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Solar Panel Buying Guide

Regulated returns with planned uplifts, from the largest resource in the Universe

Solar Power:

There are two options, Solar PV or Concentrated Solar Power?

Solar PV:This is a flat or flexible panel that will convert the sun light to electrical power that can be used on site or can be used to feed electricity back into the national grid.

Many countries now promote the use of renewable energy and will set up the supply of electricity so that the energy producers will pay a “feed in” tariff for “green energy”. This means you will get a guaranteed return that is set for a period of years for supplying electricity.

The units can be arranged either on one axis or to track the sun on dual axis and with recent thin film technology the units have a life in excess of twenty five years.

Concentrated Solar Power:

The Solar Park is an area of land in the sunbelt that has been assessed as capable of producing sufficient direct sun power to give a high yield.

The first large scale use of concentrated solar power was in 1980 with the use of parabolic trough power. The principle of this type of power generation is to focus the sun’s rays on an absorber or receiver tube or unit.

The first units were built in the Mojave Desert as this area in the “Sunbelt” can produce 2,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of sunlight radiation per m2 annually or more. The units can be in a horizontal plane with receiver tubes horizontal or a vertical tower can be used.

The energy can be stored in salt tanks, like night storage heaters, or can be used to heat water to make steam and drive a steam turbine to produce electricity.

With few adverse environmental impacts and a massive resource, the sun. This offers an opportunity to the countries in the “sun belt” of the world comparable to that currently being offered by wind farms to European and other nations with the windiest climate.

Returns:

Most countries regulate the return that a will be offered for feed in tariffs and will guarantee that return with planned uplifts over a period of time.  So the investment will be a return on capital but your capital will reduce because a solar panel is a wasting asset and will need to be replaced at the end of it’s useful life, you need to plan for that.

Your income will be generated overseas if you are a UK resident and taxpayer and you will have to pay tax in the country where your panels are situated. Taxation in that country should be checked and you will need to know if there are taxation treaties between the UK and the relevant country. You should check with your tax adviser as this income could qualify as income earned overseas.

As your investment is in € or $ or other currency you need to be aware of fluctuations in exchange rates if you need to fund in differing currency or you intend to repatriate funds to the UK.

In general terms the returns are around 10% (07/09) but with energy costs expected to rise and a worldwide quest to move to renewable energy returns look set to improve.