Solar panel quote

Screwdriva

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82080216#Comment_82080216

Making it as close to being a no brainer is why I do what I do. In the end, when the Earth burns, what good will money do?

sajag83

sorry for the late reply been on holiday. I will need to wait for the recommended installer to come and do a survey as electrifusion surveyor came thursday and he said max i can fit is 12 panels as there is alot of shade so if i go for more than 12 then i need to buy solar panel optimisers which they sell £45 each

Screwdriva

I would recommend asking any surveyor the max # of panels that will fit without shading across your South/ West/ East aspects. From there, you should receive a panel layout & quote.

Each panel should have 3 bypass diodes and can easily tolerate mild shading, especially if these panels are isolated to a single, separate string (the PW3 can take 3 strings in total). Optimization may not be required, depending largely on the severity of the shading.

Newbie_John

@sajag83 , also a quick question - are you planning to take a loan to purchase it or will you pay with savings?

sajag83

i am looking to taking it out on finance so will spread costs up to 15–20 years

Newbie_John

Just asking, as we've spoken earlier - gilt return is about 6%, solar if all goes well more - lets say 8-10% return - but taking it on finance - lets say 7% loan, really takes us back to this not making financial sense..

Screwdriva

£1700/ £12500 = ~13.5%, with the previously shared caveats. Depending on your mortgage provider, you may qualify for either a £500/ £1000 mortgage credit (Barclays/ Lloyds/ Halifax) or a 0% loan for up to 5 years (Nationwide).

If those options do not exist for you, simply putting the cost of the system of a 0% interest credit card for 18-24 months should do the trick.

debitcardmayhem

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082030#Comment_82082030

Whatever floats your boat, personally I know tomorrow is Monday, after that I don't know but i'm hoping it may be Tuesday but that doesn't make sense either because I don't know if I'll be able to say the same tomorrow.

p.s. the way this country is going gilts will be 12% soon or maybe 2.5%.

Newbie_John

I think the financial return is being pushed to the linits here.

Adding a loan of 7% doubles the length of payback - which before we agreed was between 7-13 years (optimistic and pessmistic points of view).

But the salesmen for sure promised 6 years payback ..

Newbie_John

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082092#Comment_82082092

With gilt price it doesnt matter what they will be - we're locking till maturity. This is just an example as i find using other alternatives like Greencoat UKW too difficult to predict. Anyway, theyre not an option here as you need cash.

But if you believe they will go to 12% then it definitely makes no sense for OP to do solar on Finance, just wait.

Original £12k to pay back becomes: £16k on 3% loan, £19k on 5%, £22k on 7%, £26k on 9% for 20 years.

At 7% thats £93 a month - and your electricity bill is currently about £65 a month (£50 electricity)

Not knowing all the details i think - OP is likely to lose money here.