Free solar panels, is this a bona fide offer?

A neighbour pointed me to the web site at

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supplies and fits solar panels and claims some installations can be done for free, the costs borne by the government green energy scheme.

Now this all sounds too good to be true, so I'm wondering whether anyone has any experience of this or similar companies? The neighbour appears to have signed up for his free installation, so I await to see what happens.

MM

Reply to
MM
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In message , MM writes

There's just been a long discussion on this group on this subject.

If something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is - and in this case it definitely is.

I bet your neighbour also thinks he's won the Spanish Lottery.

Most companies offering this service at least have the decency to offer to lease your roof from you for about £79 p.a.

Reply to
hugh

Which sort of "solar panels", photo-voltaic or thermal?

Can't be arsed to read the scam they are pulling but I expect that the free installation and maintenace for 25 years is dependant on them getting all the FIT payments. All the householder gets is a slightly reduced electricity bill. If they are at work all day it will only be a slight reduction as well.

There is also the unknown effect that having a PV installation on house, with the FIT payments not going to the householder, will have on the value of the property. I wouldn't be interested in buying such a place at all. PV and the householder getting the FITs is another mater and may slighly enhance the value.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Its legal.

There is a huge Feed in Tariff (FiT) paid to owners of home generation systems for the electricity they produce (regardless of whether they use it themselves or export it to the grid). In the case of the most ineffective and pointless schemes like solar PV, the tariff is currently over 43p per kw/h generated (with a further payment of a bit over 3p if you actually export any of that).

So said company installs the kit at their expense, and then claims all the FiT payments (probably £800 ish per year). You get to lend them roof space rent free, and they let you keep the lekky generated (estimated to be worth anything from £70 - £140 per year).

Reply to
John Rumm

do they?

Care to point us to one

tim

Reply to
tim....

It's a legitimate offer. The owner of the roof gets to use the "free" electricity that the panels generate and the company owing the installation get the FIT payments.

Whether it is worth the aggro or nor for under 100 pounds of leccy per year is another matter.

tim

Reply to
tim....

Yes, I was very dubious myself, but now I am in an awkward position where I have to let him down gently, because I think he thinks it's totally above board, i.e. he'll get free lecky AND get paid for supplying surplus to the grid.

MM

Reply to
MM

It is above board in being leagl.

One would have to read the terms of the contract, you may need a strong magnifiying glass. As I see it there are a few options:

1) Householder pays for the install and gets the FIT payments, the little extra for actually feeding the grid and reduces their grid electricty bill. 2) Householder gets a "free" install. Installer gets the FIT payments but the householder gets the little extra and reduces their grid electricity bill. 3) Householder gets a "free" install. Installer gets to keep the FIT payments and the little extra. Householder only gets a reduction in their grid electricity bill.
Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Don't these 'rent a roof' schemes often involve lengthly (25 year?) contracts, which could make it very awkward selling the house in the meantime.

Reply to
airsmoothed

He might...

However the installers will keep the 43p FiT, and he will get the lekky and possibly the additional 3p per kW/h for the exported power (often just estimated at 50% of the total generated). It all sounds ok, until yo do the numbers! ;-)

Reply to
John Rumm

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I wonder what happens with these schemes if the artificially inflated FIT is reduced in a year or two.

Reply to
airsmoothed

They are supposedly guaranteed and index linked. So you ought to continue to get what you signed up for[1]. However they are likely to be reduced for new customers as the scale of the cost to other bill payers becomes ever less palatable.

[1] Being cynical, but I would not be at all surprised to learn that the contracted payer of the FiT is a subsidiary company of the main energy company... just in case it "needs" to go bust!
Reply to
John Rumm

ATM the FIT payment you start on is what you keep for the duration but linked to one of the price indexes (RPI or CPI I forget which). The FITs that apply to new installations in the future are going to be lower.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

What's the life expectancy of these PV panels? If they should need replacing would you maintain the same FiT as you got with the originals?

In fact, how does the installation and maintenance/replacement of these PV wotsits fit in with carbon-type considerationss?

Reply to
Frank Erskine

They seem to think they will last the 25 years - although with less output by the end.

No idea. Probably depends on the deal.

They are unlikely to offset any carbon in real terms anyway since you need the standby generation sat there ready to go anyway - and that assumes they need no maintenance.

Reply to
John Rumm

In message , Frank Erskine writes

Not so much the panels you have to worry about, but the inverter which has an estimated life time of about 10 years and costs about £1k. All this was dealt with in a previous thread less than a month ago.

Reply to
hugh

In message , tim.... writes

See previous thread.

Reply to
hugh

SNIP

As long as the replacement panel is of the same output the FIT payments would remain exactly the same as there would be no involvement, or notification required at all (unless you chose to use one of the FIT company services to do the replacement). Since most folks will use their original solar installer if under warranty, or a similar independant no one is likely to be any the wiser. As far as I personally am concerned the carbon considerations are a load of bollox but the economics considerations are a clincher.

Reply to
cynic

No one really knows. Define "life expanctancy", is it when they stop producing any electricity, when the out put has droppped by 50%, 25%

5% (for the same illumination level). I'd say anything from 10 to 20 years, though it's strange that a lot of the marketing uses 25 years...

Now that is a good question. I can see that being used as a hook to get the FIT paid to agiven installation chnaged to be the same as a new installation at that time. That isn't written down anywhere yet but then very little about maintenance and/or changes to the installed system is mentioned.

I very much doubt that they are carbon positive.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

I reckon that they will need cleaning occasionally and possibly weeding depening on how many nocks and crannies there are in the installation. Moss doesn't need much of a foothold, neither do some plants.

Is that 1% of rated output per year or 1% of the current output per year. The former means a 3kWp installation will be down to 2.73kWp at

10 years and 2.28kWp at 25. The former is a taper so is slighly better 2.74 and 2.36kWp. ie nearly 25% down after 25 years.
Reply to
Dave Liquorice

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