wig wrote:
Hi all,
I am looking into solar power. I have found that the UK grant system
which has been going for 2 years or so, has been severely cut back this
year.
Now they give a max of
2,500GBP for Bolt on systems, (panels bolted onto roof)
3,500GBP for integrated systems (means roof tiles that are covered with
solar cells).
These figures are from memory and so may be slightly innaccurate.
You also have to have an accredited installer, which doubles the cost
of installation, than say for example you were to do the work yourself
(not very difficult) and then have a professional check it and do the
final "grid connect" bit.
A typical 2KW system would cost around 11,000GBP for parts. The VAT on
this alone would be 1640GBP, When you take into account the amount
charged (by accredited companies) for labour, it's easy to see that the
so called Government grant just about covers the VAT. So they (the
Government) aren't actually doing anything to help.
If I was in charge, I would abolish all VAT on renewable energy
products, e.g. solar panels, wind turbines & inverters etc. And then
I would allow people to install the equipment themselves or in any way
they wanted, such as using a local builder. Then in order to get a
grant of 50% of the cost of materials I would require that the
installation was checked over by an "accredited engineer" and that if a
grid connect was to be done that this engineer would do that bit. On
top of this I would introduce a scheme where the electricity companies
had to pay you about 35p/Kwh produced, and the electric companies could
reclaim from the government about 20p of this amount.
I got the 35p idea from Germany where I don't think there is any
installation grant available but they buy back the electricity at about
35p/KWh
France is giving 40% the cost of materials and buying the electricity
at 2 - 3 pence per KWh above the rate of the cost of supply. I think
you need an accredited installer in France too.
In Britain, the Electricity companies used to pay 1/3rd of the cost of
supply for your generated electricity! so they used to pay about 3p/KWh
Today there is atleast one electric company who has started buying it
for the same cost as they charge for supply. I don't know if the other
companies are still only paying 1/3rd of the cost.
Anyway, that's the background information for you. Now I was wondering
what you think the future will hold? Because I cannot afford to go solar
but I would like to.
A BP (British Petroleum) BP7175s Solar panel 175W Max power output
(14% efficiency) (1590mm x 790mm) one of the most efficient panels on
the market, currently cost about 800 GBP inc VAT
Will they get cheaper do you think? I would like to see this costing
about 200GBP.
And an inverter, 2,500W capacity currently cost about 1,800GBP. Can't
they make them any cheaper than this?
I think that it is unlikely we will see a significant reduction in the
price of PV's in the near future for two reasons:
1) PV cells aren't actually all that good at converting light into
electricity. While you might feel like you are doing some good by using
a renewable form of energy in actual fact the PV cells probably only
just pay for themselves, energy wise, over their lifetime. Without a
good pay back in terms of energy there just isn't a good reason to
invest in them. There are some interesting developments though in the
nano-technology arena that look like they might make PV cells more useful.
2) PV cells require very high purity silicon which coincidentally
happens to be what computer chips need. At the moment there is a world
shortage in silicon production. Loads of people want computer chips
which means that PV cell manufacturers are having a hard time buying
silicon at a reasonable price. It takes upwards of 5 years to get a new
silicon refinery up and running and no one is building one at the moment.
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