By Paul Homewood
It sounds as if Labour will definitely go ahead with its plan to compel installation of solar panels on all new houses.
The Guardian reports:
Almost all new homes in England will be fitted with solar panels during construction within two years, the government will announce after Keir Starmer rejected Tony Blair’s criticism of net zero policies.
Housebuilders will be legally required to install solar panels on the roofs of new properties by 2027 under the plans.
The policy is estimated to add between £3,000 and £4,000 to building a home but homeowners would save more than £1,000 on their annual energy bills, according to the Times.
Full story here.
The estimated cost of £3000 to £4000 looks to be far too low for an average sized house. Estimates suggest costs of between £7000 and £9000 for an existing structure, although savings would be made on a new build.
But the purported saving of £1000 a year is pie in the sky. Ofgem’s Energy Price Cap for electricity works out at only £946 pa, and even a roof full of solar panels would not keep a home supplied 24/7, particularly in winter!
Moneysupermarket suggest annual savings of £150 to £565. Many houses will of course be built in far from ideal locations – not facing south, in the lee of hills, shaded by trees, in northern latitudes etc. Their savings will be accordingly lower.
The bottom line is that at best homeowners will only break even when higher mortgage payments and maintenance are factored in. Most will be worse off.
There is also the question of life span. Solar panels will not last forever, so are homeowners expected to have to pay for them to be dismantled and replaced after ten or fifteen years?
Finally we must return to the matter of China and slave labour. This new measure from Ed Miliband will be paid for by Uighur slave Labour.
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