Buying a house with existing photovoltaic panels

firefitter

Hi,
I'm in the process of buying a house which has an existing PV panel array. The original owners (the church of England) had them installed in the very early days and are therefore on a high earning tariff.
I believe the panels were on a part owned basis with the power company but the CofE are buying out the power company's part and can transfer ownership entirely to me as part of the sale.

My question is, what happens when I take ownership? Do I just find a new tariff? Or do the original feed in terms apply?

Any input would be most welcome. Has anyone else gone through this?

John

Cardew

You will probably get a better answer if you post in the Green and Ethical forum on MSE as that is where the solar owners congregate.


From your post it is not clear of the status of these panels. There were normally two systems:


1. House owner got all the subsidies(FIT) for every kWh generated and money for exported electricity - normally assumed to be 50% of total generated.


2. A firm(usually referred to as a Rent a Roof company) or an organisation like a housing association, paid for the installation but collected all the subsidies. The latter would be on rented houses.


In the case above, some companies/organisations had a buy-out clause and the ownership of the panels transferred to the occupant who then got the subsidies.

System

As Cardew states, your solicitor needs to do some work here. I am not aware of any schemes where power companies are involved in keeping the FIT payments. Provided your solicitor sorts out the ownership issue then you will be entitled to FITs at the rate set at the time of registration for the remaining part of the 20/25 year term.


http://www.yougen.co.uk/blog-entry/1910/What+happens+to+the+feed-in+tariff+when+you+sell+your+house/

To keep matters simple, after legal completion, I would take a meter reading on that day and I would then contact the present FIT payer. This may be a different energy company than the one that supplies energy to the property.

My FIT Payer (EDF) states the following:

Ownership of the technology is not necessarily linked to the ownership of the property therefore in the case where ownership changes then independent legal advice should be sought. Proof of the transfer of ownership of the installation will be needed by the new owner in order to claim FITs payments. If moving into a rented home then you should discuss with your landlord whether or not you will receive FITs payments.

footyguy

firefitter wrote: »

Hi,
I'm in the process of buying a house which has an existing PV panel array. The original owners (the church of England) had them installed in the very early days and are therefore on a high earning tariff.
I believe the panels were on a part owned basis with the power company but the CofE are buying out the power company's part and can transfer ownership entirely to me as part of the sale.

My question is, what happens when I take ownership? Do I just find a new tariff? Or do the original feed in terms apply?

Any input would be most welcome. Has anyone else gone through this?

John

This is really something you should be asking your soliciotor for advice on.

e.g. when you say the seller is "buying out the power company's part" of the installation, are they actually buying out of the entire contract including the existing FIT contract?
If not, then what are the terms of the existing FIT contract that you will be taking on?

Cardew

The OP has, as suggested, started a thread in the Green and Ethical section.


One further point, as the Church were involved in ownership, they might have taken out a 10 year warranty - worth checking!