Has anyone got a view? Looking at a 4kWp system for the roof that should pay for itself in 7 or 8 years, with feed-in tarriffs guaranteed at the current 43p per kWh for 25 years. There are all sorts of ‘good’ reasons for renewables, and from a financial point of view it seems like an excellent deal at the moment. Thoughts?

Noooooo!!! Close the thread quick!

Here we go again!

After a couple of years I’m on target to pay for a 3kW system within 7years. Bear in mind I’m at 43°N in southern Europe on this map (rayonnement solaire 4.5kWh/m2). More to the point the system produces 3200kWh a year but we only consume 2200kWh. The production of the Solar World panels is guaranteed to decline by less than 0.7% per year for 25 years.

So presumably that means it was a good idea for you Edukator – even with hindsight? How does the generation tarriff differ for you, if at all?

Edukator’s a bit of a special case insofar as he’s a very much an eco early adopter. Which is good, but his motivation is a little more than financial.

I would still say it’s a good idea though, because I would be doing the same as Edukator given a similar situation.

Will you DEFINITELY live there for at least that length of time is the first question.

I’ve quite taken with a hot water system, but the initial outlay on PV puts it out of reach for me even though I can answer my own question with yes.

Just deleted my answer.

New on the forum. First post.

I call troll or spam.

I am as sure as I can be that we will be here for a good number of years – the sales guy I’ve been dealing with (who seems like a genuine advocate, and honest) was suggesting that, if you want to move, you could treat the panels like fixtures and fittings – offer them as an extra, but you could take them with you if needed. I don’t think this would happen in practice though – scaffolding, two days work etc. would presumably make it all a bit daft.

I’d definitely be buying the whole system – I don’t think there’s any other sensible option at the moment. I’ve just added new loft insulation and the walls are done.

Brassneck – the heat generation tarriff is due to be introduced very soon. I don’t know where you are with your solar hot water plans but it would definitely be worth getting all the details about that before going ahead with anything.

The tarif I signed up for was better, 60 euro cents the kWh, but the panels were more expensive back then too. At 43p you should be able to make a profit on a system at current prices even in an averagely sunny part of the UK. I’d expect nearer 10 years pay back though unless you get a really good deal on the panels and inverter. Don’t forget to include insurance, possible maintenance and oportunity costs in your calculation.

Thanks Educator – I hadn’t thought about insurance. What do you mean by opportunity costs?

We’ve had our 3.4kw system for nearly 2 months now and have generated 688kwh. Our location is “sunny” Sheffield ! Our buildings insurance covers the PV panels and maintenance is included for first two years after that the installers offer monitoring, management and maintenance for around £120 per year.

PM me if you want any further info.

Rob

Why would a new poster arrive on a mountain bike forum and their first question be about solar panels? Almost as odd as ‘what tyres for a PhD’ and other such non-cycling guff.

We live in the sunny Black Mountains, had the panels 15 yrs now and would not be without them, the very first year we had to have a guy come over and clean out the jet on the boiler as we had not used it from the end of March until we needed the boiler on for the radiators to work in Oct of that year..

My neighbour was an Oxford Don as into all types of calculations worked out that it took 7 years to pay for them. Definately worth having if you intend to stay in the house a long time, maintainance wise we have changed the anti-freeze once, covered by house insurance and a lot cheaper now than when we bought them.

Thanks everyone – all good stuff. Good to know that I haven’t missed some vital point … looks like I’ll be going ahead then.

Too Tall – thanks for your original post, which I read pre-edit. Apologies if it seemed odd, but the sales guy was here this morning and STW seemed like a good bet to hear about a variety of experiences – which proved to be the case.

What do you mean by opportunity costs?

I assume he’s talking about economics which in this case would probably be something like determing the benefits of spending the money on some other type of system and seeing what benefits there would be. In the UK it is likely, especially the futher north you go, that there is a bigger benefit to be gained by spending that money on insulation rather than PVs.