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

Bendy_House

I don't know if battery costs have fallen enough to make adding one viable? This way you have access to the leccy produced at a time that actually suits your use.

Maton, almost certainly the whole caboodle will be transferred to you, but - just in case it isn't - my personal take is that I wouldn't entertain having someone else's panels on my roof.

Ok, in your case, with such a recent build, it's unlikely to be a practical issue - your roof should last donkey's, and it's unlikely you'll be converting the loft? So, you might decide it's still worth it. But, I think I'd be working out what sort of sums they'll be earning over the next, say, decade, and suggesting they consider offering a split as compensation...

maton91

Ok I've emailed my solicitor asking to confirm if the the TP1 form sufficient proof that I will own the PV panels wholly or will there be additional documentation confirming this.

I've also stated as these PV panels were installed in June 2014 and therefore before the ceasing of the Feed In Tariff (FIT) scheme in March 2019 I would expect these PV panels to be eligible for receiving Feed in Tariffs (FIT) payments. Therefore what is the status of the FIT on these PV panels, are the FIT contract documents available from the vendor and will the transfer of these to me be included in the contract so I can benefit from the receiving the FIT payments.

Fingers crossed all will be fine!

anselld

maton91 said:

Ok I've emailed my solicitor asking to confirm if the the TP1 form sufficient proof that I will own the PV panels wholly or will there be additional documentation confirming this.

I've also stated as these PV panels were installed in June 2014 and therefore before the ceasing of the Feed In Tariff (FIT) scheme in March 2019 I would expect these PV panels to be eligible for receiving Feed in Tariffs (FIT) payments. Therefore what is the status of the FIT on these PV panels, are the FIT contract documents available from the vendor and will the transfer of these to me be included in the contract so I can benefit from the receiving the FIT payments.

Fingers crossed all will be fine!

I sold a property with FIT a couple of years ago.  The buyer requested a copy of the MCS certificate via solicitors.  The FIT supplier provided a contract handover pack for the new owners once I had submitted the final generation readings on completion.  That was it.

As stated further up thread your solicitor needs to ensure ...

  (a)  That the panels are fully owned.   Just because they were fitted by the builder that is not conclusive.  Not beyond a builder to lease the roof/panels from day one of a new build or get them installed by some rent-a-roof company as part of the build.

  (b) They were MCS approved, as evidenced by MCS certificate

  (c)  That they were registered at the time of installation for a FIT contract, that contract is still in place and that contract is being transferred as  condition of sale.  It is not sufficient to know the installation date because installations cannot be entered for a contract retrospectively no matter what evidence you have of the install date.  If there is no FIT contract now, that's how it stays.

maton91

anselld said:

maton91 said:

Ok I've emailed my solicitor asking to confirm if the the TP1 form sufficient proof that I will own the PV panels wholly or will there be additional documentation confirming this.

I've also stated as these PV panels were installed in June 2014 and therefore before the ceasing of the Feed In Tariff (FIT) scheme in March 2019 I would expect these PV panels to be eligible for receiving Feed in Tariffs (FIT) payments. Therefore what is the status of the FIT on these PV panels, are the FIT contract documents available from the vendor and will the transfer of these to me be included in the contract so I can benefit from the receiving the FIT payments.

Fingers crossed all will be fine!

I sold a property with FIT a couple of years ago.  The buyer requested a copy of the MCS certificate via solicitors.  The FIT supplier provided a contract handover pack for the new owners once I had submitted the final generation readings on completion.  That was it.

As stated further up thread your solicitor needs to ensure ...

  (a)  That the panels are fully owned.   Just because they were fitted by the builder that is not conclusive.  Not beyond a builder to lease the roof/panels from day one of a new build or get them installed by some rent-a-roof company as part of the build.

  (b) They were MCS approved, as evidenced by MCS certificate

  (c)  That they were registered at the time of installation for a FIT contract, that contract is still in place and that contract is being transferred as  condition of sale.  It is not sufficient to know the installation date because installations cannot be entered for a contract retrospectively no matter what evidence you have of the install date.  If there is no FIT contract now, that's how it stays.

Thanks for your post, especially as you have experience with selling a property with FIT payments.

I forgot to ask abou the MCS certificate so I have followed it up with my solicitor. At least the questions have been asked so hopefully the vendor will be quick with the responses!

maton91

Received an email from my solicitor with a copy of the MCS installation certificate, FIT plan details and information how to transfer to a new customer.

Get in!

70sbudgie

I have heard from a couple of people (one buying, one selling) that transferring ownership of the FIT payments with the FIT provider can be slow and painful, so you might want to consider asking your solicitor to do that as part of the purchase, as they should have all the legal documents to hand and the legal authority to prove your identity etc.

maton91

Just to confirm my understanding:

The FIT plan I received states in October 2014 the rate that will be paid for each unit of electricity generated by the PV panels was 14.38p, and 4.77p for supplying back to the grid.

Say the current unit of electricity is 30p per kWh, and the FIT plan today is 15p paid per unit generated, am I right in saying that I will essensially be receiving a 50% rebate? If so, that's excellent!

What is the current FIT payment and what will it be in October when prices rise?

EricMears

maton91 said:

Just to confirm my understanding:

The FIT plan I received states in October 2014 the rate that will be paid for each unit of electricity generated by the PV panels was 14.38p, and 4.77p for supplying back to the grid.

Say the current unit of electricity is 30p per kWh, and the FIT plan today is 15p paid per unit generated, am I right in saying that I will essensially be receiving a 50% rebate? If so, that's excellent!

What is the current FIT payment and what will it be in October when prices rise?

It's not a 'rebate' on your import bill but a completely separate payment system - usually paid quarterly.

 You can download the current rates from this page :https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/feed-tariff-fit-tariff-table-1-april-2022

Rates won't go up until 1st April (by whatever inflation rate will be announce in December) when you can either download an updated version from similar url or keep watching these pages as someone is bound to post a message when increase announced.

maton91

EricMears said:

maton91 said:

Just to confirm my understanding:

The FIT plan I received states in October 2014 the rate that will be paid for each unit of electricity generated by the PV panels was 14.38p, and 4.77p for supplying back to the grid.

Say the current unit of electricity is 30p per kWh, and the FIT plan today is 15p paid per unit generated, am I right in saying that I will essensially be receiving a 50% rebate? If so, that's excellent!

What is the current FIT payment and what will it be in October when prices rise?

You can download the current rates from this page :https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/feed-tariff-fit-tariff-table-1-april-2022

Rates won't go up until 1st April (by whatever inflation rate will be announce in December) when you can either download an updated version from similar url or keep watching these pages as someone is bound to post a message when increase announced.

Thanks for this, much appreciated.

Is my understanding correct with regards to the payments based on the figures in my post?

EricMears

maton91 said:

Thanks for this, much appreciated.

Is my understanding correct with regards to the payments based on the figures in my post?

There are several variables you need to consider.  The spreadsheet you can download from the link I quoted makes it (slightly !) clear for which rate you qualify.