The middle class (of which I'm one) are much more likely to...
- have a house with a larger roof space
- have the funds to buy solar panels
- have heard of the FIT in the first place
I've got nothing against the middle classes having tried so hard to join their ranks!
The fight back has begun....!
solar fit news | Friends of the Earth takes Government to court over solar FiT
Apart from an initial panic buying stage between now and Dec 11 I cannot seeing this being beneficial to the government in the long run.
Solar Subsidy Cuts Prompts Panic Buying
My mistake then data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7Most of the people around here that I know who were looking into it are soon to be retired working class with bugger all pension but savings giving little return.
I have my installation on the 27th, its a 4 kw installation. From industry knowledge if your supplier recieves your application by the 12th it will be accepted. If there are any problems with the application barring "banking details" or "signature" it can be sorted over the phone. Just ensure you follow up your application to ensure reciept and acceptance.
Solar edge and/or (Enecsys) inverters are towards the pinnacle in inverter technology today, IMHO the cost outweighs the benefits. your inverter will almost most likely have to be replaced once within the 25 years FIT agreement. Inverters in,say ten years time will be more efficient and alot more cost effective then the "solar edges" of today. The chances are that even these will be need to be replaced within the llifetime of the system.
That said, i hope your installation goes to plan. I know a few who are likely to get their fingers burn't...
On a separate note, the industry is taking advantage of the deadline by artificially raising stock prices.I can see an enquiry looming!.
Sid
The Solar Edge kit are not inverters, they just supply DC from each panel individually to the inverter. They call them power optimizers. They add around 5% to our installation cost - each 'optimizer' is around £50 and we need 12. I agree that they are not worth it for most installations. But with gradual shading moving over the roof from mid afternoon, it was the only way to get the most out of the panels which were not shaded.
We fully realize that it's new technology and will be out of date in a few years. But the optimizers have a 25 year guarantee so as long as Solar Edge are in business we should OK on that front. And their inverter has a 12 year guarantee, which is better than most others. If they go bust of course, then we have an issue. But we still have the panels on the roof which can be reconnected up in the standard way to either their inverter or another one.
One advantage for the geek in me is that I can monitor on my PC the power output of each panel.
But yes, we realize we're doing something a bit different. I'd rather take a risk and if it goes belly up, so be it. Better that than join the ranks of those who never do anything other than give reasons why they don't do it! (not you by the way - hope your installation goes OK as well!).
Cheers
Phil