Non-motoring > Feed in tarrifs	Green Issues
Thread Author: zippy	Replies: 22

New Sun 24 Jul 11 16:16   Feed in tarrifs - zippy

Some of the good folk here are very good with science and numbers and I was asked a question by the Mrs. and I have no idea how to work it out. You stick a photo voltaic solar panel on the roof and any excess electricity generated goes to the National Grid and you are given a wad of cash. What is stopping someone sticking some in a field and doing the same, then at night flood lighting the lot and still generating electricity? Planning and annoying neighbours aside, I know there will be some loss but with the feed in tariff you get about 40p per unit and for low peak usage its about 8p per unit? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This is a devious streak in her that I have not seen in 26 years together - should I be worried? ;-) Last edited by: R.P. on Mon 25 Jul 11 at 12:52 Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 24 Jul 11 16:24   Feed in taffifs - Zero

I think the rules for feed in tarrifs have just changed, making the whole idea of Sun farms uneconomic. This is following much abuse of the rules. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 24 Jul 11 16:30   Feed in taffifs - Zero

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12794935 Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 25 Jul 11 12:50   Feed in taffifs - Mapmaker

As the electricity generated from domestic ones will arise during the day when electricity use is low - and thus would be fed into the grid and paid for at 10p (ish) rather than being used on site and paid at 40p (ish) it has always been obvious to me that if you had one of these things you would want to use all the electricity you generated - presumably with electric heaters. If you subsidise irrational activity you must expect to be ripped off. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 25 Jul 11 12:52   Feed in taffifs - R.P.

We had a quote for 10.5k to install the equipment here - I have the maths on a sheet somewhere, seemed to make sense in a way.... Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 25 Jul 11 17:45   Feed in taffifs - AnotherJohnH

>> I have the maths on a sheet somewhere, seemed to make sense in a way.... Did the maths include replacing the inverter after 10 years?? Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 25 Jul 11 18:56   Feed in taffifs - Mapmaker

www.amazon.co.uk/Watt-Watts-Solar-Panel-Crystalline/dp/B0034YO9MY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1311616193&sr=8-3 £175 for an 80W panel. The guy here who obviously lives on a desert island (and likes washing his clothes on a cold wash without soap powder, and presumably lives off affiliate links) www.aselfsufficientlife.com/cheap-solar-panels-for-sale-online.html has 320 W worth. I'd guess you'd need 2kw worth to do anything worthwhile. So 25 of them. I'm not bothering. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 25 Jul 11 19:43   Feed in taffifs - Zero

I peak here at about 1.8kw I could cut that down by half if I was a mother earth botherer, so say 1KW max. SO I would need 12. . Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 00:02   Feed in taffifs - Fullchat

Just signed on the dotted line for an install. Some super dooper Sharp high outpt panels. Should be able to produce about 3.8 Kwh from South facing garage roof (its a large garage). FIT estimate based on the standard panels is about £1200 so these should produce more more. Speaking to others who have installed the system should pay for itself at around 6-7 years. I can see changes in the way and times we use electric to maximise the advantages. Where else can you get 11% interest? Ok there is no capital but potentially 8% value increase on your property. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 08:21   Feed in taffifs - Zero

>> Speaking to others who have installed the system should pay for itself at around 6-7 >> years. Have they had the system 6 or 7 years to confirm it? >8% increase on your property Again has anyone sold their house at an 8% premium over a similar house? Last edited by: Zero on Tue 26 Jul 11 at 08:22 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 08:58   Feed in taffifs - AnotherJohnH

>> www.amazon.co.uk/Watt-Watts-Solar-Panel-Crystalline/dp/B0034YO9MY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1311616193&sr=8-3 >> £175 for an 80W panel. Yes but, the panels produce DC. To provide feed in you need an inverter as well as the panels - that's what I was on about last night. I wonder what the price of a genuine (G83?) certified one is with a respectable rating (say in excess of 2kW)? www.pvpro.co.uk/inverter/class/inverter.html Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 09:47   Feed in taffifs - Old Navy

I have not seen these panels on private houses in Australia, and the get a bit more sunshine than the UK. Many houses use solar panels in their hot water systems though. One guy I know uses a coils of black plastic pipe on his carport roof to heat his swimming pool. Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 26 Jul 11 at 09:48 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 10:16   Feed in taffifs - Iffy

My middle brother installed panels on the roof of his house in Oxfordshire about a year ago. I don't speak to him very often, but I understand about £12K was involved and a payback time of nine or 10 years. But as he told me, it depends entirely on a continuing government subsidy. That's as certain as anything can be - I believe he has a contract - but wisely he's not banking on it. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 11:17   Feed in taffifs - Focusless

If you just want to 'go green' rather than make any money, I know my provider will fit panels for a one-off fee of £99 if your home is 'suitable'. Don't know what would happen if you had them fitted then the rules changed so they no longer were making money out of the electricity you were generating though (assuming that's how it works?). www.eonenergy.com/At-Home/Products/Generate-your-own-energy/SolarExchange/ Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 11:35   Feed in taffifs - sherlock47

EON £99 offer is on a 25+ year contract - and they only seem to send you the details of cancellation fees when they send the lease - presumably after installation? and you then have 7 days to cancel. Why not publish the cancellation fees? Will presumably have to transfer contract to any new owner (buyer) preventing any loft extensions? - may make a a potential sale difficult? or easier if energy charges rocket? The big question is how much electricity do you actually use during sunlit hours? ie the potential saving? They are suggesting upto 30% on an installation in Sheffield, and we know it rains all the time up there!;) Or do you get credit for generated and not used during the day? All academic for me since I am in a conservation area. Last edited by: pmh on Tue 26 Jul 11 at 11:38 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 11:40   Feed in taffifs - Zero

Academic for me too, I have a south facing rear garden, but with little south facing roof. All of my roof face is East or West, Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 11:41   Feed in taffifs - Iffy

...All academic for me since i am in a conservation area... No planning permission required for those of us who live in areas not worth conserving, provided the panels don't sit - I think - more than 200mm above the existing roof. Given that green energy is seen as a 'good thing', permission might be granted in conservation areas. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 11:49   Feed in taffifs - Suppose

www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/jeffhowell/8559731/Home-improvements-the-catch-with-solar-panels.html "In return for the “free” photovoltaic panels you have to sign over a 25-year lease on your roof so that the firm can claim thousands of pounds in feed-in-tariff (FIT) payments for itself from the electricity generated. Meanwhile you might get a few pounds’ worth of electricity a year, but only if you are at home in the middle of the day using an appliance at the same time as the sun is shining. The rest of the time you’ll be paying as normal for your electricity. And when you come to sell the house, you’ll have to explain to potential buyers that they won’t be able to remove the panels (to carry out a loft conversion, for example) until the 25-year lease is up." Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 11:57   Feed in tarrifs - Suppose

www.fitariffs.co.uk/FITs/principles/funding/ Who pays my tariffs to me? Although the FITs are established in law, rather than coming from the government, the tariffs are actually paid by the energy suppliers. Where does the money come from? It comes out of the pockets of the supply companies because they are really nice guys! No seriously... The suppliers pass on the cost of the Feed-In Tariffs scheme to all their electricity customers. ... so the bottom line is that people who don't install renewable energy systems pay for those who do! www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/renewable_ener/feedin_tariff/implementation/implementation.aspx Who pays for FITs? The FITs Order provides for the total cost of the FITs scheme to be shared among electricity suppliers according to their market share (the “levelisation” process). We expect that the costs are ultimately passed on the electricity consumers. www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Sell-your-own-energy/Feed-in-Tariff-scheme Deemed export Domestic FIT installations are likely to have their export deemed (estimated) at 50% in most cases until smart meters are rolled out. calculator: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Cashback-Calculator Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 13:18   Feed in tarrifs - Mapmaker

I do not believe that solar panels - even if they were yielding 11% which they only would if you could use all the electricity you generated - would add so much as a ha'penny to the value of a property. A surveyor would not value a property with these panels at a premium for mortgage purposes, of that I am certain. Indeed he might very well down-value the property if the roof is leased to a third party - or indeed if it makes the property look less attractive, or if there are maintenance issues. I would get hold of a barge pole as long as I could. (And that's even before thinking about John H's inverter.) Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 14:00   Feed in tarrifs - Iffy

To me, solar panels are like electric cars. More trouble than they are worth, unless the existing power source becomes prohibitively expensive. Reply to this message | Report message       1

New Tue 26 Jul 11 14:06   Feed in tarrifs - Old Navy

I put solar panel companies in the same category as double glazing outfits. Big profits from the unwary. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 26 Jul 11 15:07   Feed in tarrifs - Iffy

...I put solar panel companies in the same category as double glazing outfits. Big profits from the unwary... That's another reason to avoid solar panels. Brother's installation did not go smoothly. He paid half the money to one company, which went bust, but that was alright because they'd already paid his money to another company, which turned up with the wrong panels...and so it went on. I believe he got what he paid for in the end, but not without a lot of hassle. Reply to this message | Report message