Government solar panel scheme

moneysaving_butler

Hi all,

I saw an advert which appeared to be endorsed my Martin about the government solar panel scheme where you can get Solar panels installed at no cost. So I applied.

We had a nice chap in our house yesterday to explain the whole situation. All seemed good. The house was in a good area, the figures all seemed to be in our favout and that it would make money.

We were accepted for the loan to pay for the panels and installment at a rate of £150 a month.

Now, we were told that we will be paid out feed in tariff quarterly and that essentially the system would makeus better off by £700 a year.

but I am slightly worried now that I missed something and that we will have £150 coming out of our account, and not enough going back in to cover this on a monthly basis.

I'm still in a position to cancel, but I wondered if anyone ha already taken up this scheme and can shed some light on this. It was all advertised and sold to us that the panels pay for themselves over 8 years, but now I'm not so sure......any knowledgeable people know about this?

It all seemed too good to be true so probably is.

Thank you.

lstar337

Ask in here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=100

That's where the experts are.

matelodave

Yes - do your sums - you pay £150 a month = £1800 a year for how many years???

You get back some random amount based on the vagaries of the sunshine where you live, say £700 plus you can use the leccy that you've generated, say £150 a year and can get some money for any that you don't actually use, say another £150.

That seems to leave you about £800 a year light - arhh, that's probably the interest on the loan for the solar panels.

If you go out and buy the panels without borrowing money and then get all the feed in tariffs, you'll be lucky to break even after 10 years. If you borrow the money then IMHO you've got no chance.

I'd cancel ASAP if I were you

moneysaving_butler

I'll post the same question in the green forum, sorry for posting here!

matelodave, this is what i thought. It was totally sold like it pays for itself straight away, but having done exactly what you did, i figured it didn't make sense at all. I will check it all over but thanks guys.

Baxter100

Run run run run run.

MarkBargain

Cancel!!

Solar panels WERE a great investment before the government slashed the Feed in tariff in January from around 12p to around 4p. Now to get a return you need a really good deal on the solar panels, and that means shopping around, getting several quotes, and really working out the maths carefully. If you have to take a loan...no, no no!

zeupater

Hi All

Update from (and link to) G&E board thread ... consensus there, as here (if the contract allows), is to cancel & run fast ....

HTH
Z

zeupater wrote: »

moneysaving_butler wrote: »

Loan £10,500 repaid over 8 years. 4KW system. Roof Angle 38 degrees east and west facing. Located is Basingstoke. RG postcode region 3 according to the chap that came over.

If you need anything else let me know.

Hi

A 4kWp system should currently cost around half of that and at £150/month over 8 years your total repayment will be £14400, so around 3x the currentcost of a system ....

PVGIS (http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/pvest.php#) suggests that a 4kWp E/W system on a 38Deg roof in/near Basingstoke should generate ~3060kWh/year, so applying the current tariff (https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2016/02/feed-in_tariff_generation_and_export_tables_08.02.2016_-_31.03.2016.pdf) and assuming deemed export the annual FiT will be in the region of £210 ((4.39p+(4.85p/2))*3060) .. allow for annual savings on self consumed electricity at (say) £120 then you're looking at around £330/year saving, that's around £2600 over the period of the 8year/£14400 loan repayment period, or (on a current cost basis) £6600 over the term of the FiT contract ....

If you follow the arithmatic so far and agree ..... look at your cancellation options and run if you can ....

HTH
Z