Pitch for solar panels query

Chrispoker

Hi everyone

I'd like to ask opinions here about a pitch we had for solar panels in which I think my wife and I may not have been given correct information.

It started on Tuesday (26 April) with a cold call from a company to my wife saying they install solar panels in our area, asking whether we would be interested in a visit from a salesman. She agreed and he came yesterday (27 April). Before this we both knew very little about solar power other than we'd heard government tariffs and incentives had been reduced recently.

He was warm and friendly but some of the things he told us rang alarm bells with me. He told us our roof could fit a 3.7kw array, possibly or 4.0kw. He told us the price for this would be £6,000.

We told him that our electricity bill is about £70 a month, £840 per year. He put the numbers in to a spreadsheet on his computer and said this showed us that in the first year, including the free electricity for us to use and the payments for the power we generate we would end up over £900 better off (excluding the cost of the panels). He projected it forward and showed us that after 25 years, we would be just over £63,000 better off - taking away the cost of the panels this left us with a net gain of £57,000. I was very skeptical and told him we would need to think about this before making any decisions.

He told us that the tariff was changing at the end of the month and there would be a new lower rate from the 1st May. We would need to sign up this week to take advantage of the higher rate, which would then be guaranteed for 20 years and index linked. If we didn't sign up before the end of April we'd get a lower rate, we'd still make money but not as much.

He said we could use a finance package to pay. The £6,000 could be paid a little each month over 10 years, total cost £6,800, and if we wanted to we could pay back all or part of it early with no penalty.

I've tried to find information online to back up what he has said but I can find nothing to support the amount he's claiming we can make/save on our energy bills - various online calculators suggest he's overestimating it by a factor of 10. I cannot find anything to suggest the FIT rate or anything else is changing at the end of this month - I think the FIT rate is fixed between the start of April and the end of June. I am also very skeptical of the finance package details he told us but we didn't ask many questions about that as by then I'd convinced myself he wasn't to be trusted.

Please can any more knowledgeable members of the forum confirm either that we met a shyster, or let me know that his projections might possibly be true and I'm too cynical for my own good. Thanks!

Martyn1981

Hiya and welcome to the forum.

The pitch is garbage. Have a read of sections 1 and 2 of the PV FAQs, whilst I put a more detailed reply together.

Mart.

Martyn1981

Right, let's assume a 4kWp array. Now, I don't know where you live, but if you have a look at section 5 of the FAQs there's a very handy and accurate website for estimating generation. If you're not sure, then just post your nearest city, or the first half of your postcode, plus your roof orientation, and if you know it, your approx roof pitch.

For now, let's assume you have a nice south facing roof, little shading and the potential for 4,000kWh's pa.

This will earn you:-
1. FiT at 4.32p/kWh = £172.80
2. Export. this is paid at 4.91p/kWh on an assumed 50% = £98.20
3. Leccy savings. I usually suggest £120 (£80 to £160), but you have a very high leccy consumption, so yours may be at the upper end, or potentially even more, say £200. But that's a complete guess and will depend on usage patterns.

Total £173 + £98 + £120 = £391pa.

Next. the FiT rate doesn't drop next week, it drops on 1/7/16 from 4.32p to 4.25p, hardly panic worthy (info in Section 1.1 of the FAQs).

Price. £6k is too high, some hagglers on here paid £4.5k a year ago. These are tough targets, but doable. With an income of £391 you can't pay £6k and certainly not with finance on top.

Leccy prices. I assume the £63k is based on ludicrously high assumptions of the amount of generation you consume, and similarly stupid projections of above inflationary rises in leccy costs. Remember that we are well into the programme of rolling out renewables and their costs have fallen massively. During this time the grid costs of generating leccy have actually fallen a bit from 5p/kWh to closer to 4p.

But even if 5p, and they double, that would only add 5p to your final bill, which may already be 13p (for example) so a 40% increase to 18p.

Keep a cool head, keep chatting on here, it's a fun subject but lots to take in, get some more quotes, take your time, have a good ponder.

All the best Mart.

Chrispoker

Hi Mart

Thank you very much for your reply. I'm assuming this must be a big part of the projected figures, from the FAQ:

"Similarly, some quotes project enormous savings in the future via compounding large annual bill increases for the whole 20 years. Do not be misled, future prices remain an unknown, for decision purposes only expect reasonable annual savings."

Even so it doesn't explain all of it, I am not sure how he got over £900 saving (not including the cost of the panels) for year 1. I think he was just saying what he thought we'd want to hear/believe, which seems to be that we wouldn't have to pay anything for electricity every again.

Edit to add - thanks again for a more detailed reply I will read now

Martyn1981

Chrispoker wrote: »

Hi Mart

Thank you very much for your reply. I'm assuming this must be a big part of the projected figures, from the FAQ:

I believe you've hit the nail firmly on the head. :T

Mart.