Whats your opinion on household solar photovoltaic panels?

[dave223]

Hey everyone

I am currently doing some research at the University of Nottingham and could really use your help by filling out a short on-line questionnaire

My thesis is examining the barriers to domestic solar photovoltaic uptake here in the UK

This survey takes less than 5 minutes to complete and you do not need any prior knowledge of solar PV panels to take part:

Your opinion on domestic Solar Photovoltaics (PV) in the UK Survey

It would help my research tremendously if you all took part,

Many thanks

Dave

[nvingo]

Price.
Unless you need remote 12v supply, there is little saving/incentive to make the investment.
Maplin 60W solar panel on special at £200.

[nvingo]

browser double-post

[G77]

an 'investment' of £12k which you'll get back after waiting 25 years for it doesnt sound like to much of a deal to me.

have done the questionaire anyway.

i like the bit about companys paying for the install and getting the money from exporting to the grid and giving you the stuff that you can use

[lincsat]

The Government are bleeting about carbon emissions and spending Billions on Kyoto compliance - why not just put free solar PV on every House in the UK, it would stimulate the industry get people into work and give the average householder something for nothing for a change.

[G77]

Originally Posted by lincsat

The Government are bleeting about carbon emissions and spending Billions on Kyoto compliance - why not just put free solar PV on every House in the UK, it would stimulate the industry get people into work and give the average householder something for nothing for a change.

because thats too easy and the sensible thing to do.

instead they'll make a 500,000 people redundant and get them used to benefits for 6 months and have them feel so demoralised that they wont want to go back to work.

the coalition did indeed promise more 'green' jobs but like every other political party they dont deliver on the harder policies and opt for the easier task of cutting public services.

i am an electrical engineer who is trying desperately to get work in smart metering and pv installation but everyone is holding off until this new coalition decide which way there going to go.

also, i would think that finance companys would have jumped at the oppertunity to gain from the feed in back to the grid but they've got jittery about who they'll lend to now.

people simply dont have £10k+ to 'invest' in something which is likely to make them their initial investment back after 20 years.

some other interesting things about pv installation:

on a £12k system it would take only a day to install
houses must have a certain type of roof for them to be fit to. more older houses dont have this and would need extra supports installing thus costing more
the installation must be carried out by certified engineers to qualify for the feed in tarif (arranged via another back-hander no doubt)
obviously south facing is best but not essential
you get 45p per unit that you feed back to the grid

another important thing to remember is that you cannot store the energy produced. it has to be used on the grid at the time of production

[TheBadger]

Nothing the government gives us is "free"; it comes out of the taxpayer's pocket. As far as I'm concerned they are just throwing money away on so called "green" schemes. The biggest white elephant at the moment is wind power. Wind strength is so inconsistent in this country as to render it's use totally inefficient. The only reason wind farms are being produced is because of the huge government subsidies they attract and we are paying twice over via tax and our electricity bills. Their construction should have gone to referendum!