A few years ago we had Solar PV panels fitted, we came into some money and with interest rates it seemed an attractive option. We managed to get into the early schemes so payment levels of fairly high. Unlike our meter readings which are done by our supply company, we have to supply our own readings and they then send us a 'cheque'for the value.
Anyway for the 16 months it appears that our 'refund' is in excess of our total payments to our electricity supplier, so our our electricity bill is zero. Obviously the last 16 months covers two summers, but even so I am quietly stunned.
As a individual investor, this could be one of our very best investments made. We reckoned that it would take between 7-8 years to get pay back, but at the latest calculations it is going to be less, not bad when the life span is about 25 years (although we will need to replace the inverter at some point). It is helped that we are on the early tariffs (but panels were more expensive) and I work from home so can do energy intensive activities (e.g. washing) when the sun is out.
As a member of society however I am quietly horrified, given how inefficient Solar PV is (only works when the sun is out) it cannot be cost efficient for us to all have panels on our roofs and being paid to generate power when it suits us and not when it is needed.
In the meantime, what new bike bits do I need to 'recycle' the payments into a 'green' activity!!
I know, I'm the same, it's fekin great isn't it 😀
[i]it cannot be cost efficient for us to all have panels on our roofs and being paid to generate power when it suits us and not when it is needed.[/i]
They've had huge problems with the same approach in Canada.
People often live at the end of long powerlines with only a few houses on them.
Once a few properties have Solar PV and are getting good feed in rates the electricity companies are effectively providing free electricity and having to support the infrastructure as well.
In some areas they've stopped accepting new Solar PV customers as they can't afford to keep having these micro-generators linked to the network.
You now need to invest in a little storage system (2 or 3 kWhr) so that day time peak generation can be used in the evening.
Tariffs are now lower and more sensible, but also PV system costs have fallen considerably, so overall ROI is roughly the same but net income is less.
Green power better than burning gas or coal