Keith Bibby wrote:his neighbours are paying for his power ,thats haw subsidies work .
and panels decrease over 25 years ,by year 15 they will be down to half power .after 25 year they will need to be disposed of and the roof repaired,,, not that cheap.
i predict in the house selling market soon pepole will be demanding discounts to cover old panal removal .
FWIW one of the largest subsidies is the cap on liabilities for nuclear accidents which the nuclear power industry has negotiated with governments!
Even with this cost taken away EDF has negotiated a guaranteed fixed price – a "strike price"– for electricity from Hinkley Point C of £92.50/MWh (in 2012 prices), which will be adjusted (linked to inflation) during the construction period and over the subsequent 35 years tariff period. (The current wholesale electricity price is around £38 per MWh).
Wind farm energy is now down to £55/MWh which is £20 cheaper per megawatt hour than coal or gas-fired plants
taking into account cost of build.
Solar cell efficiency is growing year on year and prices coming down.
Once such as perovskite cells increase in efficiency, since they use elements which are plentiful (rather than rare earths) prices should plummet.
Most solar panels now typically come with 20 year warranties that guarantee that the panels will produce at least 80% of the rated power after 20 years of use. The general rule of thumb is that panels will degrade by about 1% each year. Nothing lasts forever. Get used to it.
As for electric cars being 'crap' having been driven in a Tesla I disagree. So do most motor manufacturers worldwide.
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21717070-carmakers-face-short-term-pain-and-long-term-gain-electric-cars-are-set-arrive-far-more
Right now we export 1 - 1.5% of our GDP to pay for fuel for our vehicles. The main downside of using electric vehicles would appear to be finding a way to tax the renewable energy consumed to make up for the loss of revenue from petrol/diesel taxes.