My sister is struggling to escape from an incautious agreement to have a vacuum tube thermal collector fitted to her roof.
The sales pitch appears to be that the energy collected is monitored and the information used to claim a feed in tariff from the gas supplier!
Can someone kindly explain the operation?
As a single elderly person, living alone and not given to using much hot water, I don't see much of the energy collected in summer being used.
regards
At first I wondered if they considered the amount of solar thermal you trapped as negating an equivalent amount of gas consumed and credited you at the FIT, but it would seem more likely to be the RHI (renewable heat incentive) instead ...
"Although solar thermal microgeneration is not included in the FIT, the consultation period for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) has begun. Kicking off in April 2011, this scheme will guaranteed payment to homeowners who install solar hot water"
Right. That's the stuff.
She was too embarrassed to tell me the installation cost but something like 8K. Assuming the current govt. confirms the scheme and agrees a 6% rate of return, she will be long buried before the capital is recovered.
regards
She should take immediate legal advice and cancel it.
Suppose she is a pensioner and she wants some income from her savings..
an annuity is not going to give the same returns as she can get from improved heating. So she gets more comfort and an income. It appears that the more heat you use the more comfortable you will be and the more they pay you. I am waiting to see if air sourced heat pumps actually get approval and plan on replacing my boiler with them. I suppose a ground source one would be better but I would require a bore hole.
I think they have misrepresented it as the scheme doesn't yet exist and the start date is not actually known. Systems installed before the start date may be excluded as they were with fits.
Well currently (and it could change...) systems completed after 15th July 2009 are eligible.
On Wed, 27 Oct 2010 22:14:57 +0100 someone who may be Tim Lamb wrote this:-
At the moment the only scheme I know of is that by Good Energy, which takes money from gas customers and uses it to support solar panels. I understand it is a trial for the renewable Heat Incentive.
As others have said, the Renewable Heat Incentive survived the budget and should come in later. That would not involve the gas supplier.
A solar panel has been a long term financial investment in the past. Just like a new kitchen or audio system there are other reasons for installing one, in the case of solar panels reducing one's carbon emissions. With the incentives installing a solar panel has been made a financial investment too, the return is better than banks are offering at the moment.
In message , David Hansen writes
I see there is a requirement to take gas or electricity from them and the payment is a bi-annual refund.
Interesting that it appears to include GSHP installations.
Yes. I'm not against the principle, just this particular proposal. A single pensioner with cats is going to have a tankful of very hot water most of the summer.
A senior salesman called this afternoon and attempted to divert her to a PV system. Fortunately she just kept saying she had changed her mind and he left.
I will follow up with an E-mail within the 7 day cancellation period.
regards
I recommend a recorded delivery letter, there is no proof an email got there.
I would put the probability of any of these scemes lasting long enough to repay the investment as quite low. Whilst I might do something along these lines because the technical aspects interest me, I wouldn't dream of doing it as an investment.
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