Solar panels

[namcybotwinbloom]

I work in the utility industry but know nothing about solar for domestic houses.

Is it worth it?

In the northwest if it helps and what should I be asking about them?

Been offered finance for them but I'm so unsure just wondered if anyone had advice, experience or whatever is helpful if you have them.

Tia.

We looked into this and decided it's not worth it. The payback time is huge and the technology is more or less at its limit now.

It used to be better when the subsidy deal was more favourable, and you got a better price for feeding back into the grid, but there are many downsides:

Cost of maintaining the panels and your roof underneath.

You can't be sure the guarantees that are given will be honoured. Sometimes there are no problems for several years by which time you find the original company has been bought out and the new owners won't have anything to do with it.

Growing evidence that the panels are made using Uighur forced labour.

You would be better off spending the money on improving the energy efficiency of your house to reduce your energy usage.

Yes it's worth it if you care about the future of our planet and are concerned about rising energy prices.

You should improve your energy efficiency as well.

And it is likely to increase the value of your home.

www.solarsense-uk.com/news/do-solar-panels-add-value-to-your-house/

Yes it's worth it if you care about the future of our planet

Actually the overall carbon foot print of solar panels is pretty crap, once you count in the emissions from their production, the shipping from China and the fact that they cannot be recycled but go to landfill, the planet-saving aspect looks pretty ropey.

Use less electricity, that's the greenest option by far atm

Use less electricity, of course.

But you are wrong about the overall carbon footprint of solar panels. They pay back their lifetime emissions within 1 to 2 years and can continue generating electricity for about 40 years.

They are also about 97% recyclable - after all they are mostly made of glass.

We had 16 panels installed five/six years ago. We have a largish five bedroom house and our electricity works out at about £400 per year. Admittedly I'm at home during the day so use 'free' electricity for laundry etc.

Definitely worth it from my point of view and remember it is about lights rather than just sun generating electricity.