Energy Saving Trust Solar Panel calculator excludes annual maintenance

mmmmikey

iwaddo77 said:

Thank you everyone for your help.

Given the very long payment recovery period I’m very unlikely to proceed, cannot really see the point, but if I do I will be including a provision for maintenance in my modelling.

I am the person who believed, when told, that diesel will always be cheaper than petrol so bought a diesel car.

Hi, FWIW quite apart from the discussion around maintenance charges it's my view that the best time to buy solar panels is behind us. There's a huge amount of solar generation about to start in the next few years and any panels you bought would be generating energy at the same time and it seems inevitable that export rates will go down. So there really is no certainty of a payback. And it's good to err on the side of caution on respect of maintenance charges - although mine don't need cleaning and there really isn't anything else I can think of to maintain, I have £750 set aside just in case the inverter fails at some point. 

iwaddo77

Yes, that’s really where my thinking is. Technology changes and I’m anticipating solutions for cheaper energy to arrive within the suggested payback period for my property. 

debitcardmayhem

One point that doesn’t appear to have been covered, the cost scaffolding to inspect / maintain the panels. Just saying of course ..

iwaddo77

Exactly......

mmmmikey

debitcardmayhem said:

One point that doesn’t appear to have been covered, the cost scaffolding to inspect / maintain the panels. Just saying of course ..

With a bit of planning, couldn't you avoid that cost by doing your panel maintenance at the same time as your TV aerial maintenance?

debitcardmayhem

mmmmikey said:

debitcardmayhem said:

One point that doesn’t appear to have been covered, the cost scaffolding to inspect / maintain the panels. Just saying of course ..

With a bit of planning, couldn't you avoid that cost by doing your panel maintenance at the same time as your TV aerial maintenance?

Mines in the loft!

jimjames

QrizB said:

iwaddo77 said:

 Just because people don’t have theirs cleaned does not mean they do not need cleaning to keep them efficient. 

Some years are better than others, but that's due to the weather. This year might turn out to be my best ever.

Yep, far more variation due to weather than any maintenance or cleaning

http://solar-panels-review.321web.co.uk/index.php/yearly-comparison-of-solar-pv

Alnat1

Cleaning solar panels can actually be bad for them, especially if you use tap water. You can end up with calcium deposits on them that will reduce their generation.

General advice is to leave it all to nature, rainwater is the best cleaner.

mmmmikey

iwaddo77 said:

Yes, that’s really where my thinking is. Technology changes and I’m anticipating solutions for cheaper energy to arrive within the suggested payback period for my property. 

Here's something to ponder on.....

The same forces that seem likely to drive down export rates - i.e. a surplus of supply when the sun is shining - also means that for those on time of use tariffs there should be an adundance of cheap rate electricity available. And the same can be said for wind energy at the times when supply is high in relation to demand (often overnight). So there are real benefits to investing in a battery system so you can buy your electrcity when it's cheap ready to use when it's convenient. Even at today's rate it's not difficult to halve your electricity costs (vs SVR) and that's a trend that seems likely to continue.

Of course, you still need to do the sums and there's never going to be any guarantee, but my own view is that battery technology represents a much safer investment than solar panels at the moment and likely to remain that way. A lot of it comes down to the level of risk you are comfortable with.

Qyburn

iwaddo77 said:

I am the person who believed, when told, that diesel will always be cheaper than petrol so bought a diesel car.

Who told you that?