Free solar panels… Why are we so cynical??
The concept of installing free solar PV panels to your roof is not a new concept.. It’s been around for a few months now. But recently (courtesy of The One Show’s Dom Littlewood, and TV advertising), it has been given a fair bit of publicity..
Now, whilst the “PR” leads you to believe that the whole scheme is “Government backed” (including “The Dom”!!), let’s be clear… The only reason it’s possible, is due to the “Government backed” Feed in tariff scheme. Therefore, any “salesman” trying to tell you that their “scheme” is backed by the Government, it’s not really…..
Anyway… Notwithstanding. Is it a good scheme?? Well, I’ve mentioned before, but, for some, it is….
So…. why is it that some people scorn it???
MMM!! possibly, because of some of the claims are a little excessive?? Take the “One show” for example… They choose a singularly occupied property, where the lady in question (clearly) spends most of her time at home? And, since she lives on her own, her electricity bill isn’t as high as a family of four, where Mum and Dad are out at work, and the kids are at school during the day (she’s also probably in bed by 2100!!??)?? Therefore, she will easily achieve savings of 40% on her bill?? However, the average household will NOT achieve that level…. So, don’t be fooled….
However…. I would still say, for some, it’s a great idea…. If we purely think of the environment, and our carbon emissions (isn’t that the main reason for the Government to introduce the FIT scheme????), then we should all do it??? Shouldn’t we??? We shouldn’t worry about the fact that someone else (the “free solar” installer) is making a lot more money than we are??!! Should we??!!
On that basis, why are we so cynical??? Or is it just a few “interested parties” (perhaps other installers???) that are cynical about the scheme???
Let’s discuss?????
we r a semi-d house facing s/w we r interested early to bed early!!!to rise retired couple neighbours may be interested.simple respnse would suffice thankyou
If your roof is facing SW, then it is likely that you won’t qualify for free solar panels??
If your roof is south facing you probably wouldn’t qualify for free solar (unless you are very close to the south coast) and if you are a semi you may not have enough spare roof space (25-30sqm) either. However, Homesun have a scheme for roofs that may not qualify for free solar, but are still fairly suitable for solar generation. Try Homesun.com
sorry- to correct myself- south-west facing, not south facing as I put above.
I saw the One show item and I thought it was actually a poor piece of journalism that, as you point out, overstated the benefits and hardly mentioned the downsides. Just the sort of thing Dom normally complains about, in fact. Of course, my view is coloured by being in the installation business but I do want to see a balanced picture given of these schemes. It does our industry no good at all if people’s hopes are falsely raised. The item showed an expectional situation, in fact, and presented it as the norm, something available to everyone. Well, not only was the lady’s energy usage outside the norm but so was her property, because free panel companies only use south-facing roofs. In addition, you have to sign a contract letting them use your roof for 25 years and some even have additional charges. Oh, and they take about 85% of the total benefit over the 25 years.
For some people it will, undoubtably, be a good idea. After all, if you don’t have the money to invest then you are still getting 15% of the total cake as opposed to no cake at all. But it is going to be a minority of the population.
Why are people so cynical? They’ve been over-promised and under-delivered so many times before: endowment mortgages, personal pensions, energy and phone company switching … It would be a tragedy of they looked this particular gift horse in the mouth. Solar PV is a great opportunity, free or paid-for, and it’s good for the country too.
Excellent points Colin.. Thanks…