Solar PV installed on house (roof) that you bought?

Box Brownie

Box Brownie

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Hi all

We have been keeping an eye on any properties coming up for sale in a couple of geographic areas with a view to moving. I have noticed that some of the houses have PV on the roof.

Now, I know only a smattering of or about such an installation (e.g. selling/exporting any excess power to the Electricity Company?)......so if anyone has bought (or previously considered) a house with a PV system, just what questions about the fact that it is there should I be asking???

TIA for any insights :)
 
Never bought a house with PV or had it installed - but I bought recently. There's a question on the law society form the solicitors use about PV. It's something about what contracts are in place. So it would be good to ask upfront.
  1. Is there any outstanding loan / finance on the panels - most people don't buy them outright
  2. What contract do they have re sale of electricity? Is it transferrable?
  3. Last 6 months (or how ever long they have) statement of account.
  4. And of course.......do they have all appropriate consents.....?
Your lawyer will cover these but they are worth knowing before you start spending money :)
 
Thanks for the pointers and the appropriate questions that would typically be answered in the buying process.

As you say, should the situation arise, it is a good idea to ask the questions upfront i.e. in advance of making an offer and before starting the legal process and paying to learn something that may influence the offer having been made & accepted in the first place???
 
There are companies that will lease your roof space to install panels.

They pay for and own the panels and earn their money by selling excess power back to the grid. The home owner benefits by reduced electricity bill.

However, you do not own the panels and can not remove them until, the often lengthly contract is up, or you buy yourself out of the contract which can be costly.
 
Exactly what @ecoleman said, best way is to find a company that fits them and you have bought them outright, I have 16 panels on my roof, bought them about 6 or 7 years ago and they have more than paid for themselves now, the power you dont use gets fed back into the grid, and you get paid at a fixed amount at the time you send in the forms to your power supplier (feed in tariff) I cant remember off the top of my head what that is now, but the amount dropped every few months or so so I dont know how much it is now.
 
ecoleman said:
There are companies that will lease your roof space to install panels.

They pay for and own the panels and earn their money by selling excess power back to the grid. The home owner benefits by reduced electricity bill.

However, you do not own the panels and can not remove them until, the often lengthly contract is up, or you buy yourself out of the contract which can be costly.
Click to expand...

One of those cases where the devil is in the details!

Bluekwack said:
Exactly what @ecoleman said, best way is to find a company that fits them and you have bought them outright, I have 16 panels on my roof, bought them about 6 or 7 years ago and they have more than paid for themselves now, the power you dont use gets fed back into the grid, and you get paid at a fixed amount at the time you send in the forms to your power supplier (feed in tariff) I cant remember off the top of my head what that is now, but the amount dropped every few months or so so I dont know how much it is now.
Click to expand...

Ah! I have noted that FIT has apparently been replaced by SEG (Smart Export Guarantee)................so, as I commented above, the devil is the details. It seems, as far as I can understand, that by whatever route they were installed, any unused(?) power produced is exported yielding a monetary gain for the householder.

So for sure there would be some questions to ask as needed?
 
It makes it worth your while installing panels, we have had upto £600 back over a quarter so it has subsidised our gas Bill's too
 
Also, how old are the installation. The inverter tend to last 10 years while panels themselves are quoted to last 20 years.

The age will also tell you whether you will get FIT or SEG. Both are a great way to help off-set your bills and should be viewed as a valuable asset to the property.

But if the panels wasn't bought outright. As mentioned, it becomes a liability where you are entering a contract to lease out the roof space. I would personally view this as a downside to the property.
 
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