Solar Panel Costs of Running & Installation

A question about : Solar Panel Costs of Running & Installation

I keep getting phone calls to say I can get free up front cost of solar panels but I am sure I was told some time ago that it takes 7 yrs to get back the cost of these solar panels.

Has anyone been approached to have these installed and if so do they know if they are worth having installed if like us you are in your 60's and retired so obviously have higher energy costs than say someone out at work?

Best answers:

• Hi I've just had a company called Ecosmart come out to view my roof and measure up... They are the marketing company for 'freetricity'? They have said the panels will be free as I get WTC ... no costs at all and they will maintain them. I am likely to save average 37% and upto 50% on electricity and they keep the feed in tariff (making it viable for them). I have to rent the roof space for a 20 year contract and then the panels are mine.
  Like OP Has anyone else had any experience with them or know anyone that has? Any feedback and advise would be welcome. I will not sign a contract today but will read first and post to them
• There are two ways you could get solar electric panels, buy them outright and earn a feed in tariff and get some free electricity or rent your roof to a company who'd take the feed in tariff and I believe you got the benefit of free daytime electricity that the panels created..... in winter the panels may only generate enough to power a few lightbulbs so don't expect to be able to get free power to do laundry, cooking and heating during the darks days of winter.
  I'd personally not want to commit to renting my roof to a solar panel company for 5 years let alone 20.... what are the implications if you move house- will you be able to buyout the contract at a fair price? will the panels put off buyers? what actual benefits do you get for giving up your roof financially and is it really that much?, what if that company goes broke? - lots of potential for problems vs what pros?
  I can see the sense when the feed in tariff was so high originally, it was a fairly decent deal if you bought the panels and owned them, got free electricity and got paid to produce it but remember the life of panels may be 20 - 25 years, when you'd get them handed back to you (in a worthless condition? and the inverter is more like 10 years lifespan if I recall.
  For me, I'd be very wary of anything like renting out my roof, but would certainly consider buying panels myself.
• I've asked all the questions you put forward - the implications of moving house are simple you can not buy it out they stay there and the new buyer has the benefits. It wouldn't put me off buying a property. Like you've rightly said the feed in tariff was so high but has now dropped so if I 'found' roughly 6/7 thousand how long would it take me to break even if I buy them myself? The benefit I'd have thought was pretty obvious in the fact of the electricity savings . They are responsible for all up keep for the 20 years. And the lifespan of panels now is a lot longer than 25 years not sure exactly though, again another dilemma that is there regardless of who initially buys them but if you buy them and something goes wrong you have to fix it
  I'm trying to find the catch but recently had a boiler free and there never was a catch!!!
• You shouldn't need to pay 6-7 thousand these days. Probably more like Ј5000.
  The payoff period is likely to be about 8 to 10 years, depending on how good the panel orientation is.
  The big advantage of buying your own is that once you've paid off the install, you get to keep the feed-in tariff, and you get the free electricity. In my case, once the panels are paid for, I'm expecting a profit of about Ј1600/year tax-free and index-linked, and that's ignoring the free electricity. You wouldn't get that much with the latest FIT, but the install costs are now much lower.
  The potential down-side is that once the warranties run out, you have to pay for any repairs.
  The rent-a-roof installers are relying on the FIT being worth a lot more than the free electricity. Unless you are at home all day, the chances are that most of what you generate will simply be exported, and you'll essentially be giving it away.