are solar panels and green energy worth the investment?

Deals_2

a friend told us it was very expensive to install and it would take about 10 years for the investment to pay off. we only have a 3 bed terrace - should we consider this? also partner is a a builder so could do some of the work himself. i know that there are some grants but i think they dont pay that much. any help appreciated. thanks

Jonesya

I think the payback from loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and double glazing is a lot greater than solar panels, wind turbines etc. Get those done first, then move onto green energy.

Nobleck

Your friend probably read the same article as me, it would be sensible to consider how long you plan to stay in your home. Personally i wouldn't bother, solar panels look hideous and those turbines you can buy only generate enough electricity to boil a low wattage kettle.

Fulham_Mark

I read an article that explained that B&Q type wind-turbines can only generate the claimed 30% of your energy only if you face south-west, are high up and get a lot of wind and don't use that much electricity. Ie they are a gimmick.

If you have a garden then a bore-hole to partially heat water from the earth is eligable for a £1500 grant in England and a £3000 grant in Scotland. Don't understand the discrimination there - suppose it is colder up there though.

This again takes 10years to pay off but is more consistent in energy output and creates less toxic waste from manufacture.

Double glazing is a debatable one. Don't have more than 10cm gap between panes as you won't get any insulation at all! I did 3 big windows 6mm secondary glazing and fitted it myself for £700. I prob save £100 a year.

Most "green" tarrifs from power companies don't actually reduce carbon emissions either. By law they have to create 10% from renewables and they just give more of this to you.

Eco-city - i think that is the name - are 100% green; all from renewables.

Proper home wind-turbines will happen but in about 5 years time. There are a few more efficient methods being created. One hong-kong version is sets of small turbines sort of in boxes that you build up over time or as space allows.

The best use of your money is to off-set as to reduce carbon emissions in china or india is 10 to 20 times cheaper than here in the UK

Deals_2

"The best use of your money is to off-set as to reduce carbon emissions in china or india is 10 to 20 times cheaper than here in the UK". thanks

Fulham_Mark wrote: »

I read an article that explained that B&Q type wind-turbines can only generate the claimed 30% of your energy only if you face south-west, are high up and get a lot of wind and don't use that much electricity. Ie they are a gimmick.

If you have a garden then a bore-hole to partially heat water from the earth is eligable for a £1500 grant in England and a £3000 grant in Scotland. Don't understand the discrimination there - suppose it is colder up there though.

This again takes 10years to pay off but is more consistent in energy output and creates less toxic waste from manufacture.

Double glazing is a debatable one. Don't have more than 10cm gap between panes as you won't get any insulation at all! I did 3 big windows 6mm secondary glazing and fitted it myself for £700. I prob save £100 a year.

Most "green" tarrifs from power companies don't actually reduce carbon emissions either. By law they have to create 10% from renewables and they just give more of this to you.

Eco-city - i think that is the name - are 100% green; all from renewables.

Proper home wind-turbines will happen but in about 5 years time. There are a few more efficient methods being created. One hong-kong version is sets of small turbines sort of in boxes that you build up over time or as space allows.

The best use of your money is to off-set as to reduce carbon emissions in china or india is 10 to 20 times cheaper than here in the UK

Reaper

From what I heard generating electricity from solar panels is certainly not worth it. However passing water through roof panels to at least partially heat up your hot water is a better bet. Still not sure if it makes economic sense though, more something to do to be green.

ozskin

no solar you will be lucky for 20yr payback and b&Q turbines are complete joke, insulate and insulate

moonrakerz

LOTS of threads on this subject in the "Green and Ethical Money Saving" section of this site.

thescouselander

The savings quoted for solar heating are dubious to say the least. I had an advert come through the post promising hundreds of punds savings per year.

Now, solar pannels are usually used to heat water in your hot water tank. Since it is summer and I have turned off my central heating then I can assume that all the gas I have used this last quarter was used to heat the hot water (although a small amount was used for cooking on the hob).

My gas bill for the last quarter was £18, £8 of which was the standing charge. From this I can deduce that I spend about £40 per year on heating the hot water. So the maximum it would be possible to save per year would be £40 and not hundreds of pounds.

At that rate it would take about 75 years to save the equivelent of the installation costs so, for me at least, its definately not worth it.

Pipcola

Double glazing is a debatable one. Don't have more than 10cm gap between panes as you won't get any insulation at all! I did 3 big windows 6mm secondary glazing and fitted it myself for £700. I prob save £100 a year

I always understood that 16mm is the optimum gap for domestic double glazing.

beach86

Can I please suggest that if you have spare money (?) and you want to do something green then please please don’t invest in off-setting your CO2 emissions. It’s a complete waste of money and it is possible that it is causing more harm than good.

It is debatable how much CO2 it actually saves by i.e. by planting trees CO2 is released when the soil is disturbed, transport emissions etc. Plus have the time they are planting foreign species in places that are not suitable. They have been reports of trees been planted in the strangest of places.

If your house is completely insulated only then should you even consider RE of which the most popular in this country is Solar Thermal. If your house isn’t suitable for RE or you don’t have the £££ then buy your electricity from a green tariff.

Green energy tariffs from fuel suppliers may not be as green as you think. You going for one of these tariffs doesn’t mean your money is going to investment in RE. Fuel suppliers are obliged under law to provide a certain % of electricity from RE sources anyway therefore is your money really helping???

The two best companies to go for are Ecotricity and Good Energy. Personally I found Ecotricity to be the best in terms of greenness.

http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/

http://www.good-energy.co.uk/

As always compare the prices so that you get the best deal!!! There’s loads of information that compares the various available green tariffs available and more information on the fuel suppliers ‘Renewables Obligation’ at http://www.greenelectricity.org/