Although a solar pv installation is known to provide excellent benefits to the person investing in it, it can’t be denied that making the upfront payment is something that is rarely done without much consideration. After all, there is no instant result to your investment as there would be in, say, a family holiday, a new car or even home improvements. It is for these reasons amongst others why people considering installing solar pv also look into the option of free solar panels.
So, what is the difference between a free system and a paid for system? Well apart from the obvious of one installation requiring a payment and the other installation not requiring a payment, there is one other major difference between the two options. This difference is all centered around who receives the payments from the feed in tariff and therefore determines which option is more profitable than the other.
With a solar installation, whoever pays for the installation is the one who will benefit from the feed in tariff. What this means is that should you opt for a free solar pv installation, the company installing the panels would be entitled to the feed in tariff and therefore make a substantially larger return on their investment than the customer. Of course the customer would benefit from using self-generated energy which means the option isn’t completely without worth, but the true benefit of solar is in the feed in tariff.
Free panels are a viable option for a potential solar customer if they don’t have the budget or if they would rather spend their money on a more immediate luxury, but most in the industry would agree that the best option is paid for panels.
After all, it really is true that you get what you pay for.