'free' solar panels - things to look out for?

FZR400RRSP

No, as I understand it you will save money on your own electricity and make a good return from electricity you generate and 'sell back' to the grid.

Note: this is based on you having paid for the panels, so you get the 'sell back' income.

richard plumb

my understanding was that you don't 'sell back' anything into the grid as such.

If you pay for the panels yourself:

- you can use any electricity generated for free. Efficient use of power hungry appliances - sequential use so no ironing while using the cooker for instance. Batteries might be interesting to look into to at least cover lights/TV at night.

- any energy *generated* is recorded and you are paid a set amount by the government. I don't think you need to pass that onto the grid at all, just have the panels generate it.

This second part is where the real return comes from, as the tariff is pretty good. A standardish 15Kw system should return about £900 a year, with a lifetime of around 25 years. Cost around £10-12k to install

The savings for the 'free' electricity in comparison are pretty small, but worthwhile and costs will only go up

signs

how would you store it ?

FZR400RRSP

Here's a quote from Energy Saving Trust - Energy Efficiency & Energy Conservation to combat Climate Change.

There wouldn't seem much point in being paid to generate electricity if it didn't go anywhere, to be used by others.

djcla

this is a good site witha calculator

Solar PV Feed In Tariff Calculator

philbam

Had a quote a couple of months ago for buying 4 or 6 panels, total cost was either £10,600 or £12,000 respectively, and he gave me a print out calculating what my return over 25 years would be. It would take approximately 17 years to get my original investment back but gain quite handsomely over the last 8 years. Overall, though, if I invested the £12,000 at even 4% over those same 25 years I would still get approximately the same return.To me that was a no brainer decision to say no, especially when he said that the panels would only have a 10 or 15 year guarantee, although he tried to convince me that they would never go wrong anyway, just need cleaning on a reasonably regular basis to keep them working efficiently.
The thing that may go wrong and need replacing would be the 'converter', which would have a life of around 12 to 15 years - approximately an extra £1,000.
Overall, although I would dearly like to go greener it just doesn't seem worth it at the moment.

Mr Incredible

Vanadium Redox Flow Battery Technology.  Not cheap either!

5KW x 4 HOUR VANADIUM REDOX FLOW BATTERY - SOLAR WIND | eBay

imightbewrong

>  It would take approximately 17 years to get my original investment back but gain quite handsomely over the last 8 years.

That is a hell of a long-term investment - what lasts 17 years nowadays, let alone 25!?!

FZR400RRSP

I'm pretty sure my neighbour's been told they never need cleaned.
If they do, how the hell he's supposed to do it is beyond me.

FZR400RRSP

Was this based purely on what you'd earn by 'selling back' electricity you've generated?
Or based on selling back   savings on your bills?
17 years seems like a long time to claw back £12k if you're including savings on bills   sell back.