Capo Boi's activity

Hello Allan, I was referring to your second point. Feed in tariffs are "guaranteed" for 20 years. Whilst I think the risk is small there is a risk nevertheless that these could be re-negotiated in the future. As I said a UK government minister has had to publicly state that there would be no retrospective cuts in UK tariffs. I believe similar statements have had to be made in Germany. Its unlikely, but the financial markets are pricing in a 9% probability of an Italian sovreign government default in the next 5 years. I don't know where ENEL credit insurance trades but would imagine that it would be at similar or higher levels.

I would highly recommend "Once a Hussar". www.authorsonline.co.uk provide a really good sample Thought about replying to Fillide's comment but can't be bothered as well.

In my mind, Ram is by far and away the most knowledgeable poster on this and other Italia forums. As he says, low voltage lighting is fairly common. We have it in our garden. The cost was over €3,000. How long is a piece of string? If you are looking at a full rewire (as opposed to partial) for a house of 250 m2, then you are probably looking at a 5 figure sum. In actual fact, prices are not much different from the UK. Just google UK sites to get a guide.

You make a fair point  Badger. However, the UK buying market is really quite small in relation to the overall market. This site obviously is UK based and most of us on here are from the UK or have lived there at some time but its not obvious that euro has been (or is now) a negative influence. Anyone UK based buying in the last three years has probably (certainly?) seen a currency loss in sterling terms (also euro house price falls) but buyers pre 2008 have seen large currency gains. I think many UK expats in Italy for whatever reasons have paid above the market for their property (you only really find this out when you try to sell) but that does not diminish the underlying market fundamentals. (Russians or other euro buyers as you say).

This is absolutely no help to you szq, but it looks as if the UK is going to rein in subsidies for the "feed in tarriffs" for corporate producers and ground level installations for essentially the reasons that you mention. www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/8305823/Solar-industry-review-to-ban-hot-money.html Although restrospective legislation has been ruled out (what has previously been agreed, goes ahead), it seems that the UK is not alone in reviewing the cost-benefit equation. In Devon and Cornwall where the economics of UK pv make the most sense, (and the highest concentration of permissions for new developments have been granted) there now seems to be a particularly strong backlash developing.

"And the statistics bear me our 80% of Brits who emigrate return to the UK within 3 years. So 8 out of 10 of you will be back in the UK soon!!" Can I politely ask where this statistic comes from? Its just that I've heard this or similar statistics quoted a number of times but have never been able to find a reliable source. I've also seen articles saying that more than two thirds of UK expats in Italy are happy and have no desire to return home. (Again with no reliable source given). Its just that I'm very interested in numbers and statistics (sad really) and believe that if something is repeated often enough it can become an urban myth. (It may be correct, I don't know? So if you do have a source I would be very interested). As an aside, based on a combination of (very incomplete) UK-Italian "official" sources, the permanent UK expat population in Italy is in the region of 20,000 to 35,000 and has not (surprisingly maybe) increased significantly over the past decade. But again, these numbers may be unreliable.

Buon Natale to all. Just popping out to the local Agip to buy my presents for the family. CB.

From the Economist in their latest survey of Global house prices "Europe shows a familiar split between core countries and peripheral ones. Ireland, Spain and Italy continue to suffer year-on-year price declines; German and French homes have shown big gains in value over the past year, a particular turnaround for France since our previous round-up. The British housing sector’s talent for defying gravity may be on the wane. The pace of annual appreciation in the country’s property market has slowed over the summer. British housing is still overvalued—outright falls may loom".

Thank you Sablanico. I was also trying to say that what may appear on paper to be a 8 year payback time, can actually through leasing or otherwise push the payback period out much longer. It makes sense that sagraiasolar's deal is for fifteen years when after that all the revenue accrues to him. I would imagine this number would be based on the bank's model. Sagraiasolar, I think you are double counting. You are still effectively paying for your electricity although deducted from you revenue as Sablanico says. Its good news though that prices of pv panels are falling and I can certainly see that its possible to achieve a breakeven rate of around 10 years. I'm definitily not anti-pv as such, just anti some of the claims that have often been made on pay-back periods. Good luck Capo Boi.

Just looked again at your website. Let me see if I get this. You paid €32,000 for €3,000 of revenue. Ignoring financing costs thats a break-even of 10 2/3 years. However, you must include financing costs in the numbers (or the opportunity cost of money if you are paying up fropnt). Even at a modest 5% interest rate on your loan, your break-even shoots out to over 15 years. CB.