Anyone here work in planning? How come Ms Lucas has been able to install solar panels

[Uncle C]

It's fairly simple really, since that article has been published, prices have tumbled. Bizarrely within their own article they quote a system at £12k, but then feature Mr Chris Rigby who got his for £8500 and got a £2500 grant, so he only paid £6k. It doesn't say what size, but sounds like he's getting 5kWh per day as quoted for their £12k system. Therefore presumably at half the cost, his payback is half the 15 years at 7.5 years? Confusing article really, I think it falls down on their example system cost which is probably out of date.

Sounds like a lot of guesswork on your part.

12 months ago I was quoted £12-14K for the biggest domestic system allow (I think 5KW).
Are you telling me that in 1 year this cost has fallen to about £8K or is this another 'NSC FACT'.

Incidentally in Hertfordshire to qualify for a £2000 grant you have to use their recommended installer. For me they quoted £16K, funny that!

 

[brunswick]

12 months ago I was quoted £12-14K for the biggest domestic system allow (I think 5KW).
Are you telling me that in 1 year this cost has fallen to about £8K or is this another 'NSC FACT'.

Incidentally in Hertfordshire to qualify for a £2000 grant you have to use their recommended installer. For me they quoted £16K, funny that!

wow, as i said - big scam. the charge controllers / regulators pop too. i know someone in a hot country who paid 10k for a large system = all for the self and all free power, and another person in a hot country that paid 800pounds on a small system that does all the normal stuff (save washing machine, power tools).

unless it is for self use it is a scam. energy should be free.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

It's fairly simple really, since that article has been published, prices have tumbled. Bizarrely within their own article they quote a system at £12k, but then feature Mr Chris Rigby who got his for £8500 and got a £2500 grant, so he only paid £6k. It doesn't say what size, but sounds like he's getting 5kWh per day as quoted for their £12k system. Therefore presumably at half the cost, his payback is half the 15 years at 7.5 years? Confusing article really, I think it falls down on their example system cost which is probably out of date.

There are no grants available now from the EST btw, same situation for heat pumps etc; our day rate electricity price has also gone up by 30%+ since the article was written. Agree with you about the article - very confusing.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

It's called a Conservation area simply because if you keep the house the 'same' your house value stays the same..By installing ugly panels on her roof in a nice area, some future purchasers will not like, therefore less demand will ensue & lower price will be obtained...Poor call

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

It's called a Conservation area simply because if you keep the house the 'same' your house value stays the same..By installing ugly panels on her roof in a nice area, some future purchasers will not like, therefore less demand will ensue & lower price will be obtained...Poor call

It's called a conservation area because that's what it has been designated as by the Council due to some intrinsic visual or historical value of the location. Which is also the reason why planning regulations are so tight, in order to stop the proliferation of horrendous uPVC windows, roof lights etc to front elevations undermining the quality of the area. It has nothing to do with value. In Brighton, having pre-installed PV panels and Water Butts etc I'm sure is seen as ADDING value for many.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

It's called a Conservation area simply because if you keep the house the 'same' your house value stays the same..By installing ugly panels on her roof in a nice area, some future purchasers will not like, therefore less demand will ensue & lower price will be obtained...Poor call

... which is to assume that Caroline Lucas's main priority in life is to maximise the profit that she makes from selling her house.

I think she may have different ideas.

 

[drew]

Not sure what you mean?

The feed in tariff at the moment means that even a small 2.9kWp system is likely to generate approx. £1060 per year (inc. £90 reduction to energy bills). A small system will cost approx. £6500 to install, and so after 6 years it is all profit. The following 6 years will mean you've made 100% of your original investment.

The tariff ends in April 2012, but if you sign a contract before then that tariff I believe is guaranteed for 25 years. It is a no brainer if you have £6k or more to invest and a south facing roof.

But the tarriff will be reviewed and probably extended but at a lower rate.

Far from being a no brainer, here is my perspective.

Figures I was given by three reputable installers was pay-back in 10 years on a South facing roof and 12 years on a West facing roof. These figures assume NO shadows fall across the panels at ANY time. Because of the way they work, even the shadow of a telephone wire will 'turn off' any panel it falls on.

Most installers offer limited guarantees (the best I could find was 10 years). They continue to quote 25 years on panels but the installers wont turn out in later years even to look (without charging big money if they are still around) and costs are down to you while you fight it out with a remote panel manufacturer. You cant ignore a duff panel as failure of a single panel will take out a big percentage of your output (because of the way they are wired).

The inverter that turns low voltage into mains power are currently averaging about 10 year lifetime (less if installed in the hot loft). These will generally fail after your (say) 5 year cover has expired and are not cheap at about £1500 - £2000 to replace.

All these additional cost need to factored in to your expected profits. Its no good arguing that you will just write it off, as who will buy your house with an old dead solar sytem messing up the roof.

The Government subsidy is very generous and without it, solar panels are a non starter, but can you trust any Government to honour the 25 year agreement (cut backs etc). Read the small print.

I believe Spain has already reneged on its promises of continuing subsidies.

So like I say its not a no brainer, though the installers will tell you it is, but they would wouldn't they.

We had quotes from 2 reputable companies (and one not so reputable) for our south west facing roof. Payback using the standard figures was 8 years but the local estimate is to reduce this by 25 to 30%. Ours will be an 18 panel system. As for the inverters, their life expectancy is considerably higher than your comments. For example, Fronius are offering an extended warranty upto 20 years for only about£200. They're not going to do that if the things only last 10 years anyway!!!!

It's fairly simple really, since that article has been published, prices have tumbled. Bizarrely within their own article they quote a system at £12k, but then feature Mr Chris Rigby who got his for £8500 and got a £2500 grant, so he only paid £6k. It doesn't say what size, but sounds like he's getting 5kWh per day as quoted for their £12k system. Therefore presumably at half the cost, his payback is half the 15 years at 7.5 years? Confusing article really, I think it falls down on their example system cost which is probably out of date.

Maximum for a domestic system under the scheme is 4kwh. Exceed this and you only get the commercial tarriff which is lower than the domestic tarriff.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Sounds like a lot of guesswork on your part.

12 months ago I was quoted £12-14K for the biggest domestic system allow (I think 5KW).
Are you telling me that in 1 year this cost has fallen to about £8K or is this another 'NSC FACT'.

Incidentally in Hertfordshire to qualify for a £2000 grant you have to use their recommended installer. For me they quoted £16K, funny that!

Not me telling you, that's out of the article you posted a link to!

 

[Uncle C]

Not me telling you, that's out of the article you posted a link to!

You're obviously a bit of an NSC expert on this topic. Perhaps you can find me a 4KWp system installed for £8K.

Quotes from a cheap company are currently £12K for good panels (Sanyo, Sharp) and £10K for crap panels.

Time to put up or shut up.

 

[Acker79]

Reading the article you posted a link to makes him an expert?