Solar Panels on a Right to Buy property

Amyyy_123

Hello 

I am currently going through the R2B process and I have been presented with a few options regarding the solar panels on the roof. I wondered if anyone had any advice on the potential pros and cons and impact when reselling of each. 

1. Have the panels outright (unknown whether this bill will be to me or the housing association yet) and get the FIT tariff till 2034 (around £450 a year) and the electricity it generates. And will need to pay for upkeep costs (inverter likely to go at year 10 costing around £1000).

2. Continue leasing the roof. We will get the free electricity and they will pay for upkeep costs but do not get the FIT. Own them after 2034. 

3. Or have them removed (again unknown whether fee for this will be billed to us or housing association who the contract is with)

Any help will be appreciated as I have no clue!!!

Rheumatoid

Might be better posting here:

Green & Ethical MoneySaving — MoneySavingExpert Forum

as a lot of solar experience

Benny2020

If you own them outright you would get about £6500 up to 2034 and free electricity.
If you Lease them you get free electricity but could have problems when/if you want to sell the house.
Having them removed doesn't make any sense at all.

jimjames

3 would be insane. I can't see any reason why you would want to do that but really depends on the costs between 1 & 2. I assume they would be wanting some payment so it comes down to the cost vs payback.

Flight3287462

How much are they going to cost to buy out the lease on the panels?  How old are the panels?  

matelodave

Personally, I reckon you would be better off owning them especially if they are still getting FIT payments as they are subject to guaranteed inflation rises until 2034 and of course you'd still get use of all the leccy they generate.

Even if you do need a new inverter and it does cost £1000 (which I'd doubt) then I reckon you'll still be in profit. How much are the HA charging you to take them over, as they may be factoring in their less of income over the next 12 years so you really need to do the sums

lf the HA continue to lease the roof then you may have problems if you decide to sell up in the next 12 years, however you'd still have the benefit of free leccy

Probably the worse thing to do is have them taken down as you'll miss out on the free leccy and it may damage the roof depending on how they were fixed in the first place.

As an aside, compared with the number of solar installations over the past years, how many people have actually had an inverter die on them and how much has it really cost to have one replaced. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen but I really do wonder whether it's actually a real or imaginary problem - is there any official data on the subject

I suggest that this may be another scary story that gets put about, a bit like the days when people got colour TV's and there were stories about how much a new tube would cost - I never knew anyone who ended up with a tube failure but I knew a fair few who were persuaded to buy very expensive insurances just in case.

QrizB

I've replied to your thread on Green & Ethical.

I agree that you should keep them; option 1 if the cost to buy out the lease is under £5k (and you can afford it), option 2 if not.

A replacement inverter should be less than half the £1000 cost you mention.

Benny2020

2016 does not tie in with 2034 end date?

QrizB

Benny2020 said:

2016 does not tie in with 2034 end date?

Agreed; I'd assumed a 2014 install and 20-year FIT.

Benny2020

How many panels/kwp?

Reed_Richards

Amyyy_123 said:

...also I think it would be difficult to resell the house if my roof was rented. 

Okay so my question now seems to be, would it be better to own the panels out right or lease? Thanks so much!

So surely you have answered your own question?  You either own the panels or own a house that would be difficult to resell (until after 2034).