terence Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 Hi every one whats your thoughts on solar panels thinking of haveing them fitted cost about £6,500 where not in much dureing day elictric bills only about £24 month is it worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
955i Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 Wouldn't bother mate, I looked into it and it would take nearly 20 years to get the money back on my investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 No. Bear in mind that they want cleaning twice a year, at £3 - £5 per panel depending on location. You aint going to save much are you if your bill is les than a pound per day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaymo Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 Hmmmmmm, £24 pm---- god I wish We have just a 1kw system to take care of running tv and fridge etc during the day. Cost us £1400 complete with inverter, but did it more as a "green" thing/ experiment as the mrs is into things like that. Won't recoup our money but all helps All our heating is leccy so would need 10kw which is 40 panels (less efficiency losses) but then when you need it most is the evening. So that's why we just had a woodburner installed, so now our home smells like the local pub :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 Watch this space, in the news presently "the green levy". One thing I am is a believer of true market forces and you cant fiddle with them. I predict big changes so don't do it for the payments, governments go back on promises even when they have to change the laws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1066 Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 I agree with the above - not cost effective, however a homemade panel to heat hot water is very cost effective. Here's something I was playing with over the summer:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w2GX1OXu4w Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic1281 Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 How is it not cost effective? Getting an 8% return on capital invested is more than you can get on most investments. The system should pay for itself within 8-10years with savings and tariff payments. Even on a 20yr plan you should get 10-12 years of pure profit and lower bills. Seems like a good deal to me. Our electric bills are next to nothing and we get a nice cheque each quarter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 How is it not cost effective? Getting an 8% return on capital invested is more than you can get on most investments. The system should pay for itself within 8-10years with savings and tariff payments. Even on a 20yr plan you should get 10-12 years of pure profit and lower bills. Seems like a good deal to me. Our electric bills are next to nothing and we get a nice cheque each quarter. Try it and see then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squash wavy Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 Used to be a good way to make money until the government changed the terms of the feed in tariff. Now no longer worth it really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic1281 Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 The feed in tariff has reduced but then so has the installation cost. All I can say is that it's working well for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 It's fine if you don't want to move and if you buy them outright avoid like the plague any company that wants ownership of your roof in return for fitting them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun4860 Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 Mate if mine had them fitted when they were paying 40 odd pence per unit They then changed it to 20 odd pence, he is ok because they can't change what he gets but not really worth it now He gets a nice little cheque every quarter for the next 20 years Over the length of his contract he will be quids in but it's NOT a short term money spinner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic1281 Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 Ours are bought out, also no plans to sell the farm In the next 10years so should be a good investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjpainter Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 It's one of those irritating things in life that work well if you've already got it, but there's no point now in getting it done! I think it's all a bit late in the day now as the sweeteners take far longer to come into effect. There is also a school of thought that says it doesn't add a great deal of value onto a house when it's being sold, as people selling want to recoup as much as they can before losing that quarter monthly cheque. So, the house prices are kept unnaturally high, discouraging people from buying, especially if the panels detract from the aesthetics of a property. Thus, the desirability of the property falls. It's only a theory though! We can't get them anyway; despite having a pretty decent sized house, the actual roof is a chaotic range of slopes that don't give enough single flat surface in the most useful direction, so they wouldn't be anywhere near efficient enough. Apparently the early Victorians didn't think of solar panels when they built the place. How closed minded is that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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