General Chat

Yep, I do know it's your spring :-)


Do the panels save you money during the summer when you do have the a/c on?


I would compare the cost of heating in winter in the UK with the cost of a/c in summer in OZ


We don't have a/c ........... we suffer with fans, especially this summer which has been way hotter than normal since June. I still have fans on in 2 rooms!



Half of our house is heated via a gas furnace and blown air, and 4 rooms with electric baseboard heating. Only 1 of those rooms has the baseboard heating turned on constantly during the winter.

The cost of that, plus light, appliances, computer, etc is way higher per month than it is in summer when we don't have heating costs and the lights are on for many fewer hours.


We are on an Equal Payment Plan with the company ............. and we build up a credit of $200 or $300 from late April to September, then start running it down from then on, until we get to a point where we owe them more than the monthly payment in March and April

Sylvia ~ we have a/c, but it's spring here now, we haven't used the a/c since February.

Over winter we use gas heating (it's cheaper), but the fan in the heater is electric, that seems have chewed up a lot of power.

Our power bill is nowhere near as high as friends who don't have solar panels.

Ours are at the side of the house, facing north, so the neighbour across the street can't complain that they're ugly ...... she has to look at our neighbours' panels lol

I think at least 40% of houses in town have solar panels. Eight houses in our street, including two on corners, and four have panels.

LS ...............


do you have air conditioning?


this is something that they wouldn't have in most houses in the UK, so could account for the difference that some UK'ers are citing

We now pay 1/4 of what we used to........ 3/4 is covered.

Electricity costs in Aus have skyrocketed.

I do realise that it will take a long time to recover the cost of the outlay but hopefully if we had them fitted they would save enough on the electric that we aren´t having to dig deep into our pensions in a few years time. The ones we looked at have a 25yr guarantee and by the time they wear out the mad sisters should be living upstairs and the roof cost is theirs :-D :-D.

Still un-decided as I want to be sure that the law about selling back to the grid has really changed.

How long is a piece of string.

Typically a single panel is rated at around 200 watts, but this is the maximum power it will pump out in ideal conditions. The usable output is likely to be far less. Around 25 panels is probably required if you are to be self sufficient but it all depends on where you live and how much electricity you use.

Most people will not have their system long enough to ever see their capital outlay paid back. Maintenance costs are often overlooked too, but could be significant, especially after a few years as panels start to fail or when the inverter packs up.

Absolutely NOT they look so unsightly

LadyScozz
we have 14 on a south faceing roof , in England , we get back about £1,300 each year, we think they are well worth it . iris

Like the idea of a couple, not to replace my service provider, but to cut down on costs.

But a lot depends on where abouts on your roof you put them.

Ideally they should be on a South Facing roof.

LadyScozz, 12 solar panels and only saving a quarter on your bills, something sounds very wrong to me. With that amount of panels you should be selling electricity back to your provider. I would get an independant expert in to check that
they are working properly and are fitted correctly.

We have 12 solar panels on our roof (in Australia).

We were led to believe they would produce enough electricity for our use. Not true. They're good, but not THAT good. Our bills are about 1/4 of what they used to be. That's nice, but it will take years to cover the cost of the panels.

First I will say to Kath sorry I missed you our post´s crossed. My neighbours are either summer only and most are only 1 floor to my 2 floor. I wouldn´t be the only solar paneled house in the area either, so I am sorry to say the look of my house on the roof to neighbours is irrelevant.

Rollo I would like to hear more feel free to PM me

hola
The efficiency of panels on the market in Spain is poor. As efficiency improves companies adjust feed in rates even when they are supposed to be fixed. Like with anything else you need to allow for maintenance and some panels to fail. When selling property with panels you will not get any of the funds spent back, the contract is not transferable to the new owner. By and large panels knock 5%,off value. Like many things panels had a great payback in early days but now there are better options. An alternative to electric panels is solar powered heating and hot water. I have found this works great in Spain.

Joy and Bob both your answers are helpful as I am so ready to say yes
It's just that it's 10 grand of my inheritance and therefore my future. I have friends who say that I couldn't get back from a "isa or the same" as I would get back for less electric bills.

Personally I hate them - no matter how much money they save. I hate having to look at the house opposite where they have completely covered the roof.

Kath. x

well the "Council" here seem to be installing solar panels on houses it still charges rent for.......so they must think its worth while.
having said that, I have no idea what type of contract(if any) the tenants have regarding the resale of electricity....

my son is putting them on our house
one of his houses that he has already done

saves £70 a month

A year ago we looked at solar panels ..well who wouldn´t with our sun :-D but the cost was high and the Spanish gov does not buy back what you don´t use they just said thankyou and charged you full rate at night.
We have now been told the law has changed here and Ibedrola will pay for what you put into the grid.
Are they worth it and is there anybody in Spain who knows if the law really has changed that much.
For my house it will cost me €9500.
Ideas please :-)