Solar Panels

hardtimes

Hi

With all the reports of increased electricity prices,I am looking at all angles.

Has anyone installed panels,are they any use,what cost and what grants are available?

Thanks

Beachview_2

I thought about getting solar panels but then decided not to. I was looking at getting the free ones, but if you ever want to sell your house with these on the roof, buyers will find it very difficult (if not impossible) to get a mortgage on your house, as you would have your roof rented out.

If you can afford to buy the panels yourself you won't run into this problem of course

There was a company who quoted me for the work but I wasn't happy with their paperwork, all they sent was a draft contract, many pages long, full of legal wording. You would expect there would have been something put into ordinary terms, as that would show better customer service on their part. After sitting down and having a good read at it, I wasn't happy with the terms in it.

motorguy

Approx £8500 for photovoltaic, which will generate approx £1200 of electricity per year.

Roughly 7 years return on investment.

saverbuyer

Worth remembering that £8500 would have earned £300 annual interest so the saving would be closer to £900 per year, plus the inverter will probably need to be changed after 10+ years costing about £1000. Have the wrong type of roof and you'll be generating a lot less. The panels also degrade over time.


The Energy Saving Trust reckons a typical 3.5 KWP system will cost around £7000 and generate 3000 KWH, saving/generating you around £645 per year.

ballyblack

recent posts on here;

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4594659

almillar

Grants - England have their grants organised, including solar panels (called Green Deal).
The folks on the hill are allowed to give us grants too, but they haven't bothered to sort them out yet.
I would sit tight until our Green deal equivalent grants are announced...

guiriman

£300 interest on £8500 is just over 3.5%, not sure where you can get that after tax these days.

irishjohn

Hi Folks - Installed panels mid November 2012

Statistics so far

Used to pay Power NI £51 monthly DD for electric

Just had Airtricity bill for last two months - £48 in total

Amount of electricity generated by panels - 1518 units

Payment due for these units @ 17p = £258

Amount of electricity exported to grid - 1040 units

Export Payment due for these units @5p = £52

Approximate payment due from NIE for 7 months = £310

My electricity use from the grid has reduced to 5 units a day average - was 10 units a day - and am now probably using more electricity during daylight when before I would have been economising.

So electricity bill has halved over 7 month period, and income generated is approximately £500 for 7 months

Install cost was £7000 - I am happy with these results so far

darwin-rover

saverbuyer wrote: »

Worth remembering that £8500 would have earned £300 annual interest so the saving would be closer to £900 per year, plus the inverter will probably need to be changed after 10+ years costing about £1000. Have the wrong type of roof and you'll be generating a lot less. The panels also degrade over time.


The Energy Saving Trust reckons a typical 3.5 KWP system will cost around £7000 and generate 3000 KWH, saving/generating you around £645 per year.

But how much will leccy cost in 5, 10, 20 years etc.
Its only going to go up

saverbuyer

guiriman wrote: »

£300 interest on £8500 is just over 3.5%, not sure where you can get that after tax these days.

You're right that the best you'll probably get tax free right now will be 3% but last year, if you fixed for 5 years you could get over 4% and still have the capital.

Spread it around and you could probably get 6% with some current accounts, or 8% last year. Shares with a good yield?

Long-term saving rates would normally be closer to 6%, with normal interest rates and this is a 25 year investment after all. You'll also still have the original capital.

You could also pay off higher interest debt with the 8500. If you mortgage was 25 years at 6%, pay this off the balance and you'll effectively save £18,000 over the full term.

saverbuyer

darwin-rover wrote: »

But how much will leccy cost in 5, 10, 20 years etc.
Its only going to go up

And there are other ways to save energy, and without a crystal ball it's hard to know if the sums make sense. Yes prices will go up, but by how much? £8500 is a lot of low energy light bulbs and A+ rated energy saving appliances.