New Free Solar Website Launched Today

[Aurora]

Benzinga - 04/04/11

A new website has been launched to help homeowners across Britain generate their own solar energy for free without the overheads of installing expensive equipment.

While many UK residents are keen to reduce their carbon footprint by using renewable energy, the cost of putting solar panels on their property – which can be as much as £15,000 for a full system – may have deterred them in the past.

However, with the launch of www.freesolar.co.uk, they now have the opportunity to receive a free solar panel system, allowing them to access free electricity while saving the environment.

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[Kontiki]

While it sounds good I don't see a great benefit for the homeowner. Had our panels installed in November & up until the end of March they only generated 545 kws (I have a 3.885 kw system). Since then they are really doing well & are about 220 kws up on the expected target. What it means is when you are consuming the most electricity the panels are producing the least. This time of year we can't use all the electricity we produce in the day (often over 20 kw per day).
What you are doing is renting your roofspace for a very cheap price, for me it is the FIT that earns the money. I would like to know what the position is if you want to sell your house, would it be a help or hindrance? With the cost coming down all the time it must make buying more attractive.

[emordnilap]

All well and good but I can't help getting the feeling that this is yet another insidious form of BAU, trying to get people seduced with whizz-bang shiny technostuff, which, no matter how efficient or planet-friendly or whatever you want to call it, is no substitute for the easiest, cheapest and simplest approaches: that of reduction, reduction and reduction.

It's like the pharma industry: promoting a decent diet would put their profits in jeopardy.