Anyone Got PV Solar Heating?

I've been thinking of looking into this but only have a brief outline at the moment. If you have it installed I would appreciate your thoughts on it.

What little I know so far:

I'm assuming that if I have it I will have picked an installer that does it properly (will do research). Also I shall be looking at purchasing it and not 'roof renting'.

1. The panels produce electricity (the more sun, the more electricity).

2. I use as much of that electricity as possible and save on my electricity bills.

3. I get paid the 'Feed in Tarrif' for the total amount of power generated by my panels (somewhere around 14p per KWh)

4. I get paid a nominal amount for the power fed into the national grid (somewhere around 4p per KWh for 50% of the power generated).

5. If my roof faces south and is not overshadowed by trees it is likely to produce power at higher efficiency.

Have I got it right?
What are the pitfalls?

Many thanks

 

It's probably better to think of it as PV Solar Electricy rather than 'Heating'. My brother has it on his new build house and as far as I can tell you have the basic facts right Shiney . You add 3) and 4) together to arrive at your income (my brother earns about £600/year from his). If I had the spare cash I would install it, even though the Feed in Tariffs have been reduced you can still make more money than leaving the cash in the bank.

There is a 'pay back' period, you will have to do the sums to make sure it's worth-while for your situation. If you intend moving in the next few years it's maybe not worth it. In theory the PV panels should add value to your home, but some buyers might also be put off by the visuals or worried about the unknown technology.

The pitfalls on an older property; you might need some extra roof supports (unlikely), if you need any maintenance on the roof after the PV panels are installed then it's more of a problem.

 

Thanks, John . I did mean electricity and not heating

As you say, your brother earns about £600 per year - and he also saves on a proportion of his power costs when his house is using the generated electricity.

I would be looking on it as an investment situation. Not by putting value on the house (because I don't think it does) but because I have the money in the bank and I'm earning almost nothing on it. It will be money that would have been going to whoever inherits - and I intend to make use of as much of their money as possible

I'll get the possible structural problems looked into when I get quotes for the work. I intend to have at least five companies quote and I shall require references from satisfied customers (whom I shall talk to), check with their trade registration organisation, check with Trading Standards and check them against the people recommended by Which? members.

 

Have to agree about the glare from them if the sun is right Jiffy... I cannot have them as roof the wrong way & in a conservation area..

 

Thanks for all the comments

The way we, and our neighbours, are situated there would be no trouble from glare. They have no direct line of sight to our roof (low roof on bungalow and hidden from view by hedges).

 

Yep, that's what I understand with the 'roof renting' system. They rent the roof for 20 years. Not a bad idea if you don't have the money to buy the system and are pretty certain you may be there for a long time.

With both systems you aren't getting totally free electricity as you only get it whilst the system is generating it i.e. during sunny days and to a lesser extent non-sunny days. Nothing at night. If you don't, normally, use much electricity the advantage is proportionately less.

If the system is running at optimum capacity it could be producing 4KWh and most houses rarely use that at any time. The amount not used gets fed into the national grid. That's why you get paid the 'feed in' tarrif. You get paid a flat per kilowatt fee for the,metered, total amount generated (whether you or the national grid use it) and a smaller flat fee for the, unmetered, amount you feed into the national grid. If you rent out the roof you only benefit by the free use but you don't have to pay for the installation. Not many companies do this system any more.

 

That's like running the heating on hot sunny summer days . It works better for airconditioning.