Has anybody on here bought or had installed PV solar panels on a domestic or business property? Spending 6 months a year abroad I can see an opportunity to be a net contributor to the grid and maybe make a couple of ££££ at the same time BUT is it really cost effective and is the payback time really less than the lifetime of the panels? I'm looking at enough PV cells to cover 30-40sq mt of roof that is southwest facing and shadow free. Installation would be on an existing roof not a new build. Is there anybody on here who sells or instals these systems? 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
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Not sure about Scotland Tim but the gov. are fitting for free not sure about meterage though. suppose you can look on their website. 

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My dad had them fitting for free a few weeks ago, through the day he won't pay for his electric unless he is using more that the 20 or so panels produce, the company who installed them then sells any surplus to the grid

The company was called 'a shade greener' I think you can find out and apply on there website

If you get them fitted for free you don't get the money back from any surplus, the company who fitted them does. If you pay for them yourself then you get the money back which might be best for Tim. WINNER - 2009 ‘Just Doing What It’s Designed To Do’ Award

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Thanks for the replies guys, we get the free fitting here too but don't like the idea of the tie up where the installer gets the money back. I've had responses from several companies in the last couple of days so will see what they have to offer. There are 3 people who live outside the village who got "conned" to fit small wind turbines at £58k a piece on their properties. After a year of wind surveys before construction that showed they might make a fortune, 5 years down the line not one of them has recovered as much as a £ and all have had lots of gearbox problems with their turbines - that's a lot of money to loose in the name of being environmentally friendly. I live in the village so a large enough windturbine isn't possible and as the back of my house faces SW with no trees or other houses casting shadows over my roof pV panels or tiles seems to be the best route to take, and the price of the tiles is falling quickly - there are now even matt pan-tile designs so your roof doesn't look like you have fitted a huge window in it! Unfortunately these guys haven't got to this side of the Atlantic yet http://www.srsenergy.com/products.php 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Last edited by Tim in Scotland on Sun Oct 24 2010 9:01am. Edited 1 time in total

Tim- google, 'Feed in Tariffs'

e.g.

For someone fitting a typical 2.5kW system to an existing home (at a cost of around £12,500), a payment of 41.3p per KWh generated will be paid whether that electricity is exported or used by the home owner. A further payment of 3p per kWh will be made for each unit not used and therefore exported to the grid. New-build properties fitted with solar panels will receive a lower tariff of 36.1p per kWh generated.

These tariff payments are guaranteed for 25 years and they are also index linked - i.e. they will rise in line with inflation. The typical 2.5kW system will generate tax-free payments of around £1000 per year, and so the payback on the investment will be around 12 years. This also works out as a tax-free return on investement of 8% - far better than any bank account offers, and particularly attractive to those paying tax at the higher rate. Since the electricity generated can be used by the homeowners, they are also rewarded with a £150 reduction in their electricity bill with a 2.5kW system.

Pay back periods are still very long, plus the bigger the system you fit, the tariff steps down so the payback is longer. We recently did this for a 12kW system and found the payback to be over 20 years - this is nearly the lifetime of the system and therefore effectively means it never pays itself back.

Kaine

just my personal view

some things work and are worthwhile if done correctly (ground source heat pumps) - I have a customer heating his 4 bed new build fully all year round for the price of running a pump (~£100), however the key really is 'thermal properties' of the house. I would personally spend money reducing the heat loss from your house first - you would be amazed at the results you can achieve for much lower outlays.

Once the house's thermal properties are maximised, then look at tech for self generation.

Just my view after watching many customers spend huge sums only to be dissapointed

Kaine

Kaine heat loss has been conquered/ reduced significantly in the last 3 years by replacing the loft insulation with more modern, more efficient, sustainable/ recyclable sheep's wool panels 350mm thick - I have 200mm in the timber frame sections that were put in there when I had the house built in 1988 and the architect and builders thought I was mad to be spending so much on insulation - I think I have had the last laugh, my annual total electric bill rarely exceeds £300 and I have no secondary energy supply/oil fired heating like gas here, I have an "all electric" bungalow. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Tim do they work when under a foot or so of snow??

Click image to enlarge

But doesn't snow act as extra insulation though DSL.....................  Current, M135i in Estoril Blue with more extras than the cast of Ben Hur.

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the house i just moved to seems to have loads of insulations in the loft, done a year or two ago by the previous owner, about 200mm in the loft, which i have kept in place, a little more compacted under neith the flooring i have placed up there to store the boxes of stuff i'll never use.

if caverty wall insulation worth it still? i heard people say yes, but then also people say it can lead to other problems as the caverty is there for ventalation and the house needs the 'breathe'

upstairs is really nice and warm too, down stairs due to either the laminate/tiles is quite a cool on a morning, until the combi boiler kicks in, i think its down to the solid concreate floors below

I might have to replace the laminate in the lounge and hallway (laid in one section with no breaks), as British Gas might be ripping it up to repair a gas leak from the pipe run in the concrete, is there any good thermal insulation underlay or even laminate flooring, or maybe is solid wood flooring warmer?

is solar power in Scotland not like having a wind turbine inside?

4wheeldriver wrote:

But doesn't snow act as extra insulation though DSL.....................

As long as it doesn't bring the roof down!! Besides have a nice little hidehole in RRSnort central, Cobham, so let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. This year looking to be wielding the snow shovel a bit less! D3 is at Offroad height!!!

Click image to enlarge

Is that a dead deer on the back of that blue transit


oops D3