Solar Panel Megathread

[Sam @ Dearne]

I was just about to post that it sounds too good to be true and its probably a load of old cobblers. But now we have a forumer who can report back on things, it sounds interesting. I just want to know what the installer gets out of it and who actually pays for it?

[HotPhil]

From the sounds of it they get their income from surplus electricity being fed back into the grid.

[Sam @ Dearne]

From the sounds of it they get their income from surplus electricity being fed back into the grid.

 

So is that why they need massive roofs to put loads on panels on to produce surplus electricity?

[rothschild]

They are big installations. Eighteen panels in all. It's a 3.3kw system which operates during daylight hours. Obviously the brighter and sunnier the day is then the more leccy they will produce.

There is another thread running on this on the sheffield board but I haven't added to that one yet.

The company are technically renting the space above your roof. They get the "feed in tarriff's" as payment and in return you get to use the free electricity generated by the panels. You can use as much as you like but it only works during daylight hours. It can't be stored for later usage.

The company own the panels but after 25 years they are yours if you wish to keep them.

There is absolutely no cost to the home owner whatsoever. The company both maintain and insure the panels and will even remove/replace them twice during the 25 year agreement period at their own expense, in order for you to do any maintainance work etc on your roof.

 

You could of course pay for your own system (approx 20,000 for the one we are having) and claim the FIT for yourself.....approx £800 per year, but you would be waiting many years for the system to pay for itself. The beauty of this scheme is that you will immediately be getting literally something for nothing.

We couldn't afford to install this system so I look on it as having something that we wouldn't normally have had so therefore we aren't really losing anything at all.

 

To qualify you will need a roof space of 24 square metre's (I think) so it is quite a big roof. It will also have to be totally free from any shadowing, and south facing. These conditions have to be met in order for the system to be able to perform to it's maximum.

 

I can't wait for ours to be installed now.

[rothschild]

I should have said that I haven't recently added to the other thread........not since we got the go ahead anyhow.

[Andy Rowland]

Hi All, ...Take a look at this...http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/free-solar-panels

 

:-)

[911wasalie]

If you're young enough the system will pay for itself over time. The major problem is always how to store the store the electricity, batteries are the most convenient method. Don't forget the output from solar panels is Direct Current ( D.C ) so you'll need an inverter of sufficient output for your needs. Some of the cheaper inverters don't push out a pure sine wave.

[erebus]

The best way to get them for free is to nick them, a tried and tested way, that if planned correctly, executed properly, leaving no trace, wear gloves etc.

 

Can anyone tell me where to buy a money tree, been round all the garden centers?

[Cyclone]

They are big installations. Eighteen panels in all. It's a 3.3kw system which operates during daylight hours. Obviously the brighter and sunnier the day is then the more leccy they will produce.

There is another thread running on this on the sheffield board but I haven't added to that one yet.

The company are technically renting the space above your roof. They get the "feed in tarriff's" as payment and in return you get to use the free electricity generated by the panels. You can use as much as you like but it only works during daylight hours. It can't be stored for later usage.

The company own the panels but after 25 years they are yours if you wish to keep them.

There is absolutely no cost to the home owner whatsoever. The company both maintain and insure the panels and will even remove/replace them twice during the 25 year agreement period at their own expense, in order for you to do any maintainance work etc on your roof.

 

You could of course pay for your own system (approx 20,000 for the one we are having) and claim the FIT for yourself.....approx £800 per year, but you would be waiting many years for the system to pay for itself. The beauty of this scheme is that you will immediately be getting literally something for nothing.

We couldn't afford to install this system so I look on it as having something that we wouldn't normally have had so therefore we aren't really losing anything at all.

 

To qualify you will need a roof space of 24 square metre's (I think) so it is quite a big roof. It will also have to be totally free from any shadowing, and south facing. These conditions have to be met in order for the system to be able to perform to it's maximum.

 

I can't wait for ours to be installed now.

 

I'd question those figures, I read somewhere that they expect the systems to pay off in 7 years. With the figures you've given that system wouldn't pay off within it's lifespan and ashadegreener would be bust sooner than that.

http://www.solarpanelcornwall.com/page/photovoltaic_panels

This company (just the 1st one google found) does a 3.3kw installation for 15500 and estimates a feed in tariff return of 1200 a year, which seems more reasonable.

Given that ashadegreener get the trade price for the installation, it probably costs them about 10k, which gives them a net positive return within a decade and up to 15 years of profit (diminishing as it ages).

[Cyclone]

If you're young enough the system will pay for itself over time. The major problem is always how to store the store the electricity, batteries are the most convenient method. Don't forget the output from solar panels is Direct Current ( D.C ) so you'll need an inverter of sufficient output for your needs. Some of the cheaper inverters don't push out a pure sine wave.

 

You don't store it at all, any excess is sold into the grid and any shortfall is made by buying from the grid like normal.