Buying a house with Solar Panels - Anything to watch out for?

sh856531

Hi all

We are currently looking at buying a property with solar panels. The owner has advised that they are all paid off and have reduced their energy bills down to around £30 p/m - which seems pretty attractive.

Is there anything in particular that we should be aware of in buying houses with solar panels?

I'm imagining it as a positive that would actually increase the desirability of the property (it does in our mind anyway!) but are their any gotchas to be aware of?

Thanks in advance

S

TrickyDicky101

Do they own he panels?

How much is the FIT (Government subsidy) that they receive each year? === if they say 'we don't receive anything' then they don't own the panels (they have leased their roof space to a third party), and you should run a mile!

anselld

Check they have a MCS certificate.

Check they have a NICEIC certificate or equivalent for the electrical installation.

Check the details of their FIT contract to confirm which of the historic tariff rates the system is on. For owned systems the energy bill reduction is much less important than the generation income from FIT.

pinkshoes

Is the feed in tariff that they get transferable to new owners? Or would you have to switch to a lower rate?

anselld

pinkshoes wrote: »

Is the feed in tariff that they get transferable to new owners? Or would you have to switch to a lower rate?

It stays with the property at the same rate.

giddypenguin

Just out of interest, what's so bad about the solar panels owned by other companies?

anselld

giddypenguin wrote: »

Just out of interest, what's so bad about the solar panels owned by other companies?

You don't get the generation payments (which is most of the benefit).
Your roof is rented out for 25 years.
Mortgage Companies can be picky about the contract.

sh856531

Thanks guys - I'll look into the above. Glad I asked as it looks like there is some stuff to look into there

Cheers

S

Martyn1981

sh856531 wrote: »

Thanks guys - I'll look into the above. Glad I asked as it looks like there is some stuff to look into there

Cheers

S

Assuming that the system is owned outright (as you suggest in your original post), then your solicitor just needs to make sure that the FiT contract is transferred to you when you buy the property.

They could have been done some time ago, and independent of FiT, but more likely to be receiving FiT. When you take over the FiT contract you'll just need to send quarterly meter readings to whichever leccy supplier the FiT contract is registered with - this may be different to the leccy supply company as you are free to switch leccy suppliers without it affecting FiT contracts.

Ideally you need a quick lesson, or an information sheet from the sellers so you know where the TGM (total generation meter) is, who the contract is with, and the dates for meter submissions.

Whilst really designed/written for those thinking about getting PV, you may still be interested in the PV FAQs (perhaps sections 1-7) so you have a better understanding. But it's all pretty simple. [Note - section 1 that spells out the income streams is based on current subsidies. An older system will be receiving earlier (and higher) subsidies, though the export element may be lower if registered before 1/8/12.]

Mart.

Martyn1981

sh856531 wrote: »

Hi all

We are currently looking at buying a property with solar panels. The owner has advised that they are all paid off and have reduced their energy bills down to around £30 p/m - which seems pretty attractive.

S

Hiya, just noticed the plural "energy bills". Whilst £30pm sounds reasonable for a leccy bill including standing charge after PV, don't expect total bills to be reduced by so much.

Mart.

Mickygg

Yeah if they say bills are £30 a month, you'll probably need to double that. I've learnt the hard way, never trust a sellers figures, if it's that important to you ask to see some bills as proof.

I bought a house and the sellers said the bills were £x a month. They had a new meter installed 2 years previous so I could work out what they used on a monthly average, and yep you guessed it they cut their real usage by about 50%!!!