the crowman Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 Hi all what's the pro's and cons of solar panels battery life,how big the battery bank is and the cost thanks in advance Cheers Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchsan51 Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 Hi all what's the pro's and cons of solar panels battery life,how big the battery bank is and the cost thanks in advance Cheers Mark I am getting boat loads from sellers who " rent your roof ". You get free electricity and they get the F. I. T. ( feed in tariff ) I have been quoted 8750 for 16 panels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the crowman Posted March 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 How big is the battery bank and i take it's in the loft I am getting boat loads from sellers who " rent your roof ". You get free electricity and they get the F. I. T. ( feed in tariff ) I have been quoted 8750 for 16 panels. Is that fitted and with battery bank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lxtav Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 You only get the fit if it is connected to the grid. Thats a good price it cost me £10000 for 12 last year. Rubbish over the winter but picking up now. You only get the fit if it is connected to the grid. Thats a good price it cost me £10000 for 12 last year. Rubbish over the winter but picking up now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the crowman Posted March 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 So there's no battery bank involved new to this so don't know nothing about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullet1747 Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 You only get the fit if it is connected to the grid. Thats a good price it cost me £10000 for 12 last year. Rubbish over the winter but picking up now. You only get the fit if it is connected to the grid. Thats a good price it cost me £10000 for 12 last year. Rubbish over the winter but picking up now. Didn't know you stuttered mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keg Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 AFAIK It only works as long as the govt pay the feed in tarrif. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the crowman Posted March 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 AFAIK It only works as long as the govt pay the feed in tarrif. Is it worth the money to have it done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lxtav Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 Didn't know you stuttered mate The joys of having a telephone exchange and cables that are getting past it and BT won't replace them. Took 26 visits from an engineer and new cable to sort out the neighbours phone and broadband problems. But back to the panels. Although I paid more and the price of panels is dropping a lot I get the high rate of fits at 43.3 pence a unit I generate whether i use it or not. They also half the amount i generate and give me 3.1p on top of the fit for the electricity that i put back onto the grid. This is an assumption they make that you will export half of what you generate as its cheaper than installing a new export meter. This is all going to change on 1st April for installations after this date when the fit is going to drop to 20 odd pence a unit so you would have to look into it. Also the FIT will go up by RPI every year for the 25 years and this year its going up over 5%. On top of that you use less electricity so your bill should drop as well. So if you are generating 1 unit and using 1.5 you only pay for the .5 you draw from the grid. I got mine in August last year and have made just over £340 off them so far but this will be about half after the 1st April. Downsides if the you get a power cut the panels switch off for the safety of the linemen as the power lines would still be live. You have to find the money to pay for them as renting your roof has more problems than benefits and 25 years is a longtime. If you rent your roof you get paid very little and what do you do if your roof is damaged, starts to leak or you want to sell the house. Also no sun means no money/power being made. I took a good hard look at the panels before i got them and believe that having them is a good deal for me as the rate of return is much higher than an investment or bank account (obviously i did it to be green and the money had nothing to do with it. lol) and i could afford to pay for them. The instalation consists of the panels, an inverter in the loft and a generation meter to record how much you produce, is wired into your existing fusebox and took 1 day to install. Bit of a long winded story sorry but hope it helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobbyathome Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 under no circumstances should you rent your roof space to get free panels . a lot of companies are offering this service to make money for themselves and there shareholders the whole point of putting solar panels up on your roof is to make it cheaper for yourself and to reduce your carbon footprint my son owns stenic electrical contracting ltd that have been trading since 2004 and have specialised in solar panels for the last three years . the government have dropped the feed in tarrif and are due to drop the price again so if you want them you need to act quick if you pm me i will give you steves phone number and he can answer any questions that you have he will not fill you full of sales talk he will tell you the facts and figures and then its up to you his company has installed over a thousand sets over most parts of the country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cant hit rabbits 123 Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 The feed in tarrif will soon become negligable to the point where it will give you very little financial benefit. Recently it has become better to privately fit your own panels rather than renting out your roof as you will make at least a little back on top of you energy bill savings to help pay for the panels initial cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 (edited) DON'T do it, its a con. well over priced, you will never see your mony back. Edited March 18, 2012 by Vince Green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activeviii Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 DON'T do it, its a con. well over priced, you will never see your money back. Plus it's all good and well now with this government but what will happen when a differant government get in control. they say 25 years on these free installs before you see any benefit but my mind says that its a lot of governments in 25 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 The technology in this field is, like all others, moving incredibly fast, the panels fitted now will be obsolete within 2 years: then what will you do? Just remember that there's already radiaton panels in experimental testing/use that generate power even in the dark....... :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fern01 Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 The following are all a big con; Solar panals Wind turbines Politicians Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keg Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Question... The panels only work in daylight. This is the time when most of us are out at work so very little energy is being consumed. Yes it feeds into the grid so you will be paid for that but as far as yor own bills go, will they really drop that much as most use is in an evening. Question 2... 25 yr return. How many electrical items last 25 yrs.... Not convinced and have stayed away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin128 Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I would not buy a house with panels fitted. Everything fails in time and I wonder what the repair bills would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobbyathome Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 the manifacturers give a 25 year guarantee on the systems the rate set per unit is fixed and guaranteed for a 25 year term and goes up with inflation by the government if you have money to invest in a system the rate you will get paid out over the 25 year term will be more than if you left it in the bank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 the manifacturers give a 25 year guarantee on the systems the rate set per unit is fixed and guaranteed for a 25 year term and goes up with inflation by the government if you have money to invest in a system the rate you will get paid out over the 25 year term will be more than if you left it in the bank yup and like double glazing if they start to fail the company will simply go bust and stiff everybody. I'm far from convinced and as has been mentioned wouldn't buy a house with panels on the roof owned by someone else. We get a couple of cold calls a week about them at the moment so its obviously a good thing if you are supplying them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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