So I may be buying a house with P.V. installed....

[a-z electrics]

Yes like everything else, dare I say even electricians, there are cowboys about but a bit of research will show who's serious about it. Steer clear of the national companies.. my local outfit SOL were really good and still in business.

 

[shaunb]

Hi Vortigern,

I have self-owned PV panels and my parents have rent-a-roof so I can give you some factual answers to most of your questions:

1. My south(ish) facing 3.36kw PV system (with a fair bit of shading in winter, which reduces output) generates around 2,600kwh per year. So, the one you’re considering was similar, reducing it proportionally you’d expect to generate about 1,546kwh per year. Depending on when the system was installed (i.e. what FIT tariff they’re on) it could generate income of up to £844 per year (i.e. if they installed in 2011 and receive the current 52.75ppkwh FIT + 0.0372ppkwh export rates). Plus, depending on your usage pattern, you would expect to knock an average of 30% off your electricity bill. So, if they receive only ~£600 per year then they probably installed after the Government’s first reduction in FIT rates. The FIT rates rise with inflation too each April and are guaranteed (as much as anything written into in law is) for 25 years.
2. As someone else said, it is critical to understand is if the homeowners installed and own the PV system, in which case they’ll be selling it to you and you get the rights to receive future FIT income. Check which utility provider they get paid by too, it is usually one of the big six and in my experience some of them have shockingly poor service on the FIT payments side (i.e. because they have to pay YOU money). The fact that they claim to receive FIT payments implies that they do own the system. Check they have no related loans outstanding and that you will get full title to the system as you would with any other fixture & fitting.
3. If the panels were installed under the very popular ‘rent a roof’ schemes then (assuming like my parents’ system) the paperwork will leave you with no choice but to leave the system as is, you cannot choose to uninstall it without cost. You still get the ~30% lower electric bill but the panel owners get all of the FIT income. IMO there is little to worry about with this type as the owners/maintainers are unlikely to go bust because they rake in TONS of money from hundreds of properties from doing very little most of the time. And, as soon as your system has a fault – almost always the inverter – they will know about it as they remotely monitor, and they will fix it quickly at their cost. You may suffer a little inconvenience of staying in for their visit.
4. If it is a self-owned system I would make sure they can provide you with any passwords/PINs for accessing the inverter menus or details of how/where the system data is exported to (many go direct to external servers and you have a user/password to access your own stats). Some of them may have no remote monitoring – for mine I installed an old PC next to the inverter to act as a logger.
5. You can’t just upgrade from 2kw to 4kw – if the panels are receiving FIT payments (anything installed >=2011 is likely to be) then the original installation would have been certified under the MCS scheme. You should be able to change it but would have to have new certification from an MCS approved installer, and that MAY cause the FIT rates to reduce (I'm unsure on that)

Hope this helps!

 

[telectrix]

a propos of that^^^^^^, would you advise an outright purchase or a rent-a -roof free install. our main concern would be the free electric in the daytime. not too bothered about the FIT as it's very low at present. . solar installations are beyond my comfort zone.

 

[robertay2000]

apparently that is the Co-op! The roof is not rented according to the vendor. Have raised questions with my solicitor probably get a reply around christmas /sigh

£4 and the Land Registry sells you ( mortage lender etc ) the property title where you can check if any leasing agreement attached. Personally, Iwould negotiate house price discount for taking the solar lot down.

 

[Midwest]

Think the decision to buy or not, would of been made by now.

 

[ChrisElectrical88]

Jesus I just read this whole thread before noticing it was 2 years old ?.

 

[littlespark]

Jesus I just read this whole thread before noticing it was 2 years old ?.

Sometimes, you get a thread that’s 8 or 9 years old. And it springs up as recently replied list for no reason

 

[Zerax]

Some of the best threads I've read are 8 or 9 years old !

 

[Vortigern]

This is most extraordinary, I posted this 2 years ago. And the OP appears to be Ghost????
I did not buy the house, got something much better (5 beds) and cheaper. As you can see in the answers people are replying to Vortigern (me) but my contribution is listed as Ghost how does that happen???????

 

[nicebutdim]

This is most extraordinary, I posted this 2 years ago. And the OP appears to be Ghost????
I did not buy the house, got something much better (5 beds) and cheaper. As you can see in the answers people are replying to Vortigern (me) but my contribution is listed as Ghost how does that happen???????

I've seen your comments appear as "Ghost" in other threads, most recently that thread where you fitted out a container in Glav conduit (complete with bubble set around smoke head).

I thought this was the result of a ban until you posted a later comment.

No idea why this is happening and I'm sorry to contribute nothing useful , but I read a lot of threads on this forum and thought it should be pointed out that this isn't an isolated occurrence.

 

[Vortigern]

result of a ban

Aha that may be it, although I was not banned I accidentally clicked on erase my account and was persona non gratis for a while. Maybe that is what happens when you leave you get ghosted then.
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The sad thing about this thread is I was going to reply to it to advise "Ghost" that someone may own the roof. Fortunately @Wilko made that point so I did not advise my self of that matter as I had already heard it from @Wilko in the original thread. Wow that is f**ked up.