Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)
  • Solarpanelgovernmentfundedoffertrackworld
  • lambchop
    Free Member

    Saw an offer for free home solar panels on Facebook recently, said no outlay as subsidised by the government. Anyway followed the link and expressed an interest. Received a phone call yesterday from the company, I asked about if it was really cost free on our part and they confirmed that it is. So next week a ‘surveyor’ is visiting us to check our property is suitable (It should be rear of property is south facing) What’s the catch, nothing in life is free? Anyone taken up such a ‘deal’

    Scienceofficer
    Free Member

    You get energy savings, they keep the FIT. Can be problematic selling your house since the panels usual remain theirs.

    Other schemes are available that follow similar lines with differing details.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    You end up leasing your roof to them for 15 years or so in exchange any electricity you use from the solar panels whilst they’re generating during the day. If you want to sell up before the lease is over, you have to pass on the deal to the new buyer, which might put some people off (e.g. they might want to do an attic conversion, but can’t etc).

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    cvilla
    Full Member

    Ask others how much electric they actually get from panels, it is worth it?
    Also what if maintenance is required, slates/tiles, you may need access in the future. So who has the liability, I am sure they will have plenty of small print in their agreement.
    Anyway see what they say and be prepared for them to make a hard sell, better deal if you sign on the dotted line…

    footflaps
    Full Member

    If you’re both out at work during the day, you’ll struggle to use any of the electricity when the panels are generating…

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    Plus it becomes your problem if the distribution voltage is too high and the inverter keeps tripping out.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    One possibility is to fit a diverter thingy, which dumps any unused solar leccy into your immersion heater (if you have a HW tank). Although you’d have to pay for that yourself to be installed etc.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    How far are you from the substation and how many neighbours have PV? Are you fed from an overhead network?

    goldfish24
    Full Member

    Within that fifteen year lease period I expect local energy storage will have taken off to the exten that it will destroy their business model. In other words, you’ll be able to cheaply store the energy generated during the day, and use it when you need it. Great for you with your free panels, but these businesses will go bust pretty quick. Seems a short minded biz model… Unless they’ve worked it into their plan.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    I’d have thought the bigger risk to them is proper metering which measures how much of the solar energy you use and only pays the FIT on the excess you export. IIRC right now they don’t measure what you actually use.

    goldfish24
    Full Member

    Yeah, I was assuming they’re only metering the export and let you freely use what you want first. No idea.

    lambchop
    Free Member

    Interesting stuff, thanks for replying. My main concernis our roof. It’s perfectly sound ATM but has original 1950’s I think concrete tiles. Worried about what happens if we need to do maintenance or worse case a new roof!

    sharkbait
    Free Member

    That is a question I’d be asking them straight away. Personally I’d be very wary of this rent a roof plan.

    milky1980
    Free Member

    My parents looked into this a few months ago as they were offered a similar deal.

    You really need to look into the contract and do a bit of number-crunching to find out if it is worth it. My dad did just that and it worked out better to pay for the panels himself (think it was £5.5k) and own them outright than rent out the roof space to get the ‘free’ electricity. He put a few quid into having the roof shored up to minimise any maintenance risks by a local, trusted roofer who says the roof is good for 20+ years. The fact that both my parents are retired means they use almost all the solar power during the day for washing clothes, baths (for the dog) and mowing the lawn so their bills have dropped significantly. He also made sure the feedback tariff was tied to the house so that it bumped up the resale value (or at least not affect it negatively). Friends of his have been done over by signing up to the wrong deals so the main thing is to research your exact situation fully and do the number-crunching. I’m sure someone on here would oblige in producing you a graph if required 😀

    Greybeard
    Free Member

    I’d have thought the bigger risk to them is proper metering which measures how much of the solar energy you use and only pays the FIT on the excess you export. IIRC right now they don’t measure what you actually use.

    FIT is paid on what you generate, irrespective of what you use. There’s a separate payment for what you export and, as you say, in most cases it’s not measured, just assumed to be 50% of the total. I don’t know whether the companies offering these deals put export meters in. For OP’s info, while we can’t measure what we use, our electricity bill is down by £150-£200/year since we bought our panels.

    goldfish24
    Full Member

    You really need to look into the contract and do a bit of number-crunching to find out if it is worth it. My dad did just that and it worked out better to pay for the panels himself (think it was £5.5k)

    It goes without saying that if you’ve got both the capital and the will to risk it, you’ll make a better return on investment. But there’s nothing wrong with going low risk and letting someone else risk their capital with solar panels on your your roof if the contract allows you to gain some energy and lose nothing. I guess that’s where the OP needs help, is there anything he can lose? Gonna have to read that contract cover to cover.

Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)

The topic ‘Solarpanelgovernmentfundedoffertrackworld’ is closed to new replies.