Solar Panels

Your husband is 300% correct. I have solar panels and they are great when they are working but the maintenance cost outweighs the saving. I am in the middle of a battle about that subject because when I had mine fitted 6 years ago I was told that they were fit and forget. So wrong.

We installed 22 on a south facing roof on the back of our house 4 1/2 years ago at a cost of around £12K. Since then we have had a return via the feed-in tariff of over £7k at the "old" rate of about 44p per unit. The rate is now much lower, but the cost of installing the panels has also gone down, so it is a matter of doing the sums. Ours will have paid for themselves in under 10 years and we also benefit (but I am not sure by how much) from the obviously limited electricity we can use on sunny days Which we generate direct rather than coming off the grid.
If you want to PM me I can give you the name of the company who installed them. They were NOT cold callers!!! As I said, it comes down to the sums, the direction and pitch of your roof and how you feel about solar power.

PS we have no maintenance costs whatsoever. Perhaps the sort that heat your hot water are different.

My local council went through a "green" phase around 6 years ago and paid the bulk of the cost for the type that heat hot water only. I own my house, my contribution was £800 and I thought that I would get that amount back because electricity was going up as we all know. The annual service, if done, would have been more than my annual electricity bill. As said already, servicing was not mentioned, only fit and forget.

There was a couple on the radio the other day who had borrowed money to install panels, egged on by an unethical salesperson. That just does not stack up.
It might stack up if you have some money that you want to invest - depending on the kind of interest rates you are getting at the moment.
The variable aspect is the extent to which you use the "free" electricity.

You get paid a tariff for every kilowatt your panels produce (varies according the sunniness of the summer). Last year we had a great return on our panels.

You can ALSO use these kilowatts as well, without charge, if you happen to use electrical applicances when the sun is actually shining on the panels. Of course you can't store them! So I used to try to use my free electricity e.g. putting the oven on when it was sunny. Or if you use a tumble drier - use it when the sun shines. So this aspect of the finance is very variable according to your lifestyle.

They are ugly eyesores. Not worth spoiling the look of a house, or a neighbourhood, for.

Totally agree with you Jinlgle! The only ones I would consider are actual roof tiles that blend in. Only worth doing if you are having a new roof. x

I agree with jingl. Ugly eyesores and don't get me started on solar farms

Why would you use a tumble dryer when the sun is shining,unless of course you live in a flat in which case apologies,that I can understand.

Also, I would not buy a house with solar panels fitted. I wonder how many people would, especially if they are several year old. When faulty you have to pay to have them removed, as well as taking out extra insurance ( of course everyone with them has done this?). A high wind, old fixings equals danger! x

Frankly don't care about that Jingl , we have nobody behind us, just a farmhouse garden and the Manor House grounds, so nobody to see them except us in the garden, but how often do you lok at your roof ?

But you could be running your washing machine or dishwasher annsixty as I do. Our direct debit went down by £30 a month after the first year.

Had high winds and even gales, J52 and no probs so far.

As for buying a house with solar panels, a tax free . income of nearly £2K a year and lower energy bills would not be attractive ?

I would like to have solar panels because I think of the ethical value but I have felt very confused by all the different opinions, misinformation etc. i really shouls start researching again.

We had PV solar panels fitted 3 years ago just before the rates changed so we are paid about 44 pence per unit. As Soutra says if you use the electricity being generated then your electricity bill will be reduced. So when the sun shines I run the washing machine, dishwasher or do the ironing. We have a ground source heat pump to heat the house and for every kw of energy used to run the pump we get the equivalent of 4 kws heat from the pump. When the sun shines we get free electricity to run the pump! After 3 years we have received enough payments to cover about half the cost of the installation. Again please PM me for details of the company we used

At last, somebody who agrees with me and is also speaking from experience

I recall reading in one of the financial papers that some building societies would not give a mortgage on properties with solar panels - this was some time ago and is possibly no longer applicable.

I would be surprised as the vast majority of new builds around this area have solar panels and I would assume their owners have mortgages.

The difficulty with mortgage lenders and solar panels is with the people who have effectively sold their roof to a company. the home owner gets the panels fitted for free and benefits from the lower priced/free electricity but they do not get the feed back tariff; that goes to the power company who own the solar panels. So, if you go to sell your house, technically you do not own all of it, your roof has been leased by another party. New build with solar panels are a totally different legal situation. Also, on new builds, the panels are often the less obvious ones, whereas there are many houses around here with the really ugly whole roof set up and although the owner may not be bothered by what they look like, it is not a pretty sight for those living opposite.

Thank you for clearing that up GillT57.
I have as yet had no complaints from the rooks, pigeons and owls living opposite our solar panels! It sounds as if I have a vested interest, and I assure you I do not, but our panels look exactly the same as the ones I am seeing on the plethora of new builds around Milton Keynes which is very energy conscious BTW.

I don't know what the law about new builds is in England but in the Algarve all new builds must have solar panels for water heating. There was a scheme whereby with a larger installation you could sell excess electricity back to the government but, like UK, the government have changed the rules as it cost them too much.

You still "sell" energy back to the government here dusty that is the Feed-In Tariff, only it is not as generous as when it was introduced.
I still think they can be an excellent solution providing
1) your roof alignment is good( South facing is best)
2) you work out the sums and think the investment worthwhile-remembering the money back is tax free
3) you are not ruining the look of the property e.g.a listed building and
4) you have the funds upfront to pay for them

What would happen if everybody had them I cannot imagine!

We are in a conservation area- would we need planning permission? Must check.

Yes you should check mrsmopp.
If everyone had solar panels Soutra
You would still need some kind of big "Baseload" generation - one in which the electricity flow into the grid could be turned on when the sun was not shining.
We're a long way off having to worry about that - but I believe Germany have made a great deal more progress with renewable generation.