Solar Panels - Which company/scheme?
Discussion
So anyway...I had A Shade Greener round for a survey.
It seems I'm not eligible because my boiler is over 15 years old and the house failed the EPC?
No explanation, no 'how to make it pass the EPC', nothing.
Other than the boiler being 17 years old, the house has loft insulation, new windows, cavity insulation, everything in generally very good order etc.
Oh well.
It seems I'm not eligible because my boiler is over 15 years old and the house failed the EPC?
No explanation, no 'how to make it pass the EPC', nothing.
Other than the boiler being 17 years old, the house has loft insulation, new windows, cavity insulation, everything in generally very good order etc.
Oh well.
If you can get 5-6k (or less if you have a small roof) cash then outright ownership is best. Well below 10 year payback is easily achievable for most systems if purchased at the right price.
Get various quotes and don't be dazzled by talk of optimisers or something when most people don't need them.
Get various quotes and don't be dazzled by talk of optimisers or something when most people don't need them.
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
So anyway...I had A Shade Greener round for a survey.
It seems I'm not eligible because my boiler is over 15 years old and the house failed the EPC?
No explanation, no 'how to make it pass the EPC', nothing.
Other than the boiler being 17 years old, the house has loft insulation, new windows, cavity insulation, everything in generally very good order etc.
Oh well.
How do you fail an EPC ? Is it that you're below a particular band ?It seems I'm not eligible because my boiler is over 15 years old and the house failed the EPC?
No explanation, no 'how to make it pass the EPC', nothing.
Other than the boiler being 17 years old, the house has loft insulation, new windows, cavity insulation, everything in generally very good order etc.
Oh well.
The place we're in the process of buying is Band C (olive) and the place we're selling is band D (yellow). What's interesting is that the new place has no double glazing - we discussed this with the EA who's an ex surveyor & his observation was that the boiler has a significant impact on the rating. I was skeptical, but your post above seems to validate this.
PS My EPC on the "new" place stated that if I spend 6.5k installing double glazing I'd see savings of £285 (of £5k) over 3 years. Solar seems a better proposition looking at this.
Edited by Chris Type R on Tuesday 31st March 10:25
Chris Type R said:
How do you fail an EPC ? Is it that you're below a particular band ?
The place we're in the process of buying is Band C (olive) and the place we're selling is band D (yellow). What's interesting is that the new place has no double glazing - we discussed this with the EA who's an ex surveyor & his observation was that the boiler has a significant impact on the rating. I was skeptical, but your post above seems to validate this.
PS My EPC on the "new" place stated that if I spend 6.5k installing double glazing I'd see savings of £285 (of £5k) over 3 years. Solar seems a better proposition looking at this.
Yeah, I think it was the boiler. The place we're in the process of buying is Band C (olive) and the place we're selling is band D (yellow). What's interesting is that the new place has no double glazing - we discussed this with the EA who's an ex surveyor & his observation was that the boiler has a significant impact on the rating. I was skeptical, but your post above seems to validate this.
PS My EPC on the "new" place stated that if I spend 6.5k installing double glazing I'd see savings of £285 (of £5k) over 3 years. Solar seems a better proposition looking at this.
Funnily enough he didn't even look at the boiler, he just asked 'how old is it'.
So if you want to go down the Free Solar Panel' route - tell them your boiler is <10 years old.
gazapc said:
If you can get 5-6k (or less if you have a small roof) cash then outright ownership is best. Well below 10 year payback is easily achievable for most systems if purchased at the right price.
Get various quotes and don't be dazzled by talk of optimisers or something when most people don't need them.
I'm now looking at the funded options.Get various quotes and don't be dazzled by talk of optimisers or something when most people don't need them.
In a nut shell:
You get a Government backed loan to install the panels.
You pay off the loan with the FIT payments dosh.
Once the loan is paid off - the panels are yours.
Not sure of the in's and out's yet - anyone aware of the scheme?
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
I'm now looking at the funded options.
In a nut shell:
You get a Government backed loan to install the panels.
You pay off the loan with the FIT payments dosh.
Once the loan is paid off - the panels are yours.
Not sure of the in's and out's yet - anyone aware of the scheme?
I assume you are on about the 'green deal' in which case you should be aware that the loan will only cover a portion of the outlay (can't remember the exact figure but its no where near all of the money).In a nut shell:
You get a Government backed loan to install the panels.
You pay off the loan with the FIT payments dosh.
Once the loan is paid off - the panels are yours.
Not sure of the in's and out's yet - anyone aware of the scheme?
Any other sort of loan which covers the whole expense is not government backed, there are a number of cases of people beign signed upto bad financing deals being sold by people you shouldn't touch with a barge pole.
Failed epc is basically you got an E or worse, which means no Feed in Tarrif, that's why a shade greener aren't interested.
A new boiler, better loft and wall insulation and low energy lighting should help you improve your score and could enable you to get the FIT depends how far off you are.
A new boiler, better loft and wall insulation and low energy lighting should help you improve your score and could enable you to get the FIT depends how far off you are.
MarshPhantom said:
Some big solar farms out there now, seemed to a few around Oxfordshire last time I was there.
A charming addition to the English countryside.
4 being built within 15 miles of where i am, one has recently been finished and a couple of weeks ago was broken into and a generator and about 2 tons of copper were stolen, they even drove the dumper truck into a load of the panelsA charming addition to the English countryside.
The reason ASG wouldn't offer panels is simply because my roof isn't big enough for the full 4Kw 16x panels. I can only fit 10 on the south facing side.
I don't know why they didn't just say this in the rejection letter? - I guess they're only interested in the max return installations...which is fair enough.
So I got a company called 'Project Solar UK' in for a quote. £8300 for 10x directly south facing panels at 22 degree elevation, and (oddly) 6x north facing panels at 20 degree elevation. I'm not sure if the north facing panels would really work?
They throw in a Solar iBoost and 20 year warranty.
It was a hard sell, where he wanted a signature that evening. I don't believe the payback was worth it so didn't sign. We got very close to me physically kicking him out. So be warned!
I may go down the DY route just for fun.
I don't know why they didn't just say this in the rejection letter? - I guess they're only interested in the max return installations...which is fair enough.
So I got a company called 'Project Solar UK' in for a quote. £8300 for 10x directly south facing panels at 22 degree elevation, and (oddly) 6x north facing panels at 20 degree elevation. I'm not sure if the north facing panels would really work?
They throw in a Solar iBoost and 20 year warranty.
It was a hard sell, where he wanted a signature that evening. I don't believe the payback was worth it so didn't sign. We got very close to me physically kicking him out. So be warned!
I may go down the DY route just for fun.
,
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
The reason ASG wouldn't offer panels is simply because my roof isn't big enough for the full 4Kw 16x panels. I can only fit 10 on the south facing side.
I don't know why they didn't just say this in the rejection letter? - I guess they're only interested in the max return installations...which is fair enough.
So I got a company called 'Project Solar UK' in for a quote. £8300 for 10x directly south facing panels at 22 degree elevation, and (oddly) 6x north facing panels at 20 degree elevation. I'm not sure if the north facing panels would really work?
They throw in a Solar iBoost and 20 year warranty.
It was a hard sell, where he wanted a signature that evening. I don't believe the payback was worth it so didn't sign. We got very close to me physically kicking him out. So be warned!
I may go down the DY route just for fun.
Why not if you are handy, over eight grand? for sixteen panels thieving so and whatever.I don't know why they didn't just say this in the rejection letter? - I guess they're only interested in the max return installations...which is fair enough.
So I got a company called 'Project Solar UK' in for a quote. £8300 for 10x directly south facing panels at 22 degree elevation, and (oddly) 6x north facing panels at 20 degree elevation. I'm not sure if the north facing panels would really work?
They throw in a Solar iBoost and 20 year warranty.
It was a hard sell, where he wanted a signature that evening. I don't believe the payback was worth it so didn't sign. We got very close to me physically kicking him out. So be warned!
I may go down the DY route just for fun.
Edited by Foppo on Friday 3rd April 00:02
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
Well this is what I'm thinking.
Getting any FIT on a DIY installation might be tricky...but I'd still save on leccy bills.
But the savings are quite small.Getting any FIT on a DIY installation might be tricky...but I'd still save on leccy bills.
We have a 3.88kWp installation on a south facing roof.
we have gas CH & DHW and hob. So the electricity is used for lights, circulation pumps, entertainment, oven, kettle and washing machine.
I measure the units generated, exported and imported each month.
My savings are the sum of units generated, less units exported.
If I multiply those savings by my average unit price I'm charged, then over the last year I have saved £147.
The problem is that the majority of generation occurs when you need it least. So unless you can export it and be paid for that and the generation tariff, the figures won't stack up.
I had my system installed before the widespread availability of smart switches, which allow surplus power to drive a special immersion heater. If you can benefit from diverting the power to such a device, then your saving will be better.
If you do a DIY install it is extremely difficult to get it connected back to the grid, so there will need to some system to keep the generation circuit separate from the normal 'mains'.
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
The reason ASG wouldn't offer panels is simply because my roof isn't big enough for the full 4Kw 16x panels. I can only fit 10 on the south facing side.
I don't know why they didn't just say this in the rejection letter? - I guess they're only interested in the max return installations...which is fair enough.
So I got a company called 'Project Solar UK' in for a quote. £8300 for 10x directly south facing panels at 22 degree elevation, and (oddly) 6x north facing panels at 20 degree elevation. I'm not sure if the north facing panels would really work?
They throw in a Solar iBoost and 20 year warranty.
It was a hard sell, where he wanted a signature that evening. I don't believe the payback was worth it so didn't sign. We got very close to me physically kicking him out. So be warned!
I may go down the DY route just for fun.
Good for not giving into his blatant lie that the offer was for today only, it's a tactic so that you don't have time to check out if the price is competitive, which it isn't! You also should have a 7 day cooling of period if you do end up signing accidentally. I don't know why they didn't just say this in the rejection letter? - I guess they're only interested in the max return installations...which is fair enough.
So I got a company called 'Project Solar UK' in for a quote. £8300 for 10x directly south facing panels at 22 degree elevation, and (oddly) 6x north facing panels at 20 degree elevation. I'm not sure if the north facing panels would really work?
They throw in a Solar iBoost and 20 year warranty.
It was a hard sell, where he wanted a signature that evening. I don't believe the payback was worth it so didn't sign. We got very close to me physically kicking him out. So be warned!
I may go down the DY route just for fun.
Off south facing panels can work expecially when you consider things like inverter or scaffolding costs dont increase linearly with the number of panels. Run the maths for each option, depends how much cash you have available as well.
To get estimates on what various systems can produce use this website. Gives a reasonable estimate, just programme in the angle, orientation, system size and location. Leave the losses as standard.
http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/pvest.php
I can also recommend this sub forum on moneysavingexpert. Gives you an idea of up to date pricing and someone might be able to give you a reference to a good installer.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.p...
I would avoid the DIY route as it's hard to get the feed in tariff then and to also get some quotes for panels with larger rated capacities. 10 x 300 or 320 W may be worth it.
Where roughly are you located?
Edited by gazapc on Friday 3rd April 12:24
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