Does anyone here generate their own electricity?

[AdamD]

Always been curious to hear from people who generate their own power and how much it cost to setup?

Always been interested in the idea of building my own vertical axis turbines to generate power, so am especially interested in that part.

[Stuart]

Not really much help, but I went to visit my friend's mum a few months ago. She lives in a village near hastings. One of her neighbours has ripped out and is refitting the house he has just bought. While refitting the house, he is in the process of replacing EVERYTHING in the house, including a lot of the internal walls and the floors/ceilings. He took the opportunity to fit Solar panels, some sort of Solar heating and Light Pipes in the Bathroom. (A light pipe essentially a pipe with a reflective surface designed to carry light from outside to one or more rooms in the house). The house will probably look lovely when finished (real Grand Designs type stuff), and apparently if all the Solar stuff works as they hope it will, they'll generate enough electricity that not only will they cover what they use, but they'll be able to sell some back to the National Grid, which (with various grants they are apparently entitled to) should make them around £1500 a year profit..

Not sure if that's £1500 a year, or a quarter.

Of course, that's IF it works as they were told.

[danielf]

That sounds extremely optimistic. £1500 is an average energy bill for the UK. For one house to generate enough energy for an average household is rare. A house that generates twice the energy required for an average household seems exceptional. A house that does so at a profit (taking into account the cost of solar panels etc) seems nigh on impossible.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by danielf

That sounds extremely optimistic. £1500 is an average energy bill for the UK. For one house to generate enough energy for an average household is rare. A house that generates twice the energy required for an average household seems exceptional. A house that does so at a profit (taking into account the cost of solar panels etc) seems nigh on impossible.

I thought so at the time.. Although it did sound like he was being subsidised with an awful lot of grants.

[Niceandshining]

Hehe is that possible?

[watzizname]

Well, there are a fair few companies and energy suppliers setting these systems up on peoples houses now, and they all seem to think it can work.

Admittedly, if it's their system you're allowing them to install on your roof space, they'll obviously benefit from it more than you will, but if you've enough cash to afford the kit yourself, i can't see why it shouldn't pay for itself, given enough time.

Also, it can only help improve the value of your home..

[joglynne]

Sorry to link to another forum but the Money Saving Expert forum has a fairly comprehensive guide about Solar Panels covering all the angles from what the panels do, pitfalls and also an outline about the new Government cut in feed-in payments to just under half from 1 April for panels installed and registered from 12 December. Well worth a read if you are considering installing Solar Panels.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/uti...e-solar-panels

[progers]

I had solar panels fitted on my roof in February this year, a 2.82kWp system.

My return on investment this year so far is 15.8%, total earnings £2010 which includes the income from the feed In Tariff, the cost of electricity saved and the income from exported electricity.

To me, this is a no-brainer investment, it should pay for itself in 7 years after which it is all profit; the panels are guaranteed to 80% of output after 25 years.

However, with the reduction in the Feed In Tariff for new installations by 50%, this is a much longer term investment and won't be worth doing for a lot of investors.

[AbyssUnderground]

Simple answer to your question: It costs a hell of a lot.

It doesn't matter if it's Wind or Solar (solar is a lot more again) you're still looking at thousands to tens of thousands if you want to sustain your entire usage. It will virtually never pay for itself.

[Caff]

Originally Posted by AbyssUnderground

Simple answer to your question: It costs a hell of a lot.

It doesn't matter if it's Wind or Solar (solar is a lot more again) you're still looking at thousands to tens of thousands if you want to sustain your entire usage. It will virtually never pay for itself.

I can't have solar panels as my south-facing roof space is an eave so... not as effective as it could be.
I applied for, and was refused, planning permission for a wind turbine (half way down my garden is particularly exposed to the good old southwesterly) but the noise that they also generate is roughly the same as an average talking voice and my neighbours might not appreciate that too much.
It would have taken decades to pay for itself.
I tried

[AdamD]

Originally Posted by AbyssUnderground

Simple answer to your question: It costs a hell of a lot.

It doesn't matter if it's Wind or Solar (solar is a lot more again) you're still looking at thousands to tens of thousands if you want to sustain your entire usage. It will virtually never pay for itself.

Sucks, really, we're all basically stuck with the energy companies who charge us a fortune.
Unless you happen to have thousands of pounds spare.

[Leigh567]

There are some companies out there that are still offering free solar panels if your house qualifies. So they install the solar panels completely free of charge and the homeowners benefit by saving money on their electricity bills and the solar panel installation companies take the money from the feed-in-tariff.

Now that the cuts have been announced many companies have stopped offering free installations as the return is obviously much less than before, but one company that is definitely continuing to offer free panels is Engensa: http://www.engensa.com

[AdamD]

Yea I wish we could have the free ones, but apparently our roof doesn't qualify (semi bungalow)

Shame really.

[Taf]

Loads of Housing Association homes around here got fitted last month... and it's only now that tenants found out that NONE of the electricity is for their own use... it ALL goes into the Grid.

A nice little earner for the Housing Association......

[AdamD]

Mind you, isn't housing association houses paid for/bought by said housing association?