PV cells?

[Agile]

I recently bought a car battery from this firm who also sell expensive and quite professional PV panels.

http://www.batterymegastore.co.uk/cgi-bin/megastore/commerce.cgi?product=Solar_Framed_Panels!KYOCERA

Based on their lowest £/watt panel ( £595 ) I did a few calculations and assuming 8 hours a day and 50% maximum output and 10p/kWh the return on capital cost of panel without installation, batteries or controllers is only 3%.

Factor in batteries, annual maintenance and replacements and controllers and inverters then the return would fall to about 1.5%.

However, as they are sold, presumably someone is buying them. Apparently more for fun than as a serious investment with a realistic return on capital.

Tony

 

[Temprise]

I recently bought a car battery from this firm who also sell expensive and quite professional PV panels.

http://www.batterymegastore.co.uk/cgi-bin/megastore/commerce.cgi?product=Solar_Framed_Panels!KYOCERA

Based on their lowest £/watt panel ( £595 ) I did a few calculations and assuming 8 hours a day and 50% maximum output and 10p/kWh the return on capital cost of panel without installation, batteries or controllers is only 3%.

Factor in batteries, annual maintenance and replacements and controllers and inverters then the return would fall to about 1.5%.

However, as they are sold, presumably someone is buying them. Apparently more for fun than as a serious investment with a realistic return on capital.

Tony

There is a scheme which is due to start with P.V. which could mean a very quick payback on the investment.

Feed in tarriffs will pay the householder with P.V. installed, for all electricity that is not used that gets put back into the grid. This payment will be given back to the customer as a return on their investment.

Dont know any more about it, but worth a 'google on feed in tarriffs'.

Pyback on ROI is expected to be 5 years.

Regards.

 

[Agile]

Yes, thats what has been proposed and hopefully will be available.

Unfortunately as I understand the process it will only be available for professionally installed panels which have been installed by a member of the scheme which involves paying about £1500 per anum, having your business deeply audited and having taken an approved course which will probably cost about £600.

Net result, any members of that scheme will not be very cheap as they have to recoup their costs!

Of course it precludes any DIY installations.

Tony

 

[ajstoneservices]

All depends on what you're paying for your watts. You've happened to pick what on the face of it is a high price investment so it will return less. If you look around you can find approved European Pv for around £2 a watt now.

 

[mointainwalker]

There is a scheme which is due to start with P.V. which could mean a very quick payback on the investment

.

I think if you read the rates, moderately acceptable rather than quick would be more accurate

 

[ianniann]

Feed In Tariffs have already begun. The price for home-scale solar PV is a little over 40p/kwH shock. The payback at about five times the retail price of electricity, guaranteed and indexed, is phenomenally quick. However, the system is beset with red tape and your system will have to be accrediated under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme. This means a relatively small number of companies are going to make a massive amount of money selling the rest of us extremely expensive electricity or extremely expensive solar panels One such company in the Midlands is offering to install panels for free and to let you have all the electricity they generate for free. They just keep the difference between the feed-in tariff price and the regular price, which should give you an idea of the money involved.