I've got a fairly large south facing pent roof.

If roof size or shape isn't a problem, do what I did - go for cheap Asian panels with a top German inverter (i.e. SMA Sunnyboy). All the panels I read up on had the same projected 80% output after 25 years.

Trumpeter

Thanks for all the advice. From the positive responses so far, you've made up my mind that it's at least worth looking in to. I'll now have a look around to try & find a couple of reputable companies for some detailed info. Any recommendations on this? National suppliers? Local (N.Lincs/Humber/s.Yorks)? Or maybe more importantly, any snake-oil salesmen to avoid??

Cardew

!!!!!! wrote: »

solar pv WHY?

returns of upto 14% - 15% @ 21p rate
systems cost for 4kw around 7K

£700 odd in fits per year
£50 odd in export
£250 odd in fuel bill savings (at 50% used so try and use 100% of own juice )

do the maths x by 25 years !!!!!!

not including rising fuel bills & inflation thats around 25k for 7k investment

included inflation and risinf fuel bills 45k ish for 7 k mmmm i wonder!!

You can get Yingli 265w panda x 15 & Sma 3600 from 7.2K but you need to shop about

yingli are 9th best panel efficency in world

see spam dot com

yes I am an installer but I am only here for advice.

You are not allowed to spam your site.

£250 odd in fuel bill savings (at 50% used so try and use 100% of own juice )

Really? Doubtless that is what you tell your clients.

yes I am an installer

Then why did you post this!

I am looking into buying a system before 1st July (next drop in payments)


Do you guys think its worth it a 21p

anybody know any good prices about for 4kw

HalloweenJack

just make sure your neighbours dont complain

Martyn1981

Trumpeter wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice. From the positive responses so far, you've made up my mind that it's at least worth looking in to. I'll now have a look around to try & find a couple of reputable companies for some detailed info. Any recommendations on this? National suppliers? Local (N.Lincs/Humber/s.Yorks)? Or maybe more importantly, any snake-oil salesmen to avoid??

Morning. Glad you've decided to look into it. Nothing ventured and all that.

Don't know any sales teams, and 'my' guys were a local firm (S Wales) that specialised in large electrical jobs, power stations, hotel refits etc. But I can give you a few tips:

1. Here's a tip sheet

http://www.which.co.uk/documents/pdf/solar-pv-checklist-pdf-269629.pdf?cmp=W0112_p7_solar

2. Get as many quotes as you can. Try googling: solar PV calculator
These sites should give fairly consistent estimates of income and savings. Find one of the 'seek quotes' sites you like the feel of, then they'll arrange 3 or so companies to contact you. Maybe trawl the net for some extras, Tesco's etc. Try to get at least 3 visits, and maybe 5 quotes.

3. For each quote try to get info on specific panels and inverters. Keep coming back to us for some 'crowd' thinking.

4. Use PVGIS to get a better guess at generation. More on that, when you've learnt a bit more about PV, and your properties possibilities.

5. As Douglas Adams' might have said - Don't Panic!

Edit: Missed a really good one. Have a good chat with someone that already has PV. Ideally, speak to a neighbour / someone nearby. Most PV'ers will probably be happy to have a chat and show you all the bits and bobs.

Mart.

Gizmosmum_2

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Morning. Glad you've decided to look into it. Nothing ventured and all that.

2. Get as many quotes as you can. Try googling: solar PV calculator
These sites should give fairly consistent estimates of income and savings. Find one of the 'seek quotes' sites you like the feel of, then they'll arrange 3 or so companies to contact you. Maybe trawl the net for some extras, Tesco's etc. Try to get at least 3 visits, and maybe 5 quotes.

Sorry I disagree - any installer worth their salt is working on recommendations from friends and family and doesn't need to buy in leads from quote companies. Have a look in your area at jobs that have been done, check out Yougen.co.uk and look for local installers with recommendations. Avoid the nationals, their subcontractors will inevitably be trying to get as many jobs in as possible personal recommendation doesn't make any difference to them. If you go local, follow recommendations from friends neighbours and check out Yougen, get a couple of quotes not 10 otherwise you'll end up totally confused.

Good luck - I've installed a system on my own house and one on the house I rent out, both are exceeding expectations and I'm now considering a further installation on another rental that I have - even at the lower rate of Fit it's worthwhile for me.