Official MSE Free Solar Panel guide discussion

Former_MSE_Marcel

Hi all, I wrote the guide on the MSE site on solar panels. Has anyone here had, or know of, any experiences where solar panels have been mis-sold? It was a problem back in 2012, but I'm trying to establish if it has reared its head again.

Would be great to hear of any cases, no matter how small or which supplier.

Thanks!

Davesnave

I would warn those thinking of installing solar panels, especially the RaR ones, to consider carefully the impact should they wish to sell.

There is still a substantial amount of consumer resistance to the purchase of houses where someone else has an interest, and much dislike of the appearance of panels. This is evident from comments on the House Buying & Renting Board: some people won't even consider looking at houses with panels.

Clearly there is going to be a regional difference as regards the impact of panels in a selling situation, with those in London & the South East being impacted much less than, say, those in the North East, where buyers are currently hard to come by.

Please don't tell me about the merits or de-merits of panels, I'm just reporting on what I see. As usual, DYOR.

TigerMan59

There's a lot of chat about the period of recovery of the cost of panels(?7-10 years?). Many homeowners especially younger owners will sell their house within 7-10 years and therefore will not recover the cost - has anyone sold a house with panels and received any increase in price ?- if not, is the real beneficiary the future owners not the original owners.Unless you know you're going to live in the house for >7-10 years.

Cardew

TigerMan59 wrote: »

There's a lot of chat about the period of recovery of the cost of panels(?7-10 years?). Many homeowners especially younger owners will sell their house within 7-10 years and therefore will not recover the cost - has anyone sold a house with panels and received any increase in price ?- if not, is the real beneficiary the future owners not the original owners.Unless you know you're going to live in the house for >7-10 years.

Welcome to the forum.


This particular thread is about 'free' solar panels. i.e. the panels fitted(usually) by 'Rent a Roof' companies. These companies own and get the FIT income (subsidy) from the panels and the householder gets as much of the generated electricity they can manage. Usually valued at between £50 and £100pa.


The downside is they have to sign a 20 or 25 year 'lease' giving the company access to the roof, and that 'lease' is binding on new owners.


Regarding your question about owning a system, it is not really possible to answer with any certainty. Do the panels attract or deter prospective purchasers? it is a Marmite situation.

Nummos_Insumptor

sweaty_betty wrote: »

I have a stupid question I'm hoping someone can answer.

How does it work? I've seen solar panels attached to rooftops, but how do they connect into your electricity supply? Do you have some contraption in the loft?

I'd really like to have them fitted in the future, but trying to get my head around how it all works.

TIA

There's easy to read information on EnergySavingAdvisor.co.uk.

The panels connect via a clever electronic controller, usually called an inverter, to your mains supply.

Hope that helps.

50Twuncle

So the government is cutting the feed in tariff paid to people who are trying to help the planet - by decreasing the reliance on fossil fuels - makes no sense at all !!!

Cardew

50Twuncle wrote: »

So the government is cutting the feed in tariff paid to people who are trying to help the planet - by decreasing the reliance on fossil fuels - makes no sense at all !!!

The motive for the vast majority of people installing PV is financial; trying to help the planet is secondary!

If they were solely trying to help the planet, they don't have to claim the FIT;)

The people who were first in on the FIT gravy train are getting about 50 pence for each kWH they generate(around 5 times the rate we pay for each kWh)

Don't forget we pay for that huge subsidy in increased prices.

Apart from that Solar is just about the least efficient of all the 'Green' technologies. It cannot generate at night and on days like today, generate precious little.

Solar doesn't make any difference to the 'conventional' generating capacity UK needs, as the biggest load on the Grid is on a winters evening when solar generates zilch.

If you want some grown up reading of the Solar subsidy(FIT) scheme read this article in The Guardian by George Monbiot a leading environmental campaigner:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/01/solar-panel-feed-in-tariff

radar_perch

I am responding to the article about payback on solar panels elsewhere on MSE - basically saying you get £8600 back after 20 years from an investment of £7000

I don't get why this should look attractive at all!

If you put £7000 into a savings account with just 1% interest you get £8541 back after 20 years. You can beat that today with many savings accounts and over 20 years interest rates will surely go up

With the solar panels, you run the risk that they won't last 20 years, you'll need to buy a new inverter etc. so the return will quite likely be worse

Why, from a purely financial point of view, would anyone put up solar panels?

[Deleted User]

radar_perch wrote: »

I am responding to the article about payback on solar panels elsewhere on MSE - basically saying you get £8600 back after 20 years from an investment of £7000

I don't get why this should look attractive at all!

If you put £7000 into a savings account with just 1% interest you get £8541 back after 20 years. You can beat that today with many savings accounts and over 20 years interest rates will surely go up

With the solar panels, you run the risk that they won't last 20 years, you'll need to buy a new inverter etc. so the return will quite likely be worse

Why, from a purely financial point of view, would anyone put up solar panels?

Have you bothered yourself to read the huge amount of long running threads on this board? If you had...

sooty1826

Hi can anyone advise, I am wanting solar panels. I have a large south facing roof but have 2 skylights. Is it possible to get them installed?