Solar panels

[Tigerhair]

Do you need to get any sort of planning permission for these?

[Muddypause]

You may do, certainly if you are in a listed building or a conservation area. In fact I think it's quite likely, even if you're not. It may vary from area to area, but I'm pretty sure we need PP here.

Phone up your local council (Planning Dept.); they should be able to give you some straightforward guidance without getting too bogged down in detail at this satge. You're just looking for an overview on their poilcy on these things. Ask 'em if there are any grants available, too.

[Tigerhair]

Thanks Stew, I will. I'm hoping to come into a small amount of money soon and think it would be a good investment.

[ina]

into a small amount of money

Not the £10 mill. then? Pity!

[Tigerhair]

Nope, babe, sorry.... still planning the £10m move though - may as well be prepared when it happens...!

Look how optimistic I am!!! WHEN it happens LOL ROFL

[gideon1]

There is an article floating about of a gent in Texas who did most of his roof in panels. Cost him @ 15,000 dollars(Pound conversion-??) but has already paid him back because the utility companies have started paying him for the extra power(electricity)he generates. Would be nice if the gub would start a policy of helping convert to solar. IHS

[Lord Azrael]

The big problem with any of these plans though is the initial cost. I saw one of these solar panel systems that heats the water, great idea, could save me a fortune in electricity, but they want around £2,000 for the system + installation. It may be cheap in the long run, but I can't afford such high prices. What we really need is cheaper equipment to start with that enables people without vast amounts of money to save.

[Martin]

there's two sorts of solar panels - solar hot water, and photo voltaics.
Solar hot water heating in our area usually costs £6-8000 fitted, even taking the grant into account - we can do a system for around £2,500 - of all the available renewable technologies, it's probaby the one that will pay back swiftest for most people. 8)
PV panels on the other hand are brilliant in every way, except for one - 25-30 years payback! - panels are about 30% overpriced thanks to the enormous demand from Germany - and as the price is set to plummet shortly due to new technologies in the pipeline - hang fire on solar pv for a couple of years!
(to put a typical £2,500 solar hot water system into some kind of financial perspective, that's far less than many people lose every year, just by driving a new car out of the suppliers!)
By the way, my understanding is that you do NOT require consent for either sort of panels, unless living in a listed building or are in a conservation area of some sort!

[Muddypause]

I wonder how viable it is to add it onto your mortgage?

£2,500 spread over, say 15 years, at 5% on a repayment mortgage would add about £20 per month to the repayments. Plus any arrangement fee, I suppose.

How much would an average household hope to save per month with solar heating?

[Martin]

the way I'd normally explain it is that it should enable you to switch off your other domestic hot water heating altogether for the summer months - many people can manage quite happily on "solar" from March to October - it's a case of "do your own sums" - at best it could pay for itself in 5 years, at worst, probably 15! 8)
We size the system so that you have a big solar store (tank) that holds enough for two average days use, to even things out if you have alternate sunny/cloudy days.
The tubes are very long lasting, as are all of the components used - probably the only thing you'll need to spend on it is a change of antifreeze every couple of years! 8)
I've avoided firm payback times, because there are sooo many variables that it's foolish to promise something the technology can't deliver.
My "bangs per buck" list in order is:-
Home hydro - pays back in 3-6 months if you're lucky enough to have the running water
Solar Hot Water - 5-15 years
Wind Turbines - 5 -15 years (the economics on "big wind" are really attractive!)
Heat Pumps - 15-20 years
Solar PV - 25-30 years
A "swindlesave" - probably about 200 years!