4 ms·
The plural of anecdote is not data, but I can provide some figures. There is currently a push in London to get households install solar panels, and I expressed
by bostik 6y ago
The plural of anecdote is not data, but I can provide some figures. There is currently a push in London to get households install solar panels, and I expressed interest in getting a set installed to our house. Sadly, the finances don't add up.
Our house is not exactly small, and optimistically you could fit 10 PV panels on the roof. At least according to the quote I received, but having scouted installations in the nearby places, 8 might be more realistic. (Shape of the roof is a factor.)
Assuming energy prices overall grow as they have over the past decade, it would take 12-15 years to break even on the installation cost. That's with 10 panels. With 8, add a couple of years. And assume there will be no additional maintenance or replacement costs to consider.
So, at least in the UK: unless you are wealthy enough to have a large house with a sufficiently large roof, PV installations are not yet financially viable. It should be better in the rural regions where houses tend to be larger. With more installation surface area available, the marginal cost of each PV panel goes down and the marginal benefit of its energy production goes up.
Hence, in the UK, for a single-family dwelling, a roof with space for 14 panels should be enough to make the installation viable. A house with that much roof surface, at least near us, starts from approximately £700k.
- TomGullen 6y agoAlso applied for local authority buy together scheme, have a south facing roof but math came out the same, around 10y payback. Was a shame as I recall number being similar years ago. Would love to get solar but need to see it down in the 5y range to pull trigger I think.
- pjc50 6y agoI had mine installed seven years ago and have nearly broken even just on the feed-in-tariff subsidies alone. There have been no additional maintenance or repair costs. The unaffordability of UK property is a separate question.
- CodeGlitch 6y agoI too looked into this a few years ago and was quoted 11 years to get my money back... Which didn't make financial sense at the time. Perhaps if it was more like 4 years I might consider it. The UK has a lot of cloud cover so I do wonder if we should stick with wind power which is doing really well with the off shore installations. Plus nuclear... For the rare times the wind doesn't blow.
- bostik 6y agoI suspect it's not just the cloud cover. Looking at the map, it's quite depressing to note just how high up north even London really is. Berlin, Warsaw and Amsterdam are all similarly positioned. If we pan west along the 50° north parallel, the first reasonably large city in the American continent is ... Winnipeg. We just don't get that much sunlight throughout the year to start with.
- slyall 6y ago11 years payback is pretty good when you are lucky to get 1% interest on savings at your local bank.
- spockz 6y agoThat is a long time to wait for break even. I paid €3700 for 4500Wp and I expect to earn them back in 3-4years. I’m facing almost directly south without any shade from trees.