Solar panels

[see]

Ahh, but he'll be on a micro-generation feed-in tariff. Basically he gets paid for the energy he produces, even if he uses it himself!!

[vetran]

try looking at feed in tariffs

It is a government subsidised eco initiative. basically they pay over the odds for any electricity generated (guaranteed for 25 years). You can have it done for free and just get cheap electricity.

He is however probably an eco bore as well , find him a friend - does Wilmslow live close by?

[EternalOptimist]

Wait ..... I got the numbers

I was chatting to the neighbours about getting my cherry blossom tree chopped (being polite)

and he piped up about his scaffolding and solar panels. It went something like this

Eco Zealot - 'Its renewable and economic. should pay for itself in roughly ten years'

EternalOptimist - ' Well thats impressive, but there must be a subsidy involved'

EZ -'no subsidy, its renewable energy. its free. its free sunlight' ,'there is no subsidy'

EO - 'oh right, impressive. so how does it work then ?, how much wonga do you make by selling lekky back to the grid, is it a lot ?'

EZ - 'yeah , its a lot. my energy bill used to be £1300 a year. now I am guaranteed £1500 for my rig (generation fee) plus an estimated £30 feedin tariff, plus massive energy savings'
'So that is £1530 per year, minus maintenance. so I should pay off the capital expense of £10000 in about ten years, give or take. bearing in mind its paid by a loan that bears interest'


EO - 'Er, that sound fantastic. but first of all, the generation fee is a subsidy, second, your figures dont include you ongoing energy bill. you will still get a bill you know. for the next ten years'

EZ - eyes glaze over -' no you dont understand. there is no subsidy, and my lekky is free.' points to the sun

EO - 'No standing charges ? and what if the subsidy gets pulled ?'

EZ - 'there is no subsidy'

at this point I had to go to sort some stuff out

One of us is seriously deluded.

[EternalOptimist]

my take, if I am right

he used to pay £1300 a year for energy



now he will receive £1500 subsidy
£30 for selling lekky to the grid
pay a reduced bill (say £750 pa)
pay for maintenance

= about £750 profit a year
plus a £10000 capex debt


and when everyone has one, whats the point of an incentive so whoops goes the subsidy


fkng green eco-loons

[vetran]

the subsidy is AIUI gold plated but energy prices will rise though it does look attractive as I say a number of companies are offering it FOC. There is a feed in tariff & an annual subsidy ~ £1k.

[PAH]

EO, if he wasn't such a 'save the planet' nut you could offer him a nice little earner for both of you. He hooks up to your leccy and gets paid extra for feeding back your leccy into the grid, pretending it's from his solar panels.

Not sure about the figures but I'm sure there are some somewhere pulling this type of scam if the numbers stack up and greed doesn't blow their cover.

[EternalOptimist]

EO, if he wasn't such a 'save the planet' nut you could offer him a nice little earner for both of you. He hooks up to your leccy and gets paid extra for feeding back your leccy into the grid, pretending it's from his solar panels.

Not sure about the figures but I'm sure there are some somewhere pulling this type of scam if the numbers stack up and greed doesn't blow their cover.

that was the second thing that crossed my mind

[xoggoth]

You could save a lot more money by stealing others people's fuel.

[Incognito]

EO, if he wasn't such a 'save the planet' nut you could offer him a nice little earner for both of you. He hooks up to your leccy and gets paid extra for feeding back your leccy into the grid, pretending it's from his solar panels.

Not sure about the figures but I'm sure there are some somewhere pulling this type of scam if the numbers stack up and greed doesn't blow their cover.

I don't think it's quite as easy as that, they don't pay you by the kW you put back into the grid, I think it's a flat tariff annually.

The ellecy companies get to charge everyone else a penny more per unit because they're buying the solar wiggles at a higher price from the government (pays for the grant).Someone explained it to me once, wasn't too interested.

Two ways to pay for it:

(a) a company loans you the money to pay for the panels, you get the grant but have to pay for maintenance etc.

(b) a company pays, installs and maintains the panels, they keep the grant you get the wiggles.

Either way, it becomes a bugger trying to sell your house after that.

[Sysman]

Either way, it becomes a bugger trying to sell your house after that.

Ooh Heck Aye.

Potentially nasty.