Clueless about solar panels

lcgoodac

Hi

We are buying a house which has solar panels fitted (bought outright 5/6 years ago)

How do they work and what do we need to do with regards our energy supplier when we move?

Thanks

Lucy

ASavvyBuyer

lcgoodac wrote: »

Hi

We are buying a house which has solar panels fitted (bought outright 5/6 years ago)

How do they work and what do we need to do with regards our energy supplier when we move?

Thanks

Lucy

Have a read though the FAQ on this thread for info about how they work.

Ensure that your solicitor/conveyancer gets all the info from the current owner for the registration of the panels & the FIT payments and checks all is in order.

Regarding energy supplier, you will be on a "deemed" contract with whoever currently supplies the property and will need to register with them and provide meter readings on the day you move in. You can then do a comparison and switch to another supplier. They don't have to be the same company as who pays the FIT payments.

Ectophile

If the system qualifies for FIT (Feed-in Tariff) payments, then you need to register with an electricity company that handles them (that's most of the big suppliers). The amount you get will depend on when the system was installed, and how much electricity you generate every year.

Make sure the FIT entitlement is transferred to you as part of the sale. Don't forget to claim, as the amount you earn in FIT payments can be substantial (mine more than pays all my gas and electricity bills every year).

This money is in addition to all the free electricity you get when it's sunny.

EricMears

Ectophile wrote: »

If the system qualifies for FIT (Feed-in Tariff) payments, then you need to register with an electricity company that handles them (that's most of the big suppliers). The amount you get will depend on when the system was installed, and how much electricity you generate every year.

Lucy did explain that the solar panels on the new house were fitted 5/6 years ago. They must surely have been registered for the FIT scheme then and all that is now needed is for Lucy (or preferably her solicitor) to find out which company they're registered with and make sure that the contract is transferred to her. In the (unlikely) event that they're not already registered for FIT then there's no chance of registering them now. Really no point in transferring the FIT contract to a different supplier.

Her electricity supply arrangements are not tied to the FIT supplier. She'll be able to change suppliers when she moves in (and as often as she likes after that).

alexxela

hello everyone. i am new in this business. can anyone please explain in few lines what does this solar panel thing means? a company is using your roof to put their panels? he amount of energy that you re using it s free and everything that s extra, you will be payed by that company, possibly as a much lower rate? thanks in advance.

Ectophile

alexxela wrote: »

hello everyone. i am new in this business. can anyone please explain in few lines what does this solar panel thing means? a company is using your roof to put their panels? he amount of energy that you re using it s free and everything that s extra, you will be payed by that company, possibly as a much lower rate? thanks in advance.

There are two options:

1. A "rent a roof" scheme. You allow a company to install their solar panels on your roof. They claim the feed-in-tariff for the electricity their panels generate. You get free electricity during the day. the upside is that you pay nothing. The down-side is that you have to sign over the rights to use your roof for a long period, which may be awkward if you try to sell the house.
2. You buy your own solar panels. You get the feed-in-tariff for the electricity, and free electricity during the day. The down-side is that you have to pay several thousand pounds for the panels. The upside is that the panels can be sold with the house - no third party contracts involved.