Energy Saving Trust Solar Panel calculator excludes annual maintenance

Netexporter

Qyburn said:

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?

I imagine that would have been before Dieselgate. It's still cheaper to produce diesel, than petrol, and diesel is more energy dense, but it is more heavily taxed to (theoretically) mitigate its environmental downsides.

iwaddo77

The UK government that promised diesel fuel would always be cheaper than petrol was led by Tony Blair and the Labour Party in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The promise was made in the context of a policy to encourage the use of diesel cars due to their lower CO2 emissions compared to petrol vehicles at the time.

In 1999, Chancellor Gordon Brown (under Blair's government) made a statement that diesel would remain cheaper than petrol, partly to incentivize the transition to more fuel-efficient diesel vehicles.

mmmmikey

Netexporter said:

Qyburn said:

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?

I imagine that would have been before Dieselgate. It's still cheaper to produce diesel, than petrol, and diesel is more energy dense, but it is more heavily taxed to (theoretically) mitigate its environmental downsides.

You say it's more heavily taxed but fuel duty is the same for diesel and petrol - or are you referring to a different tax?

It's my understanding that the difference in cost attributed to market factors such as production costs (which I thought were higher for diesel due to the refining process and lack of UK refineries) and supply and demand (with demand for China being a major factor on one point).

Stubod

We have had a few quotes this year, none have included "maintenance", but most have included a cost for replacing the inverter and battery at around 10 years, and this is a relatively significant cost which takes the "pay back" to around 15 - 17 years...