"Nightjar" wrote in message
...
On 18/01/2014 07:50, harryagain wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
It is Arfa who has missed his chance.
However it still pays (though less) due to the fall in installation cost
so
he should look into getting his own system...

Just to check your claims and because I will need to re-roof my house
soon. I have run a few figures. My house faces SW, so the roof is not
ideal. However, my garage runs east to west and that would allow me a
south facing array 8m x 4m at an angle of 42 degrees, the ideal year round
angle at my latitude. I rather doubt I would get planning permission to
put a two angle array on the garage, as the winter angle would add more
than 3 metres to the height of the building.

According to this site:

http://www.solarguide.co.uk/solar-pv...tor#bestresult

That would give me a 4kWp system, which would cost, on average, £6,561 and
give me a return of £861.83 per annum. According to the site, that would
recover my money in 6 years 9 months.

However, that ignores the cost of not investing the money elsewhere.
Assuming a return of 9.03% on capital, which I achieve from rental on
property I own, it would take 14 years for the solar installation to
return more than an investment of the same amount at 9.03% and, after 19
years, I would make a total profit of £969.79 from the solar panels.
However, unlike the solar PV system, the capital invested in the
properties is not only still available to me, but has actually increased
in value by 32% in the past 20 years, equivalent to £2,099 on an
investment of £6,561. As I have said before, my money is better invested
elsewhere.

Would I have been better to get in early, as you claim? According to other
posts by you, you have a 4kWP system, which cost you £14,000 to install.
Running the same calculations on that investment and the higher rates of
FIT, I would not do better than a 9.03% investment by the end of 20 years,
so buying now would actually be slightly better.

In case you think my rate of return is unrealistically high, a cousin of
mine has just bought a couple of buildings rented to a garage and a tyre
fitting business for £140,000 and his rental income from those is £17,000
pa, or 12.14% return on capital.

Colin Bignell