Solar panels

[dawson]

Not particularly astro related, but i wonder if anyone has any experience of having solar panels fitted on the roof? I only ask as a cold caller from mark insulations did a preliminary survey on the house today and it was promising. A more technical engineer will be in touch to talk more about it with me.

The lad suggested it would cost about £5000 and it could meet all my needs and maybe make surplus to sell back to the grid.

I am not sure how long i'll be living here for and as such i'm not sure i could easily add the cost onto the property value if i were to sell.

Any ideas / experience?

Thanks

James

[T A WOW]

I don't personally have any exp with PV panels, as I currently only rent my house. But as soon as I can buy a house the first thing I am going to do is get some solar panels installed. I think they are a fantastic idea, not just for saving money, but more importantly our planet. Any type of renewable free energy is a winner in my eyes.

[Guest CodnorPaul]

Hi James - I have got solar panels on my roof, 18 of them.  I got them installed for free with the benefit of using what I produce then the company that installed them sell any surplus back to the grid, they also take care of all maintenance etc.  Yes they are making money from my roof, but they paid for them and my DD for the electric has decreased by about £30 per month.  I read somewhere when I was deciding that you make about £30K off them over their life-span if you install yourself, but as you say you have to stay there!

[+Graham]

James

Precautionary word of warning.

Do not get sucked in by all the sales hype.

Do some research into how much  ' extra ' these panels will produce and then find out how much an energy company will pay for it.

Govenment grants and subsidies have been slashed and you could end up paying out a heap of cash for little return.

Unless you are going to produce a lot of ' extra ' most energy companies will not be interested.

[+Ibbo]

16 of them will be appearing on my roof in the very near future we do not plan on moving anytime

 

a 4kv system will provide us with a lot of our needs,any produced will give us income whether we use it or it goes back to the grid

 

 

we reckon at conservative estimate it will pay for itself in 5/6 years and will then give us a decent return over the coming years

they reckon about 10-12 %

i say 6 -8% which is much better than any ISA

 

Remember we both work from home

[dawson]

I've not done any research yet as it was a cold call and its not something i've ever given serious thought to in this house. I do suspect i'll move from here in the next 5 years though.

James

[+Ibbo]

I doubt it ill be worth it for you then

[Perkil8r]

Worth a thought, would having them on your roof add any value to your property if you sell?

[dawson]

Do you think they add any value to a house when it comes to re-sale value?

James

[Guest Steve]

They do look a bit ugly...

[dawson]

They do, but we have to do something to boost the economy and minimise the burning of fossil fuels.

[+Ibbo]

so do TV aerials and satellite dishes and I don't think they will be given a second glance in a few years time

Edited April 8, 2013 by Ibbo

[andyboy1970]

I have 18 panels of the free veriety and it does make a difference but it won't power all your needs except in summer.

[Brantuk]

Can't afford solar panels - I've got scopes and cars and camping gear to buy lol

[dawson]

I'll wait for the formal survey to be done and see what they say and report back.

I'd rather spend £6000 on building and "observatory" and having a pier and a massive OTA

James

(I need to move house before having an observatory i think)

[Guest devil74]

Morning Mate.

Know the company you are talking about. My roof is perfect (south facing) but I'm renting and landlord isn't keen on the idea. But I do know someone who had them fitted and reckons they excellent. He said you just gave to be smart with when you use it like putting timers on things like tumble dryers etc.

Anyway stick with big obs and ota idea. Maybe Mr Cox will give you a call to do stargazing live one day.

[Guest Ely Ellis]

I don't know if its a similar deal or not, but I remember something on the consumer programs about them.

They were saying that you sign a contract to supply your surplus back to the grid which subsidises the cost of the panels.

The problem was that when the property was sold, the contract stayed with the house and could put people off buying the property.

 

Personally, I wouldn't trust any cold callers.

 

We get them all the time regarding the fascias of the house (house is only 6 years old!). They always say they were in the area, down the road fitting them. I always ask them where, at who's house, it stumps them, then I shut the door.

 

I do however think that solar is a great idea and worth looking into.

 

Martin

[dawson]

While he was a cold caller, he was from a local and very reputable home energy group, the mark group. I actually had them out a few months ago to check the cavity wall insulation to see a) if it was there and if it could be topped up. Answers: yes the cavity was full but the cavity is only 60mm deep, and no, not unless i paid vast amounts of money or had the whole house clad in board and a re-rendered.

I did wonder if the lad calling wasn't a total cold call and maybe tipped off by the cavity wall department. That company originally put the cavity wall insulation in this house when it was build in 1987.

James