Most recent
30.09.11
Don’t let others benefit from your roof!
Which?, the consumer watchdog, has highlighted that companies who are offering consumers solar PV panels in return for their roof space aren’t necessarily a good deal. Their report says: “While you do benefit from free electricity the system produces for your home, the rent-a-roof company generally takes all of the generation tariff and the export tariff. We calculated that, for a 4kWp system, while you could be saving more than £5,000 over 25 years from the electricity produced by the panels, you could be missing out on as much as £23,000 from the feed-in tariff.”
The other issue with rent-a-roof schemes is the 25 year lease contract you are bound by. Which? analysed a contract from one rent-a-roof company and revealed issues with liabilities and provisions that favour the company. It stipulated that the householder would have to get consent if they wanted to sell their house or make any alterations or additions to the building near the solar PV system. If you need the panels to be removed for a period, to do maintenance work on the roof, you'd have to compensate the company for the missed feed-in tariff payments. And if you were to sell your house within the 25 years, the contract stays with the house so you will have to find a buyer who is happy to take on the lease for the remainder of the contract.
Renting can be a better option
Even if a homeowner can’t pay for the installation of a system outright, by taking out a loan to buy their own system instead of renting, would mean they keep the FITs payments themselves. They could still save as much as £10,500, according to Which?
