5% from solar energy: would you invest?

sorcerer

So if I invest say £40,000 which is the maxiumum, and if I get 5% it would take me 20 years to get my investment back?

And in that 20 years, I own part of the solar panels which I can't sell to anybody else if I want my money back early.

So i would nee to wait over 20 years to see any return and hope the government don't pull the rug out from under me. Don't think so.

Why would I not just buy an investment trust that buys Solar Panel plants and get income from that, and I can even sell my shares on the market.

EdGasket

jimjames wrote: »

FTSE has nearly doubled since 2009 even without dividends

..and it is down 15% since the year 2000; that's a loss of 15% for 15 years of investing mitigated by some dividend income less fund fees and charges. It all depends on what timeframe you take.

If you are looking to invest serious money though go for something you can get out of with FSCS protection; at least listed shares offer that.

Malthusian

..and it is down 15% since the year 2000; that's a loss of 15% for 15 years of investing mitigated by some dividend income less fund fees and charges

Dividend income isn't mitigation, it's the larger part of the entire point of investing.

An investment in the FTSE (100) since the year 2000 is up 57.9%. Whether you reinvested dividends or not is irrelevant, if you spent them you had the benefit of whatever you spent them on. And if we are ignoring dividends in the FTSE we also have to ignore the 5% interest on the investment under discussion.

Malthusian

On the same page that they ask you to invest your savings with them, there is a page where you can make a donation, because "any donation however small or large it is will play a part in keeping the project financially viable". Are they still going to be accepting donations when the share offer closes? Will the financial viability of the 5% targeted return be dependent on donations from the public? Completely bizarre. I don't know why anyone would want to be paid interest that partly comes from money donated under the impression that it would be used for charitable purposes.

edinburgher

I'm having solar panels installed on the roof of my house in about a week, they cost less than your proposed £5k investment.

Very different proposition I know, just pointing out that I'm very much a fan of renewable energy.

Despite that, I wouldn't touch this with a bargepole. The return is paltry for the risk involved and there are far easier/cheaper ways to assauge your green conscience if that's a factor. Get your loft insulated, turn down the heating, recycle a bit more (and invest your money wherever the hell you like!)

MarkBargain

edinburgher wrote: »

I'm having solar panels installed on the roof of my house in about a week, they cost less than your proposed £5k investment.

That is a good investment before the government slashes the feed-in-tariff. How much are you paying and for how many panels? I had a 12 panel Sharp / SolarEdge system in September installed for £6,200. They have generated 460 kWh so far, worth £71 income and £49 free electricity (only some of which I will have used). Over the 20 years of the feed-in-tariff I have locked in I expect a very decent return.

jimjames

MarkBargain wrote: »

That is a good investment before the government slashes the feed-in-tariff. How much are you paying and for how many panels? I had a 12 panel Sharp / SolarEdge system in September installed for £6,200. They have generated 460 kWh so far, worth £71 income and £49 free electricity (only some of which I will have used). Over the 20 years of the feed-in-tariff I have locked in I expect a very decent return.

I can't answer for current installations but ours cost just under £9k 4 years ago and have virtually paid for themselves already so the next 20 years will be pure income.

EdGasket wrote: »

..and it is down 15% since the year 2000; that's a loss of 15% for 15 years of investing mitigated by some dividend income less fund fees and charges. It all depends on what timeframe you take.

It's not very helpful to roll out the usual tired misinformation. Dividends are an integral part of returns but as well as it being unlikely that someone invested only at the peak, it's also poor investing if they only invested in a FTSE 100 tracker. My portfolio is showing a very tidy profit since 2000 with some funds up 5x over that period.

MarkBargain

jimjames wrote: »

I can't answer for current installations but ours cost just under £9k 4 years ago and have virtually paid for themselves already so the next 20 years will be pure income.

That sounds a bargain price four years ago, as panel prices were much higher then as were the FiT rates. I got 12.9p and I'd be happy if they paid for themselves in 10 years so the next 10 is pure profit.

Thrugelmir

There's also the Bluefield Solar Income Fund. Currently yields around 7% but does trade at a slight premium to NAV.

http://www.bluefieldsif.com/

gadgetmind

TRIG is also on a small premium, but nothing compared to the likes of HICL! 10% over NAV, which makes me a nervous holder.