Estimated bill savings from solar panels

Coastalwatch

Qyburn said:

Coastalwatch said:

Yes indeed, we all "suffer" with higher consumption in winter and lower PV generation. Several of us mitigate it by investing in Ripples wind turbines, when generation in winter from them ramps up. 

What I'm hoping is that each good Summer months will pay for a bad Winter month. For example June made a surplus of just over £80 (export credit minus usage and standing charge). That should cover a Winter month even with no generation.

I need to look at Ripple again. It didn't look too compelling at first glance, £1,900 to get an estimated annual 2,700kWh. If that pays 2.5p that's only £67.50/year or a touch over 3.5%. I read it correctly there's no income until the wind farm goes live, expected to be in two years.

Hi @Qyburn, You are quite correct, it will not pay a return until the wind farm goes live, but rather than just a hard nosed financial investment I view every fresh kWh invested in renewable energy generation as replacing that of FF in future. Thus bit by bit we are scrubbing it's effects from the countries harmful emissions totals.

It is difficult to put a long term definitive cost saving upon the matter as no one knows what the future price of energy will be. For instance, based on the figures supplied with Ripples first offer, Graig Fatha, projected ROI was 12 years. As it turned out with events conspiring against costs then the return on GF after two years was over 50% so possibly wiping out six ordinary years in one. Having added yesterdays generation in this morning, ROI now totals 60.2% in just coming up to two and half years since generation began.

Just to qualify the 2.5p figure, it is the cost of the wholesale energy price and not that of the saving. This varies from year to year and until recently the wholesale cost of energy had been fairly stable at around 6.5 to 8.5p/kWh with savings being the difference between it and 2.5p, minus the capital depreciation.

It does seem a long time to wait for a return to eventually appear but, other than on the properties we purchase do we expect to see a positive return on everything we buy! 

I wrestled for weeks in trying to come to a decision upon PV in the first place without being certian one way or the other. In the end just coming to the conclusion that it was the right thing to do for the generations that follow us and even if we didn't see a return our offspring eventually would via our small step towards a net zero future.

The path forward is for you to choose and I wish you good luck in coming to a decision you are comfortable with.

 

Qyburn

I might go for Ripple, would have to think it over. It's a bit different from installing solar though. Our solar has added generation that wouldn't have otherwise existed, and I guess like you I went ahead think it's the right thing to do rather than purely for gain.

The Ripple project is going to go ahead whether or not I invest. So the decision doesn't affect how much renewable energy is produced. It just determines whether I benefit (or lose out) financially.

There's a similar quandary locally where large scale windfarms are seriously unpopular, yet community organisations are being offered shared ownership. Are they letting down the community by taking up the offer, or are they gaining some community benefit as consolation for something that's going to go ahead anyway?

Coastalwatch

Qyburn said:

There's a similar quandary locally where large scale windfarms are seriously unpopular, yet community organisations are being offered shared ownership. Are they letting down the community by taking up the offer, or are they gaining some community benefit as consolation for something that's going to go ahead anyway?

In my simple view the only community you might be letting down is that of the natural world together with every human being on it currently engaged on taking personal responsibility for the emissions they generate. Those of us in the west, developed nations mainly that is, create pollution levels per capita,  two to three times that of those in undeveloped societies who are likely to suffer the worst effects of climate change.

Having witnessed a decade of mixed messaging from government then Instead of simply kicking the can further down the road we chose to act decisively appreciating that it is for each of us to determine whether too or not.

As David Dimbleby stated "we are the first generation to understand the reasons behing global warming and the last to do anything about it".

Sadly those opposing wind and solar farms appear mostly ignorant of the benefits they bring in terms of biodiversity, insects, wild life and bird populations not to mention a welcome additional income for the hard pressed food produces.

At the start of the last century, then if the Nimbies of the day had had their way we wouldn't now be blessed with a National Grid, instead relying on multiple independent local generators with differing voltage and frequencies predominantly generating by burning coal. Thank goodness Edward MacColl had the vision, astuteness and drive to create it from clean hydro electric means in the first place to set us on the right course. If only he were still alive today to maintain the momentum he created.

You pays your money and takes your choice.