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Discuss Free SOlar Panels from British gas? in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

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Ok, BG have contacted me regarding an offer they have on these

They will supply, fit, insure, and maintain solar panels for free for me on my roof

I get to use the electricity from them they get the extra supply to feed back into their supplies

Sounds good so whats the catch I was asking no catch so i agreed to a survey, 6th of december

I pay absoluitely nothing but I am tied into a 25 year lease

I do not ever own the panels or get any of the FIT (feed in tariff) ust some free electricity

Is it worth it I am now asking my self, when I come to sell the house will people look at the panels and think unsightly or will they think money saving and energy effiecint?

25 years is a long time and i will have moved on by then a while back!

Heres the link

British Gas launches solar panels scheme with '£1k a year profit' claim | Money | guardian.co.uk
 
To me, if it's profitable for them to do this then it should be even more profitable for you to do this and earn the extra. No idea what the numbers are but if the panels are supplying 40p of FIT and you're using 25p then there's another 15p available to sell. (This is the bit that BG is selling.) You're missing out on that 15p and you could be selling this and profiting from it instead.

Also, what happens if you want/need to sell, especially if the technology changes in 5 years time and in 8 years no one wants these things on their roof? Will it be your expense to remove them before you can sell the house - a point you've referred to above?

What happens if the FIT stops? It's ceased temporarily (as far as I'm aware) until the government brings it in again in a few months time. It might stop more permanently in a year or 3 years or at some stage before 25 years is up.

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

What happens if the panels stop working? Who will fix them and at who's cost? And will this arrangement last for 25 years? Or will you be offered a sum of money to remove them but only if you supply the manpower?

All these "new" and "renewable" technologies are only profitable with a FIT or grants (unless you're going to stay put for a good 10+ years). Someone has to pay somewhere along the line and I can bet my bottom dollar it won't be BG!

To me, it's a too good to be true scheme, although I have heard of it and some farmers are beginning to rent out their fields for this type of scheme as well.

I appreciate the world needs to do something about energy but at present it only seems to revolve around money and who's going to profit most - nothing to do with using less energy. I feel if we spent half these amounts on insulation instead we'd use much less and probably do the planet much less harm but that's off into another topic.
 
i dont wanna souind like I am avertisding this but BG have answered a few of my questions

THe FITS are guaranteed by the government and will rise with inflation so unsure about the current hold on them you mention

I dont get any FITs though just some free elec

The lease is transferred if i sell the house

any damage or repair is covered by British gas

Its clear that they have worked out that they make there money after a set number of years hence the lease of 25 years

as the claim installation and equipment costs are around £15,000 depending on size of roof
 
If you sell the house and the new buyer does not want BG voltaics then what ? You loose the sale as you have signed to BG.
I would not want anything that involved BG working on my house.
 
free electric - then id go for it

im sure it would be a selling point if a house supplied its own electric regardless of what happens to the surpless

i dont trust bg though haha so would probably say no - but if someone else offered it me then i would look into it.
 
free electric is a winner to sell the house, buy my house and you will have only gas bills to pay, sounds good to me
 
Just what i need. A 25 year lease on my roof. Don't think so. I'll stick with the 2.5;)
 
yegh i cancelled the survey for it as I cant commit to a 25 year lease and feel it would be harder to sell with that 25 year lease over my head LOL LOL LOL :):):)
 
are you allowed to build a roof in the garden, then i will go for it. or better still on the garden as it will save mowing the lawns.
 
I know a number of people who thought they were being eco and put panels on the roof, not one is happy/impressed with the amount of electricity produced and this scheme is actually a little sneeky in that unless your home in the daytime when the sun is making electricity your not get benefit as it all goes to BG, as soon as your home from work the sun won't be producing and your be buying from supplier.
 
good point, i get punished for having a job!

I have cancelled the visit and its a great point for discussion

I suppose if you were a retired person it would greatluy suit you but then they wouldn't reap the benefits as mentioned as you are in ain the day so would probably blag that the survedy came up as the house not suitable
 
I think it will be great for commercial buildings

Indeed as they pay std VAT on electricity so its a much bigger saving.

PT - I'm not even sure retired people would benefit so much, there are more active these day and generally out and about, then up till 3am unable to sleep ;)
 
The feed in tariff on solar pv microgeneration is very generous at the moment , 43.5p/kw , index linked (so it rises with inflation) .
Another mob offering this "free" scheme is Homesun. so for every KW generated the govt pays 43.5p wether you use it or sell it to the grid.

Not sure on the BG deal but with Homesun , they take the FIT , you get the use of the free electricity AND all the proceeds from the excess sold to the grid . so if you generate 10 kw during the day, and only use 3 kw , Homesun get £4.35 , you get 3 kw of electricity free + 70p (excess 7kw x 10p approx).

BG are buying up commercial properties , surprise surprise.
 
Hi
The goverment also gives £800 a year for 15 years to the owners of the system, I looked into it last year and it would cost about £12000 to install and you then get free electric through the day which cannot be stored plus the excess fed back to the grid and the grant. So if you do it yourself the system pays for itself in less than 15 years.
 
What hasnt been mentioned is if there is a problem with your roof at a later date and the panels have to be removed or partially removed you would be saddled for an extra bill for removal and re-instatement and in the meantime will bg may want any extra from you for lost revenue.
 
Good old BG out on another con.
Its all very well them putting panels on yer roof, but what happens if and when you decide to sell yer property with a sitting tennant on yer roof, I should look into the legalities of that first you may find that a potential buyer wont be able to get a mortgage to buy yer property
 
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