Solar panels coming to a high street near you
Apparently Currys are planning to start selling solar panels at 3 of their high street stores (Croydon, Fulham and West Thurrock). The panels will sell for around £1000 each with approximately 9 required to provide 50% of a 3-bedroom house’s electricity needs. By my reckoning that means it’ll take 50 years for a 9 panel installation to pay for itself based on an electricity bill of £350/year. Having said that, there are grants available for microgeneration at the moment and in the current climate energy bills are only likely to go up.
All in all this can only be a good thing but adopters are going to remain concerned environmentalists unless the financials become more favourable.
Via The Register.
July 31st, 2006 at 7:33 pm
The payoff time could be much less…depending upon your circumstances. If you work during the day, you can sell this excess energy to the grid at peak prices. In the evening, the panels might not be as efficient (no sun) but you’ll be buying electrcity at a reduced rate.
However, unless you get 50% funding under the Low Carbon building programme, its going to take awhile.