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

richard plumb

you calculated in the savings you'd make on your electric bills (which will only increase over time), plus you could be investing the yearly returns which would earn money for you while it paid you back.

richard plumb

You're making the assumption that the government is applying logic to this scheme...


so three payments

1) save money by not paying for electricity that you use during the day, if it is covered by the amount being generated.
2) 43.3p paid per KWh generated by the panels, regardless of what you do with that electricity
3) 3.1p/KWh paid per KWh exported to the grid for use by others. For domestic installs, this 'export' is estimated at 50% of generated electricity, as they cannot accurately measure it yet.

for an average 2.7Kw install, those figures work out at around

electricity saving - £70
energy generated - £990
energy exported - £40

philbam

I was informed by the salesman that the only maintenance required was cleaning  every so often as, like anything else outside, they will get dirty and lose their maximum efficiency.
Quite how you do that  I don't know, except by employing a local builder I suppose.

philbam

The savings are restricted due to my house not being 'south facing', therefore not the best property for solar panels.
If they could have been south facing he estimated that I would have got at least half as much again.

philbam

Yes, I know, but too big a gamble in my mind - rather a long time to tie up my savings, especially now that I have reached the grand age of 60.

kwagger

I dont know how the electricity export would be practically achieved? is there not an issue with the phase and frequency of AC produced needing to synchronise with the grid? i know its 240v at 50hz but that varies across the day enough to be problematic, and if your half a wave out when the breakers close that could cause issues.

Is an inverter smart enough to automatically vary the output to suit the grid?

I certainly know that on 3 phase plant you need to autosync to the grid to avoid damage to your kit and then connect through a G59 relay & that kit doesnt come cheap (for 3p /kw return !)

danmc_82

You cant get these panels unless your house is south facing can you? (gov ones I mean).

wack

I just can't see how this is viable, £12,000 outlay to save £900 x 25 years, if they need do cleaning it won't be cheap, H&S regulations mean any roof work requires scaffolding, you're not allowed to work from ladders any more so that's going to be at least £500 and this is assuming they require no maintenance or repairs.

Even a 15 year warranty is worthless, loads of companies offer 10 year guarantees then go bust every so often so it's void so I bet this would be the same.

It's all in the same ballpark as electric cars for me, nice idea but ultimately flawed

Tempest

My back gardens doing well

http://windconcernsontario.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/050824_anlageoben_menschen.jpg

richard plumb

£900 per year   £40 from feeding into the grid   £70 saving on electicity you aren't using from the grid. That £70 will increase over the years quite a bit too I expect.

so around a grand a year for 25 years - you don't think thats a reasonable return on a £10-12k investment?