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Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

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Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Property/DIY

How much do you make from your solar panels?

42 replies

rachelfrost · 04/02/2019 17:51

We’re in the process of buying a house and the buyer claims they earn 2000 a year plus free electricity from the solar panels. Does 2000 a year sound about right?

I’ve got a bad feeling about these panels. The sellers want to keep on getting the 2000 a year in exchange for the free gas and electricity for 20 years after they’ve moved out but won’t give us any details about where they got the panels from etc.

OP posts:

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SamSpade · 04/02/2019 17:59

We get about £600 a year.

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SamSpade · 04/02/2019 18:01

Once you buy the house you'll also own the solar panels, so I don't understand how the seller could continue to benefit from them.

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YourFly · 04/02/2019 18:04

So they want £40,000

They are yours when you buy the house.

Ring B.Gas (or whoever you want) Feed In Tariff team with the installation i.d number, it will be on the meter.
Then go from there as the new owner.

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Sausagefingers9 · 04/02/2019 18:06

My dad has them not don’t think he earns that much. He definitely gets something back though and free electricity.

How would it work giving them the money? Surely they will become yours?

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SwedishEdith · 04/02/2019 18:13

Does he own them or are they under a rent a roof scheme?

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HollowTalk · 04/02/2019 18:14

My mum paid about £10,000 for them nine years ago and they've just paid off. She does pay for her electricity as well, but may well have a small discount.

My friend has free electricity when it's sunny but I don't think she gets any cash back.

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VeniVidiWeeWee · 04/02/2019 18:14

Your conveyancer needs to find out if they are leased or owned.

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HollowTalk · 04/02/2019 18:16

I wouldn't advise you to get involved in that scheme, OP, where they have the income. What would happen if a repair was needed?

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cornflakegirl · 04/02/2019 18:21

Seller should be able to show you quarterly statements of the FIT payments. You need to sort this out with your solicitor, as if they don't transfer the Feed in Tariff to you, then you won't get the money. We put a brief addendum on the standard contract to cover it. Our solar panels generate that kind of money as they were installed when the tariff was high. We bought the tariff separately from the agreed house price to avoid the FIT being sold to a rent a roof scheme.

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cornflakegirl · 04/02/2019 18:23

If they've got 20 years of FIT left then it seems unlikely that they're earning 2k a year as the tariff was much lower by then.

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chocolatebrazilnut · 04/02/2019 18:27

We reckon about £900/ year from ours. We have a 4kw system, facing almost due south. Slightly shaded in the winter.

We’ve had them around 5 1/2 years (if they had theirs earlier they may be on a higher tariff and get more but £2000 per year seems very high). And I don’t understand why they think they should continue to benefit once they’ve sold the house.

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rachelfrost · 04/02/2019 19:16

Thank you everyone! Really helpful responses.

It does seem a bit dodgy, we put an offer on the house and then they said they wouldn’t accept offers until we agree to keep the panels in their name and on the house’s roof for nearly 20 years. The estate agent doesn’t want to get involved as it’s not included in the house sale and the sellers won’t provide any details.

OP posts:

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kiabella · 04/02/2019 19:19

We have them and only made £40 this year on top of what it had saved on our energy bills. Only been in the house a year. Every house on this development has them and I know people that bought at the beginning of the development had a much higher return the first few years. The more they put in one area the less you get back.

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Montybabe · 04/02/2019 19:26

It depends what deal they are on. Some of the early deals were really lucrative but less lucrative as they became more commonplace. They should definitely provide you with the contract/documentation and that should clarify how it is transferred on house sale.

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BlessThisMess · 04/02/2019 19:38

£1000 pa approx for ours.

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OliviaBenson · 04/02/2019 19:55

I think what they are proposing would effectively make your house un-mortgageable as the sellers would retain a financial interest in the property. It will also affect any property valuation.

Don't do this op, they are taking the piss and I'm guessing the EA knows it. Talk to your solicitor first if you need to but I'd be wary.

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Felyne · 04/02/2019 20:02

Tell them you'll rent the roof space back to them for £3000 a year and any maintenance or repairs will be their responsibility...

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ribblerobble · 05/02/2019 12:12

Ours were fitted 2015. We have more than the average house and earn about £1000/year which covers gas and electric bills.

No way would I be buying it unless the panels were owned outright and ownership and payments transferred. I would, however, expect to pay a premium over a similar house if they have 20yrs left in them.

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Hereward1332 · 05/02/2019 12:23

Ownership of the panels is distinct from ownership of the house, so technically it's possible for them to keep ownership. However, it's absurd. Are they going to put insurance in place to cover potential damage to your roof? Are you going to be limited to an energy provider who offers FITs? Are you going to obliged to give meter readings to the energy supplier for them? Will you have to pay them for the energy you use? Will you be able to get a mortgage on the property with an encumbered roof?

I would say that if they want to keep the solar panels, they can, but they cannot keep them on your roof.

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PigletJohn · 05/02/2019 14:17

"they said they wouldn’t accept offers until we agree to keep the panels in their name "

tell them to fuck off.

look for another house.

They won't find another mug to agree to such a silly request, so they may be back on the market after they come to their senses.

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HollowTalk · 05/02/2019 15:33

They're being ridiculous in all sorts of ways.

They might die in the next twenty years. You might. You would certainly be unable to sell your house again within those twenty years.

Just say the sale is off altogether and look elsewhere.

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Constantsarechanging · 05/02/2019 16:50

Or tell them to take them with them when they move, they would no longer get feed in tariff as it ends in March and is hardly anything these days plus the hassle/cost of having them removed would be stupid!

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SushiMonster · 05/02/2019 17:22

Tell them to jog on.

You would be mad to even entertain such an idea.

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ineedtostopbeingsolazy · 05/02/2019 18:13

They want what? find another house.

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Ariela · 05/02/2019 18:33

Ours is a standard 16 panel installation, installed right at the end of the best payment tariff, in Feb 2012 and payed out at something like 43.5p so we get around 1250-1400/year back, this more than covers our electricity and oil use for the house and gives us an excess above of about £300, plus effectively free electricity in sunlight, which in turn heats the hot water when generating over 2kW/h. After 3 March 2012 the payout was reduced to 21p /kWh, and there have been reductions since, as well as reducing the term from 25 years to 20 years
I'd imagine if installed on the original tariff the panels cost them about £1K each, less if more recent. SO it's critical to find out their age to guess a perceived 'value'