Queries on Solar Panels (PV panels) on the house I am buying

maton91

Hello all,

I am buying a house that has solar panels (PV panels) installed on the roof. I queried the ownership of these during my first pass of the contract documentation and the vendor has confirmed the solar panels were installed as part of the original build of the house in June 2014.I have the TP1 and CS1 forms from the vendor and depicts the PV cells in the original plot drawing and covenants about the maintenance of these. Therefore is this sufficient proof that the PV panels are mine?

If so, as these were installed in June 2014 I understand I am eligible for receiving Feed In tariffs (FITs) as the applicants closed in March 2019. If so, what do I need to provide to my energy provider to ensure I receive the FITs please, particularly regarding the transfer of ownership of the PV panels? Is the information from the TP1/CS1 forms enough?

Also, how are PV panels usually wired in the house. Is there a cable from the PV panels straight to the Meter or something else?

Thanks in advance!

ProDave

You NEED the FIT contract documents from the vendor and their agreement in the contract that the FIT payments will be assigned to you on completion.

A lot of builders have been in the habit of installing a small number of PV panels on new builds for some time as a cheap and easy way to improve the SAP score to pass building regs, a sort of admission they they are still building houses with too little insulation to pass building regs without a little "help". In this case they may not have been installed by an MCS company and may not ever have been eligible for the FIT. If that is the case you will get some energy saving (free electricity) from them but that is all.

maton91

ProDave said:

You NEED the FIT contract documents from the vendor and their agreement in the contract that the FIT payments will be assigned to you on completion.

A lot of builders have been in the habit of installing a small number of PV panels on new builds for some time as a cheap and easy way to improve the SAP score to pass building regs, a sort of admission they they are still building houses with too little insulation to pass building regs without a little "help". In this case they may not have been installed by an MCS company and may not ever have been eligible for the FIT. If that is the case you will get some energy saving (free electricity) from them but that is all.

Thanks for your reply, I'll ask my solictor to chase.

Does the PV panels stated in the TP1/CS1 forms I have at least prove I own them as they are part of the house build? I guess then the query is if they were installed by an MCS contractor and then regsitered before March 2019. The new build houses at the time were build by Barrat homes, surely they would've used someone reputable for the PV panels? I'm only surmising of course!

Are there other scheme I could enrol in like FIT so I gain some form of rebate other than the discounted electric?

 With regards to the discounted electric, how it this cabled out from the PV panel?

Bendy_House

'Just' because they are on your roof, doesn't mean you 'own' them! But, I suspect in your case, you will - but you need to have that nailed down. Inc the FIT.

It is quite possible to sell a house with PV panels, but to retain the FIT when you move on - the new owner will then only benefit from the leccy generated, and will also have the potential hassle of having folk in to maintain panels which aren't even theirs. Or, worse, to have to ask permission if you need to do work on your own roof and the panels are in the way - loft conversions, for example.

So, make sure your conveyancing solicitor ensures it's transferred to you, lock, stock and FIT.

How does it work? In the house will be an inverter, which is a small-suitcase-sized box on the wall which converts the PV panel's DC output, to AC, and match this to the household mains.

What should happen automatically is that any leccy generated is then consumed first. The inverter will have a generation display on it to show what's being produced at that moment. If it's, say, 2kW, then you can run up to 2kW's of devices in your home, and your electricity meter shouldn't 'spin' at all. If you draw 2.2kW, then you'll only be taking 200W from the mains supply, and that's all that'll show on your meter - so a large saving.

In addition to the inverter and its 'instant' display, there will be a small generation meter which tallies up the TOTAL amount generated since it was fitted. This is the reading you'll be asked to submit to whoever is providing the FIT to the house (I wouldn't bother changing who this is, tho' I think you can if you really want?). Your FIT payments will then be sent to you on a - I think - quarterly basis. The amount will be made up of a larger figure which is the FIT, and a smaller amount which is them paying you for giving them some of your electricity for the grid to use. They don't know the actual figure, but - for convenience - they plumb for it being 50:50 - ie, that you use half, and they take half.

So, there's two amounts you'll be given at the same time - the larger FIT which is based on EVERYTHING you generate, and this payment is done as an incentive for folk to fit the panels in the first place (it wouldn't be cost-effective without it). FIT payments continue for, I think, 25 years, so you could have 17 more years of this! Nice. Then there's the smaller sum they give you for you theoretically giving them some of your leccy - as I said, it's based on half your generation, and is a much smaller sum per kW'hr anyway.

Just ask your conveyancer to confirm it'll be signed over in total.

Bendy_House

It might depend on when in 2014 your system was installed: http://www.greengenuk.com/solar-pv-feed-in-tariff-rates-april-2014/

In any case, you'll almost certainly find yourself being 'smart' and using the W/M when the sun is out, that sort of stuff.

If you have a hot water storage cylinder, then see if it has an 'Immersun' or similar, which is a device that'll automatically send spare PV leccy to your immersion heater.

maton91

Bendy_House said:

'Just' because they are on your roof, doesn't mean you 'own' them! But, I suspect in your case, you will - but you need to have that nailed down. Inc the FIT.

It is quite possible to sell a house with PV panels, but to retain the FIT when you move on - the new owner will then only benefit from the leccy generated, and will also have the potential hassle of having folk in to maintain panels which aren't even theirs. Or, worse, to have to ask permission if you need to do work on your own roof and the panels are in the way - loft conversions, for example.

So, make sure your conveyancing solicitor ensures it's transferred to you, lock, stock and FIT.

How does it work? In the house will be an inverter, which is a small-suitcase-sized box on the wall which converts the PV panel's DC output, to AC, and match this to the household mains.

What should happen automatically is that any leccy generated is then consumed first. The inverter will have a generation display on it to show what's being produced at that moment. If it's, say, 2kW, then you can run up to 2kW's of devices in your home, and your electricity meter shouldn't 'spin' at all. If you draw 2.2kW, then you'll only be taking 200W from the mains supply, and that's all that'll show on your meter - so a large saving.

In addition to the inverter and its 'instant' display, there will be a small generation meter which tallies up the TOTAL amount generated since it was fitted. This is the reading you'll be asked to submit to whoever is providing the FIT to the house (I wouldn't bother changing who this is, tho' I think you can if you really want?). Your FIT payments will then be sent to you on a - I think - quarterly basis. The amount will be made up of a larger figure which is the FIT, and a smaller amount which is them paying you for giving them some of your electricity for the grid to use. They don't know the actual figure, but - for convenience - they plumb for it being 50:50 - ie, that you use half, and they take half.

So, there's two amounts you'll be given at the same time - the larger FIT which is based on EVERYTHING you generate, and this payment is done as an incentive for folk to fit the panels in the first place (it wouldn't be cost-effective without it). FIT payments continue for, I think, 25 years, so you could have 17 more years of this! Nice. Then there's the smaller sum they give you for you theoretically giving them some of your leccy - as I said, it's based on half your generation, and is a much smaller sum per kW'hr anyway.

Just ask your conveyancer to confirm it'll be signed over in total.

Thanks so much for your reply, very useful.

It's the one thing I want to have maximum benefit from so will ensure my solicitor gets this sorted. They have been great so far with chasing things down and regular comms so I'm sure it will all be fine

ProDave

Do you have a picture of the roof (from the sales particulars?) so we can see how many panels?

maton91

ProDave said:

Do you have a picture of the roof (from the sales particulars?) so we can see how many panels?

I've snipped the roof from Google Earth; 8x PV panels fitted to the back roof asit's south facing:

Most houses on the estate have 8x PV panels fitted

ComicGeek

maton91 said:

ProDave said:

Do you have a picture of the roof (from the sales particulars?) so we can see how many panels?

I've snipped the roof from Google Earth; 8x PV panels fitted to the back roof asit's south facing:

Most houses on the estate have 8x PV panels fitted

Most panels at that time were 250Wp, so likely to
be a round 2kWp system - probably in response to a planning condition with that system
size, is this in Greater London?

Should generate around 1800kWh/yr, but you might only be able to use about 40% of this unless you are a very high elec user.

maton91

ComicGeek said:

maton91 said:

ProDave said:

Do you have a picture of the roof (from the sales particulars?) so we can see how many panels?

I've snipped the roof from Google Earth; 8x PV panels fitted to the back roof asit's south facing:

Most houses on the estate have 8x PV panels fitted

Most panels at that time were 250Wp, so likely to
be a round 2kWp system - probably in response to a planning condition with that system
size, is this in Greater London?

Should generate around 1800kWh/yr, but you might only be able to use about 40% of this unless you are a very high elec user.

It's a perk to receive discounted electric, especially with energy bills on the rise!

Not in London, this is in the midlands (Coventry)

michelle09

Are the panels pigeon proofed? Unless you don't mind the noise I would check before you move in. Pigeons like to nest beneath the panels and wake up very early in the summer!

In the summer of 2020 our electric bills in the summer were about £5/month on a 9 panel system. So even without FIT they can be very nice.

But would definitely check if they are on the FIT and if the vendors are planning to pass the FIT on - they could be planning to keep it. If they say they will pass it over then personally I'd get it in writing via the solicitors in case they back out later.