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?

@20viona

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 😂

What sort of shower/cooker/heating etc. does each household have? How many people in each household? Are any of them teenagers who use Watts like it's going out of fashion?

For detail- we will get be in the house 5 years with no plans to move after that particularly.

I would buy them not rent.

DH Wfh in day. I commute 30miles a day to work 3 days a week - ideally would like to charge charge EV via panels

@ 2 adults and toddler at mine and 3 adults at my mums. Both have electric ovens and gas hobs. They have their heating on more than us! I honestly don't understand why their bills are cheaper.

Martin Lewis has done a whole analysis and advice on this (fyi)

Re the selling issue - I have experience of this

If you own the panels outright, it's not a problem at all

If you get them installed on a "lease" arrangement (ie don't pay for them up front, someone else does it and you pay them back over time or via feed in) then the installation company put a charge on the house. In effect a percentage of your roof is not 100% yours and mortgage companies get iffy about lending on it. Sounds ridiculous but had a house sale collapse over this. Only option was the buy the installer out of the contract, and they quoted us a five figure sum.

I would also say the latter situation is much less likely now as the government grant and feed in tariff has stopped. So most people
(not all) getting them now would buy them outright, in which case it's not a problem to sell on.

OP are you talking about Solar electric or solar thermal?

Very hard to sell your house. Some solar panels you give the company your roof. In the UK unlikely to get the money back due to lack of sun.

Christ there's some nonsense on here

Are wind turbines old hat now? We live on a hill where it's usually windy even on hot days. I always wonder if a wind turbine would be a good idea.

@londonrach

Very hard to sell your house. Some solar panels you give the company your roof. In the UK unlikely to get the money back due to lack of sun.

Unless you live on Shetland or install panels on a north facing roof or something you will make the money back. Martin Lewis estimates for current energy prices and export payments it would take about 13 years for someone in the midlands. Their lifespan is 25-30 years. I’d love to buy a house with solar panels, as it would save me the cost of installing them myself! I wouldn’t buy a house with an EPC lower than C nowadays.

I'd just like to also add that you don't actually need full sunshine for your solar panels to generate power. Ours do quite well on normal days. We've had them now on two houses and really like them. At our last house we could charge our car purely on solar for about 6 months of the year.

@londonrach

Very hard to sell your house. Some solar panels you give the company your roof. In the UK unlikely to get the money back due to lack of sun.

If you pay the capital up front rather than using one of those dodgy finance schemes, then there are no issues of that sort.

UK schemes generally pay back the capital in 10-15 years (probably quicker at the current electricity prices). Warranties often last for 25 years and the solar panels can still be functioning after 50 (though the inverter will need replacing).

Prices for selling to the grid are much less than you might have got under the old FiT money-printing scheme but given what unit prices are now (which aren't likely to drop), you still benefit hugely from free electricity.

Daylight is enough, it doesn't need to be direct sunlight. Even a north-facing roof isn't that bad, with only a 30% drop compared to south-facing so it may be worth getting that done at the same time. After all, costs such as the scaffolding and connecting up the system will be broadly the same whatever the size of the installation.

@SecretSquirrel111

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

No, it can be hard to sell a house with them if you’ve rented the panels. Not if you’ve bought them.

'The UK is a bit pathetic for solar, sadly'

Bollocks. My parents got 8kwh off their panels yesterday. In February. Their daily usage is about 10-11kwh so that is not bad at all. And because they have a battery they can store that power to use into the evening rather than sending it back into the grid.

I got them 6 years ago. They have a 20yr warranty. They cost me about 4k. I’ve already earned more than 4k on them (gov payments, free energy and payment for overage into grid).

But the bulk of my earnings are from gov payments which have dropped substantially since I got mine. So people will find it much harder to break even quickly.

@Babamamananarama

'The UK is a bit pathetic for solar, sadly'

Bollocks. My parents got 8kwh off their panels yesterday. In February. Their daily usage is about 10-11kwh so that is not bad at all. And because they have a battery they can store that power to use into the evening rather than sending it back into the grid.

How is their battery working out? It’s pretty new technology but I’m thinking of getting one.

Santas yep good. They programme it to charge during cheap rate electricity period overnight. It's all about how you use and programme it. I know a few people with them now who really rate them.

All these people saying solar panels are rubbish because we are in the U.K.- nonsense!

We have solar panels on our roof (no garden). Today we have generated 8kWh, and consumed 14kWh - having washed and used dryer on two loads of laundry, plus cooked in the evening. I mention the dryer because it’s a noticeable energy consumption point.

This is in late February! In May/June when days are longer we can easily generate enough to cover most of our energy. Except if we charge the electric car! That uses a lot of power.

OP - the incentives aren’t as good as they used to be (govt removed them), but you could start by getting a couple of quotes from reputable local solar companies.
They should produce a payback period calculation for you. If I remember correctly ours were estimated to pay back for the initial investment in 10+ years, but that was with energy prices 4 years ago!

PV panels / tiles do not need direct sunlight - just "daylight". Of course they create more power on bright clear days, but they can generate electricity even on a cloudy day. Combine with a battery as others have mentioned.

We are doing a new build (six bedroom house). With the right insulation levels, air source heat pump, solar PV tiles and a battery, the estimates are coming in that our electricity bills will be in the region of £50 a month - a third of what they are in our three bedroom terrace house.

@Fedupsotired

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

Solar panels are largely maintenance free. Mines have a 20 year guarantee but the inverter only came with a ten year guarantee so may need to replace at some point. I've had mine nearly 6 years no maintenance atall.

I think they’re a con. I’ve had my solar array for 3 years, it’s on the ground, full south, correct angle and they produce 50% of the amount of electricity they’re supposed to. (A calculation of what they could reasonably be expected to generate was made at the point of sale). I got the expensive ones, i.e not with “Christmas tree light effect”, so if one panel has a tiny bit of shade for a couple of hours, the others will not stop generating. I’m so gutted - only 50% of what I was expecting! I doubt I’ll recoup my initial outlay over the lifetime of these panels.

4kw array. Generated over 11kw yesterday. Yorkshire. SSE/SSW split of panels. Nearly 10 years old and generating expected levels of KW each year.

Interesting replies, thank you all. I think I will start by getting some quotes.

Any recommendations for installers?

Another point in their favour no one has yet mentioned is security of supply. If there's a power cut, or if there should need to be any electricity rationing next winter, you are sitting pretty. Interesting to hear batteries are becoming more mainstream now, that's good news.

@Hopeisnotastrategy that was another reason I thought too. The global situation is so unstable - Russia/ climate change. It's all pushing me towards the decision quicker than it would have.