Solar PV and the Green Deal assessment

Solar PV panels           

 

Review of independent solar panel quotation

I bit the bullet and had an independent solar provider come round and quote me some solar PV prices.

To bring you good people up to speed:

• I had my Green Deal Assessment done by British Gas in March
• It had three recommendations: Get some better heating controls for the combi boiler (I have a mechanical clock that is only programmable for a 24hr period.
• Another recommendation was to change the halogen light bulbs for LED replacements, I haven’t bothered, because they are really expensive for the dimmable ones (£35 each, I need 10)  and I don’t have the spare cash at this time)
• The final recommendation was to get solar PV. Which would be part funded by the Green Deal.

On my last blog post about this I took a straw poll of what I should do next. The results were in favour of pushing forward with the solar PV. I chose an independent supplier from the Green Deal as I wanted to get a feel for the price outside of the Green Deal market. I did an internet search via Google and son discovered that there was a body that regulates good practice in the area of renewables called MCS so I used their website to search for an accredited local supplier.

I found a company called Solar Essence and booked an appointment. The assessor came round yesterday and spent about an hour and a half with me going through the various options.

The basic news is the solar industry is changing radically since the Feed in Tariff has been cut below half its initial rate so installations have slowed considerably and prices have levelled off. For my 3 bed semi-detached house the price for a 7 panel system would be between £4,000 and £5,150, depending on which panels and inverter I choose.

Air to Air heat pumps

The company I dealt with was also supplying Air to Air heat pumps and had a system that would heat and cool my house for around £6,000. Which was based on a ‘three header’ system?  The up side would be the systems have very low running costs and the comfort level of the house is meant to be much nicer than radiators. The down side is that I have a new highly efficient boiler and it seems strange to have two heating systems in the house.

The real advantage of air to air heat pumps is when you replacing oil or electric storage heaters. The assessor that I spoke to said he had recently installed a system that had saved the owner over £1,800 in the first year, when replacing an oil fired system. That’s good, but I have a mains gas fired system supplying 12 radiators, there is no real justification for the switch, I would however advise anyone who is looking to replace storage heaters to look into Air to Air heat pumps.

Conclusions

Not sure whether I should plumb for the solar panels and be done with it, the FIT is going down again in the summer, or whether I should find a Green Deal Provider to see if I can get the system installed as part of the Green Deal and save a bit of hassle?

I could go for zero per cent credit card and put the balance on that, the company I was dealing with did offer finance, but the rate wasn’t competitive.

Some advice I was offered and that the Energy Saving Trust also advises:

• Never pay more than 25% for a deposit to a company for works agreed.
• Check testimonials of customers, ask for phone numbers etc.
• Get more than 1 quote, 3 is ideal.
• Think about the size of your roof. 16 panels is ideal, south facing a boon.

Thoughts welcome!

 

 

 

 

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