Aibu to think solar panels are a good investment with rising energy prices?

[Ghostofchristmaspasty]

Just that really. Been thinking about getting some for a while and with electric rises surely it's a good move?

Iv got solar panels and my parents live in the same house on the same street but we have a south facing garden where the panels are. Honestly their electric bill is cheaper than ours! I don't get it 😂

That's really strange- why do you think that is?

Can be hard to sell a house on with them, overrated.

Solar plus a battery - yes I think so. My parents have this and their elec bill is under £30 a month now. We are about to do the same - will cost about £10k but that money is earning no interest sitting in the bank but will possibly take £100/m off my electricity bills.

Massive con don't do it

@SecretSquirrel111 interesting. I was thinking it was an investment with rising energy prices and electric vehicles ( we have a drive so could install a charging point) they would be more popular.

I used to have them on my old house. I got about 10quid a month. Really not worth the expenditure as the tariff from the energy companies is very poor

We were looking at getting them installed and figured out it will take at least 9 years to recoup the initial investment, more likely over 10.

Unless you're in your forever home there's no point.

My parents have had them for a few years, and have a very good angle on their roof for facing the sun. Their bills are dirt cheap.

But solar panels are expensive, I’m not sure how quickly they’d pay for themselves.

I’ve never quite understood why they aren’t good when selling a house (although I have read this elsewhere as well). I can understand not wanting to spend money putting them on your house, but if a house came with them, what’s the problem?

I’m not sure it’s a massive con- my mum gets an annual cheque for her panels for over a grand, south facing, and has had same panels with zero problems for about 20 yrs. Rings a bell that income is tax free too I think. Which is a far better return on £10k in the bank.

We should build all new homes with solar panels to reduce reliance on other fossil fuels.

I have them and they do reduce bills a bit I signed up when the kick back from elec company was more generous so they send me 500 quid or so a year. Have a thing that diverts any extra electricity not being used into heating hot water.

Someone told me that every 3/4 years you need to pay £3000 maintenance but don't know if that's true!

All new homes will have them soon as you can't really get to EPC A without them. Solar plus battery storage is the best way to go. will take a few years to "save" enough in your bills to pay back the Installation, but long term definitely worth it.

@Apandemicyousay

I’m not sure it’s a massive con- my mum gets an annual cheque for her panels for over a grand, south facing, and has had same panels with zero problems for about 20 yrs. Rings a bell that income is tax free too I think. Which is a far better return on £10k in the bank. We should build all new homes with solar panels to reduce reliance on other fossil fuels.

I signed after they'd got rid of the £1K a year sadly but prices came down a lot neighbours paid £16K for their panels I paid £6K I don't think you get a lot nowadays (might be wrong).

I have them but switched them off after the pump went & an estimate cost of over £900 for a new pump to be fitted (I've had 3 quotes all the same) I've not seen much difference in energy costs since I switched them off, so I'm not sure I'd bother

I keep having posts come up on my FB about getting compensation for solar panels. It seems a lot of promises were made that didn't stack up and it will take an awfully long time just to get back your initial investment. It's not something I'd consider.

We have really high electricity use 11000kwh a year plus about to get an electric car so solar panels are something we are considering. If anyone has any recommendations would love to hear them we have land and property they could go on.

Definitely. I work in renewable energy, but not in sales. They should 'pay back' in 4-9 years, but the key is to use as much of the electricity generated yourself, ie, work from home, run your appliances during the day, charge an electric car. Selling power to the grid makes virtually nothing since the government got rid of the Feed in Tarriff. If you have a due south sloping roof, you will also improve return on investment. Fixed batteries are still pricey and will reduce the return on investment considerably. I am going to wait a couple of years for those, or until an affordable system to use my car as the house battery becomes available.

Mug2018 what pump? Are you talking about solar hot water heating?

You don't get the same price per unit of electricity sold back to the grid as people who installed panels 10 yrs ago.
You do not need to pay £3k maintenance every few years.
Solar does not make a house hard to sell. Down here in Cornwall a decent proportion have them - maybe 20%?

Solar plus a battery is the important thing nowadays as the battery allows you to store excess energy that you might generate during the day and use it yourself later rather than selling back to the grid for 5p/kWh. With a battery you can also charge your battery overnight when the cheap tariff is running (buying elec at 7p per kWh) and then use it in the daytime when it would otherwise be 23p per kWh.

Solar panels are not very environmentally friendly to make and after 20/30 years they are hideously toxic... I wish they were good cause I want cheap electricity 😭 Been advised by EPC tester to install photovoltaic and wind turbines 😦

There’s a guy on YouTube, Kris Harbour and he made his own hobbit hut house for £3k and hydroelectric power that he DIYed. I’m inspired by the hydroelectric and he has a cute claw foot bath in his hut ♥️

Why are we not making use of Wave power?

We could have solar farms in hot desert places that are too hot for habitation... Didn’t the gov invest in a Morocco solar farm, recently?

www.itv.com/news/2021-11-03/how-cables-2500-miles-long-could-bring-solar-power-from-morocco-to-uk-homes

I would if we were going to be in this house longer but we’re planning to move in a couple of years. If you’ll be there 10+ years I’d go for it, with a battery.

They are only an issue when selling the house if you did a scheme where you got the panels for free by basically renting your roof to an energy company. If you just buy them it’s fine - and a plus point for me.

It needs to be a big solar farm in a desert place, the UK is a bit pathetic for sunshine, sadly. This is why we have so much illness, D3 is vital hormone vitamin thingy. The roofs are not big enough for the amount of panels needed to generate sufficient power.

@Summerhillsquare

Definitely. I work in renewable energy, but not in sales. They should 'pay back' in 4-9 years, but the key is to use as much of the electricity generated yourself, ie, work from home, run your appliances during the day, charge an electric car. Selling power to the grid makes virtually nothing since the government got rid of the Feed in Tarriff. If you have a due south sloping roof, you will also improve return on investment. Fixed batteries are still pricey and will reduce the return on investment considerably. I am going to wait a couple of years for those, or until an affordable system to use my car as the house battery becomes available.

And in the winter in Scotland, would one be able to use solar panels? I saw on Grand Designs a big house and they had all solar, through the winter, but they had a huge roof available and God knows how many K it cost upfront. How does it work in the winter?