Quote Originally Posted by dan_geoghegan
[quote author=lunalupi link=1311872932/4#4 date=1311884239]My mum is having solar electricity panels put onto her house - costs a fair whack! But you do avoid being hit so badly by price hikes

We looked at it for mine but I'd need to settle and be here for a good few years to get the full benefit
It doesn't have to cost anything thanks to new government [s]ass kissing[/s] initiatives to reduce carbon footprints http://www.ecovisionenergy.com/?gcli...FYpA4QodvUffVg
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Right we've looked into this, so for anyone else thinking about it:

  • You have to effectively rent your roof to the solar company for 25 years - so if you have a mortgage your bank has to agree to it, and for all future mortgages.
  • As WB has said, you have to be able to fit enough panels to your roof, and it has to face in certain directions.
  • The solar company gets all the money made from selling the excess power generated (the feed-in tariff). This is what makes the profits if you fit it yourself.
  • While you get to use as much free electricity as you make, be aware this will not happen at night - so you have to buy electricity in when not generating. So it doesn't work very well if you are out all day and use most of your power after dark (like most people who are out at work!). If you got the feed-in tariff you could offset some of the cost of buying in by using your profits from selling during the day, but you don't get that if you go for the free panels.
  • However if you use lots of daytime electricity (maybe you work from home) then it's more useful as you get lots of free electricity to use all day long