Thinking of Getting Solar Panels?

[OwlHoot]

I have a feeling solar panels today are where PCs were in about 1978, i.e. just about to plummet in price and increase markedly in efficiency.

Hardly a day goes by without some new article I receive on one of the tech email lists I subscribe to detailing a new advance in solar cell technology.

If so then the implication is that it would be daft to spend a fortune on a set of panels today when they will soon be much cheaper and better.

[psychocandy]

Some right con artists in this business.

Had a guy around a few months ago. He waffled on then I said figures matey. He was vague. Not keen to give me a copy either.

Anyway, they'd added crap like "we'll give you 10 low energy lightbulbs so that'll save x per year - look your £20 a month better off". As soon as I said forget the lightbuld crap its got to pay for itself using guaranteed income etc he basically picked up his stuff said thanks and bolted for the door.....

Obviously with their business model they know there are easy pickings out there and as soon as someone queries the figures they're onto you so you're better off bailing and not wasting any more time....

Got the quote checked out and he'd used max possible estimates. I would never in a million years have worked out worth doing.

They do spout on about how you're saving the environment on your own lol. Can imagine lots of people falling for it then finding they're paying for an expensive loan and are £50/month worse off than they were before. Sales guys must know this - how they sleep at night I dont know....

[northernladuk]

Some right con artists in this business.

Had a guy around a few months ago. He waffled on then I said figures matey. He was vague. Not keen to give me a copy either.

Anyway, they'd added crap like "we'll give you 10 low energy lightbulbs so that'll save x per year - look your £20 a month better off". As soon as I said forget the lightbuld crap its got to pay for itself using guaranteed income etc he basically picked up his stuff said thanks and bolted for the door.....

Obviously with their business model they know there are easy pickings out there and as soon as someone queries the figures they're onto you so you're better off bailing and not wasting any more time....

Got the quote checked out and he'd used max possible estimates. I would never in a million years have worked out worth doing.

They do spout on about how you're saving the environment on your own lol. Can imagine lots of people falling for it then finding they're paying for an expensive loan and are £50/month worse off than they were before. Sales guys must know this - how they sleep at night I dont know....

Can we have a yawning smiley please? this one doesn't really fit.... or does it?

[OwlHoot]

Some right con artists in this business.

Had a guy around a few months ago. He waffled on then I said figures matey. He was vague. Not keen to give me a copy either.

Anyway, they'd added crap like "we'll give you 10 low energy lightbulbs so that'll save x per year - look your £20 a month better off". As soon as I said forget the lightbuld crap its got to pay for itself using guaranteed income etc he basically picked up his stuff said thanks and bolted for the door.....

Obviously with their business model they know there are easy pickings out there and as soon as someone queries the figures they're onto you so you're better off bailing and not wasting any more time....

Got the quote checked out and he'd used max possible estimates. I would never in a million years have worked out worth doing.

They do spout on about how you're saving the environment on your own lol. Can imagine lots of people falling for it then finding they're paying for an expensive loan and are £50/month worse off than they were before. Sales guys must know this - how they sleep at night I dont know....

With that kind of shady deal, they own the panels and you lease your roof space to them, which can greatly complicate selling your gaff should you wish.

Far better to take the hit and buy the panels direct (even with an unsecured loan if need be), unless you agree with me that they will drop in price before long.

[NibblyPig]

Economy 7 is pretty jank as anyone who has had to endure storage heaters will tell you.

If tesla come up with a decent battery though, might be more viable.

[Gumbo Robot]

Economy 7 is pretty jank as anyone who has had to endure storage heaters will tell you.

If tesla come up with a decent battery though, might be more viable.

Yes, rented a house with them in once.

Terrible it was.

Freezing cold all night and oppressively hot during the day when I used to have to open all the windows and doors.

Fortunately I was out at work most days.

Good for old folks, that's about it.

[VectraMan]

Economy 7 is pretty jank as anyone who has had to endure storage heaters will tell you.

Yes I had them once. Completely useless.

It could work to heat your water, although most people have gas heating and hot water anyway. So switching lots over to electric will increase the electricity demand.

[EternalOptimist]

Don't shed any tears for the solar panel troughers. Solar power is free , remember ?
You can see how weak their arguments are when the subsidy teat is removed and they start howling like banshees.

Maybe if we had ignored them from the start we would still have a steel industry

[vetran]

Economy 7 is pretty jank as anyone who has had to endure storage heaters will tell you.

If tesla come up with a decent battery though, might be more viable.

As many things are battery supported it will be easier.

Water heating, electric car charging & Battery storage are the ideal targets. Storage heaters weren't so good, they they only slowed the release of heat, now you could insulate them and add a fan to release heat (later ones did that). Electronic on demand switching and storage may improve that.

The point being you can send a pulse of power when you are running up a power station and a tail off. So when you run up a coal fired station to support the kettle peak. You can pulse economy 7 for half an hour to get the sweet spot of that power station. If you have excess during the night you can do the same.

If in the meter you allow an Economy 7+ relay output you can switch power on locally to an economy 7 outlet or to remotely connected sockets.

[OwlHoot]

I have a feeling solar panels today are where PCs were in about 1978, i.e. just about to plummet in price and increase markedly in efficiency.

Hardly a day goes by without some new article I receive on one of the tech email lists I subscribe to detailing a new advance in solar cell technology.

If so then the implication is that it would be daft to spend a fortune on a set of panels today when they will soon be much cheaper and better.

e.g:

2015-10-22 Shining more light on solar panels

Solar panels are the beacon of renewable energy, yet they are not getting as much light as they could be. Joshua Pearce from Michigan Technological Univ. and a team from Queen’s Univ. in Canada have found a way to get more sun to shine on the panels and crank up the output by 30% or more. The work is published in the Journal of Photovoltaics. ...