Solar Panels

I too think they tend to look ugly when tacked on to an existing house. Perhaps in future when they are an integral part of the design of a house they will be more acceptable. I certainly don't think you would recoup the outlay unless you are willing to wait quite a few years.

That is true rockgran there is a long payback time - but the way to think about it is "if these savings were invested elsewhere, would iI get a better return? (bearing in mind this income is tax free.) (and there'll be a reduction in your electricity bill if you play your cards right.

Electricity bills 2014 = £887 Feed in Tarrif payments received 2014 = £888. No brainer as far as we are concerned!

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I wish, like the Algarve, new houses had to be built with solar panel. To me it makes sense. Any way we can use renewables for even part of our energy consumption is a no brainer. I would install if there wasn't a huge list of things needed first.....

A recent small housing development near here has built in solar panels on all the roofs. However, they are upmarket properties, not run of the mill 'affordable' properties, so I think we are a long way away from that yet. My son has had solar panels for some years, having bought them when the feed in tariffs were at their highest. He has been very pleased with them. However, this year he has had a problem with the bit of kit that converts the current from DC to AC, and is still waiting for a new one to be supplied and fitted. He has lost the advantage of practically all the summer weather - effectively several hundred pounds worth. So, they are not without their potential problems.

This is how we spent the little money my parents left us (OAP homes for a couple of years saw their savings melt away fast- that's ok- not complaining)... we bought thermal solar panels, which are installed in the field next to our house (our field) as they would have looked awful on this old house. They are for water only, 4m square, and do not produce electricity- but heat all our water. The system allows oil central heating to take over (no other choice but oil here in our rural area) in the case there is no sun at all for days (they do NOT need full sun- just bright light really, to work). Works brilliantly and bills much cheaper- but it will take quite a few years to get our money back. This wasn't about money anyhow.

With the rest we bought a big wood burner, clad with alpine stone- which heats our living space so well- so our oil consumption has dropped massively. We get cheap wood here (ash and beech- perfect) from our local forests, so it's great.

I love my solar panels we had them fitted last year with an optimiser than channels spare electricity to the hot water. We have only used the boiler to heat water two or three times since March mygas/electric bills are down to £40 pcm plus FIT love love love them

I am a happy bunny as my solar water system is working again. My local council paid for it I think mainly to shut me up because they were fed up with me writing to them and trying to make an appointment to discuss the problem. It has been working for 6 months now and I have only had to switch on the immersion x3 for around 15 minutes when we had a series of very dull days. It pays to complain.

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We moved last year and had to have the roof strengthened and retiled so while we were at it we had pv panels inset into the roof because it looked better and also saved us the cost of those tiles. We are an all electric household (apart from a wood burner we had installed in September) and have a feed in tariff of 14.61 pence per kilowatt generated plus 4.85 pence for half of what we generate as they assume our usage is half. We don't use anywhere like half in the summer months but we are not complaining as during the summer we cooked, washed, vacuumed etc etc while the sun was shining and the dial stood still meaning it was sun power. Cheques received exceeded cost of usage. This quarter with the rain, cloud etc we have still generated some but not very much although better than a kick in the teeth. We have not had a full year yet but DH keeps a close eye on it and puts it on his computer so will certainly know every detail! And I have regular updates!

We put in a thermodynamic panel for our hot water which is combined with a pressurised tank so we have permanent hot water for very little cost. It works in the same way as air source heat pumps ie like a refrigerator but the other way round and only uses a miniscule amount of electricity to work the pump. It even works better in wind and rain so is ideal! It never gets switched off and we always have oodles of hot water with really good pressure.

The total running costs of our home are less than we have ever paid before so we are really pleased.

Solar panels are a good option for the saving on the electric bills. Recently, I have installed solar panels from the experts at NYC HVAC service [http://www.airdexinc.com]. Periodic servicing is also essential for the proper working of panels. It is quite beneficial and it has great use in winters.

Why should you consider solar energy to be the future? Because the future is approaching at a steady rate – and not everyone is prepared for it yet. Countries all over the world are realizing that they need to find alternatives to traditional fossil fuels since it’s becoming more and more expensive – and less and less available. Solar energy is the future because it’s a renewable energy source: Unless you believe The Matrix is gospel truth, we still haven’t blacked out the sun yet – so solar power remains one of the safer alternatives to finding electricity out of our environment. It’s also a great option for people who would rather opt for solar energy over nuclear energy, considering the large-scale nuclear disasters we’ve had in the past.

I think your husband is correct. How long you are likely to live and how long you are likely to stay in your current home has to be considered.

Thank You

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