Ripple Energy Solar & Wind Farms - A Good Investment?

[@johntisbury]

Thanks Gary, good to have you on board with Ripple. I've not subscribed to project 3 only because I'm 110% maxed with Project 1 and 2. Ripple have shown themselves to be responsive, responsible and forward looking. I'm pleased we invested when we did.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers John! As it happens, your experiences and videos on Ripple were a big factor in both me making this video and investing into Project 3 😀👍🏻

[@waqasahmed939]

I got Project 2 tbh. I'm getting 8 more panels on my roof, bringing my total system to 6.4kw I figure that having solar panels on my roof and a wind farm is decent

[@royeasto885]

I'm with Ripple and also have my own solar. The biggest saving I made on my solar setup was not suggested by my installer. Solis, who make the battery inverter gave me access to store cheap rate electricity into my battery. This single operation means that I now buy virtually no peak rate electricity. I imagine that most people with a solar installation are not aware that they can do this and it could save them a lot of money. It also means that I do not need to increase my battery storage. Perhaps this could be a topic for a later video. I currently pay for about £0.40/day for electricity from Octopus, a little less in the summer.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Great stuff, and I also agree with AL.

[@Ben-gm9lo]

Thank you Gary. Great to have your unique style and analysis applied to Ripple's offer. I can't wait for your heat pump video!

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Ben - it's coming soon! :-)

[@jamesgrover2005]

Kudos for helping the environment

[@GaryDoesSolar]

:-)

[@robjones8950]

Hi Gary. I have panels and I’m invested in projects 2&3. I think the value of the Ripple investment is more to do with the hedge/ ‘insurance’ against future price increases rather than just RoI/payback. You don’t compare the capital costs of a domestic installation versus a similar sized Ripple investment. Btw Ripple’s first wind farm was a single turbine. Keep the videos coming. Rob

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for taking time out to comment, Rob. Agreed, and I was half-thinking about covering this in the video as it was mentioned in the webinar, but the video was getting a bit long. Now, I didn't know that Project 1 was just one turbine (I just searched for photos of the site and many came up with multiple turbines - lol). Good to see that with each project then, that Ripple is raising its game :-)

[@EugeneLambert]

@@GaryDoesSolar Project One (Graig Fatha, in which I am an 'investor') was proof of concept, and sensibly sized at only one turbine as a result. It must have been hard enough to deliver given the pandemic etc. Anyway, thanks for an excellent and very clear video.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@@EugeneLambert My pleasure! 🙂

[@bobholmes4215]

All the information I was looking for - many thanks. Liked and subscribed.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks so great to hear, thanks Bob! :-)

[@chaswinder]

Another excellent and thorough video Gary!

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks Chaz! :-)

[@stephenbrickwood1602]

Great work. You gave more insight into cash flow and investing aswell as the solar pv investment. You are also smart enough to express your uncertainty, your limits. This is good work. The 70,000 panels are 600W panels. 3kW per home

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks Stephen - your feedback is really appreciated :-)

[@alanwalker6185]

Another very good video, Gary. I’ve also signed up for Ripple’s solar farm, like you mostly for environmental reasons. One other point that I think should maybe be highlighted is the stabilising effect on energy bills of an investment like this - it cushions the effect of significant increases in electricity costs, and although returns might be lower if wholesale prices drop, at least you’ll have the comfort of knowing that your overall electricity costs will be lower as well.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hi Alan, thanks :-) Yeah, that's a good point to make. I'll create a pinned comment with this and any other feedback I get. Cheers!

[@elslopez]

Thank you Gary, lots of great no nonsense info.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Ben - you’re most welcome! 😀

[@Reprogrammed_By_SEGA]

Great analysis, I suspect most will take issue with the fact it only reduces the wholesale cost which isn't good enough for me to invest in sadly. If they had further financial incentives or methods at their disposal to give investors greater financial rewards I'd be more inclined to take a second look at it.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks - and yeah, I tend to agree...

[@user-gd8ud7fq9y]

Great summary. I decided against investing only because I'm getting rooftop solar installed and wanted to better diversify my energy source across the entire year (wind better than solar in winter). Hopefully they have another wind project available soon.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks :-) I'm hoping they'll be developing another wind farm soon as well!

[@jauld360]

Solar projects payout the largest ripple saving in the summer, but the ripple money can remain in your account as a buffer for your winter usage. You can think of Ripple solar as a "battery" that converts sunshine into cash. The cash can be "converted" into energy at a later date.

[@harveytheparaglidingchaser7039]

Thanks, great information

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Harvey :-)

[@RickFarris]

Thanks, Gary. I'm in the US, but it was still interesting.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Rick - Yeah, I'm conscious that I have a lot of international viewers, and so I'll try hard not to do too many UK-focussed videos.

[@emildiver]

excellent video.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thank you!

[@rockyallen5092]

Good summary, thanks. An annoying aspect that I didn't hear you mention is that Ripple limit the investment from each household to about £4,000. This is across all projects, so if you already have the maximum in project 1 or 2 you can't have any in project 3. Their rationale for this is pretty weak in my opinion, but they don't seem keen to change it.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah, I guess it's to try and spread the allocation as far and wide as they can? I'm hoping that over time, as the projects produce good results that they do just as you say. I can imagine that many of the existing investors will want the opportunity to increase their investment beyond that 120% electricity bill limit.

[@thepete129]

If your energy increases in future, i.e. you have an electric car, then you can ask your energy supplier to provide a new estimate of your annual consumption which you can provide to ripple from understanding by doing this. You can buy more shares at a later date. I’m like you, I’ve purchased some of the solar farm, only 50% with a view to get the other 50% when the windfarm comes out again

[@rockyallen5092]

@AL Quite right, the limit is a notional annual energy value not monetary, it just ended up being about £4K from memory. The limit has nothing to do with legal or finance however. It is self-imposed by Ripple: they apparently hope that keeping to the lower value will encourage HMRC to make it tax free (this is clear from one of the Ripple videos). I already have a lot of other renewable investments, but what I particularly liked about Ripple is that it is spent on *additional* renewables, not just existing capacity.

[@scottwills4698]

I bought into Ripples second project as the wind turbines should generate more electricity in our winter and I plan to get solar for my home to help out with my bills in the summer.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hi Scott, thanks for taking the time to comment with your Ripple experience. I’ve left room in my 120% cap for hopefully another future wind project finger 🤞🏼

[@Adam-u1n1b]

May I ask if your 120% cap was based on your consumption before or after solar?@@GaryDoesSolar

[@WirelessGriff]

Hi Gary, great channel and great episode. We also invested in Ripple projects 2&3 ( motivated by environmental concerns as well as financial benefits) We have maxed out the house roof with panels but the air source heat pump can get through a lot of electricity in the winter and the Ripple project 3 effectively allows you to ‘spread’ the benefits of electricity generated over the full year (unlike our own panels) as it merely amends the money owed. As I aside Jag Minhas and I are working together and in conversation I made the connection to the Genie days! Well done on the new venture. I would love to get your opinion on a home battery upgrade sometime. Regards, Hugh

[@GaryDoesSolar]

OMG! - now, there's a couple of names from the past! Would be great to catch up with you at some point. My email is [e-mail] if you'd like to :-)

[@WirelessGriff]

@@GaryDoesSolar hi Gary! Great to hear from you. We work in Vauxhall if you are in London sometime we would love to see you. Will drop you a direct email. Hugh

[@markbrice2928]

Hi Gary, a great video. Not sure if anyone has picked up that the payments received will be subject to income tax if you exceed your yearly allowance. Originally I invested in Kirk Hill in which to off set my winter bills, my summer bills were taken care of by a solar system in the garden. Having just moved to Norfolk the Kirk Hill investment has followed me whereas I have had to have a new solar system fitted to the house.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah, you're right. Any profit is subject to tax. I think Ripple has structure it so that part of your payments back are original capital, which should help minimise tax liability. Hope things are going well with your solar setup :-)

[@markbrice2928]

Hi Gary yes Solar going well we have produced 2.1mWh in 57 days. We have a 12kWp East West in roof system with, should I say it, optimisers due to the trees around us.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@@markbrice2928 Yeah, optimisers sound like a great solution to make the best out of any shading from the trees. My next video will be all about optimisers, as it happens 🙂

[@trevorlewis9975]

I can see the attraction of of direct participation in individual projects, and I'm sure there's fun to be had. But I can't see how it's likely to be a better investment than an investment trust specialising in renewables, where the investment is diversified over many projects, and there's a reasonable hope of both a growing dividend and capital growth. Example - Octopus Renewables Infrastructure, current annualised dividend 5.85%.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for the insight, Trevor. I'll take a look at Octopus Renewables Infrastructure - sounds interesting!

[@hughrattray9354]

Hi Gary, great video thanks. A couple of observations: 1.I think your calculation assumes the same initial cost ( per kWh) for Ripple and home produced solar. Is that right? The other question is do you get taxed on the payments from Ripple?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hi Hugh - thanks for the kind words about the video. I hadn't given too much thought about the initial cost per kWh in fact. But it would be fair to say that home solar would pay back much quicker than a Ripple investment. Regarding the tax implication, certainly interest earned is subject to tax, but thankfully, most people have a £1,000 tax allowance on that.

[@peterjones6640]

I invested in Kirk Hill wind farm and also this project, I would have invested in the Welsh wind turbine had I known about it at the time. My reasoning to invest in these projects is that although I could have home PV we are likely moving in a couple of years, so Ripple I can take with me. The other “benefit” of Ripple is that unlike home PV you are not committed to a large up front expenditure you can invest “relatively “ small amounts as finances allow. My plan is to have a portfolio of Ripple projects so that my “ generation” is spread geographically. I will when we move also likely invest in home PV but I see the Ripple investment as a good addition. Of course the other “investment” that home owners may consider is adding insulation to their homes to cut down on energy usage.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Peter - great insight!

[@davidsworld5837]

hi i have investment at kirk hill too. and i have solar on my house. i have not heard about when or how often we get paid. so if it is every month that is fine with me. but wind is not like solar it should give a more stable payment since its bloody windy all the time and does not drop off like solar does on dark winter nights

[@lyracian]

Environmentally this is a good idea but when looked at for pure finance I decided against it for project two. While it does have the option you can put a small amount of capital in I would rather get more panels on my house or invest in a growth product. As always a great video explaining and comparing options.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for the great feedback! :-)

[@jonathankeenan5163]

The trouble with most growth product is that they are growing because they actively invest in fossil fuel industries and other industries contributing to climate change. By no means all but it's not as easy and there is some satisfaction in knowing the actual physical contribution your investment is making with the Ripple scheme.

[@anthonydyer3939]

I once considered Ripple energy but decided against it. The transferability of your share was a big red flag for me. I can choose to sell my solar investment on my house (via a process known as selling my house) as I see fit, but I can’t do the same with my ripple share. Since the investment was paid through savings in your bill, I wandered what would happen if you no longer became a bill payer (e.g. marriage, change of job, leaving the country etc….). Overall it was the the fact that I was only making money against a wholesale rather than a retail environment that went against the scheme for me. As you almost touched upon it, investing in a company (shares) rather than a physical asset (wind turbine), is more familiar territory for many people. It has its own risk / reward profile. I’ve stuck with fairly traditional investment funds, but I need to so some homework to find out if there are any greentech focussed funds that can invested into via an ISA.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hi Anthony, I can't disagree with any of this. And I guess with Ripple only achieving 50% take-up of their share allocation last week, I guess the flags you raise are also in the minds of many other people. Like you, I'd be interested in investing into renewables companies via my ISAs and also SIPP. Hope all is good with you.

[@andrewl9020]

Great idea although extra batteries for my solar setup might be a better investment, at least in the short term. Hopefully the government will change the way in which the cost of electricity is priced so that the move to renewables benefits the masses rather than just those who can afford solar or invest in projects like these.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for taking the time to commend, Andrew. I agree.

[@radiotowers1159]

I ve invested but not fully, my intention is 1/3 solar 2/3 wind energy, so while one is not producing ,say solar in the winter then the wind should be . Opposite in the summer where solar takes over while wind fades. My intention to level out the peaks and dips of returns. I hope ripple build another wind farm next ?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I agree with AL, although I'd still like to own a bit of a wind farm as well! :-)

[@48luke]

Thank you for Doing a video on this alternative way of investing in solar. I looked at this before and again now. For me the figures didn’t stack up as I would prefer to invest that money into my home install. Probably expanding the battery bank again. But maybe a good alternative to those that can’t get solar installed on the property they live in.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

My pleasure, Luke. Great that you got some value from it. Feel free to try out my online calculator to see what effect an increased battery size would have on your installation (link below):

[@GaryDoesSolar]

garydoessolar.com/utilities/dailymodellingutility/

[@48luke]

@@GaryDoesSolar I have used your calc through my process of getting Sola installed this year. Installers could only supply a small battery bank, as the price they quoted initially was for a small battery bank. I have since increased and will increase again. Thanks to your calc I have been able to work out the system. So far it’s been very close to predictions. As a thank you when I switched to octopus I used your referral link. First bill should be this month so hopefully we will both get benefit from your referral 👍🏻 great channel and very well presented. I have enjoyed my solar journey so far. I just wish that home wind generation was as viable as solar.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@@48luke Thanks very much, Luke - that's so very kind of you! And as it happens, I've just updated the utility and released a video today explaining it 🙂

[@tommyk3978]

Good video, I've invested in ripple for this project at 55% of my usage. Mainly as a carbon off set, but also to protect against future energy bills. Its not the best financial investment you can make. Thinking out loud, if you used most if your energy at an off peak rate of 10p, and you are saving the 6.1p as its being sold at peak rate thats a 61% saving on your electric bill?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hi Tommy, thanks. You're right - from a financial point of view, it's not a great investment. What Ripple claim is that if energy prices rise in the future, you'll be somewhat protected as you'll earn the same rise per kWh from Ripple.

[@FrankPloegman]

I agree that placing solar on your own roof has advantages that its generation is post-tax (and post other costs), not pre-tax as in the case of solar farms. Framing should also be a little bit cheaper and it costs 0% additional land. Also, there are no problems with grid congestion and it cools the house in summer. Perhaps a downside of placing panels on your roof is that it doesn't benefit from economies of scale. Leasing rooftop panels could be a reasonable option for renters or owners with little cash. I'd say that if you have room available on your roof without shade or with little shade, and this room is oriented east/west/towards equator at an attractive inclination, that's probably optimal for owners/tenants of buildings. If you don't, solar farms may be preferable to placing panels in the shade, at an unattractive angle, or away from the equator. If you have very little additional space (e.g. only for 2 panels), that's also far from ideal. Ripple may be an attractive diversifier to stocks/bonds, but is less liquid. As for windmills, my understanding is that placing these on/near your home makes no financial/environmental/practical sense. For windmills, it's go humongous in size in areas with high wind speed, or don't do it. Another interesting discussion is on grid scale versus home batteries. Home batteries mostly have low voltage because of safety reasons, which requires thick/expensive conductors with limited supply of copper. Electrical changes to the home are generally required. Risk of fire (due to bad connections) and electrocution is non-negligible. Also the noise of cooling fans of the inverted could be an issue. Grid scale, on the other hand, could have problems with congestion and is tax-inefficient. Unfortunately, according to the latest information that I am aware of, both grid scale and home batteries don't currently produce a positive gross (let alone real, i.e. after inflation) financial return-on-investment without subsidies in most cases. Hopefully this changes soon.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Frank. Interesting points.

[@Adam-u1n1b]

My house does get exceedingly warm in summer, so I'm definitely hoping that the main west-south-west roof will be substantially cooler now it is 85% covered with solar panels. I hope the small gap between and under the panels is sufficient to allow some cooling by convection. I've seem some anti-pigeon measures that seem fairly solid bevelled edges around the panels and whilst these look smart I doubt they'll allow much cooling airflow.

[@Highlander888]

I am with Ripple Kirk Hill didnt go with Solar but decided to wait for next project. What i would say is that your share of Wind/Solar Farm doesn't decrease over time but the value of that share does as you get 5%/3% back per year of operation. You still own the same amount at the end (if there is one) as you did at the start...

[@GaryDoesSolar]

That's good to know - thanks John!

[@bazcurtis178]

I have solar and would have invested if it had been a wind farm. The thought being, it would help more in the winter

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I think you're not alone with that view. Maybe the next project will be another wind farm?

[@KoRWraith]

Your referral link in the description's not working properly, only the top domain is hyperlinked which misses your referral code. Might be worth using a standardly formatted forwarding link if KZbin won't support the original link format.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I think that’s how it works. It simply passes a parameter to the top level webpage. I tried a couple of other people’s referral codes and they did the same. Not very user-friendly, that’s for sure! :-/

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@AL Thanks - just tried that, but it didn't seem to change anything - strange, eh?

[@nicflanagan6662]

Another fact filled video that addressed and clarified the different financial models & investment options. Presumably any profits made are taxed 🤔

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Nic - yeah, they're certainly subject to tax, but most people have an allowance of up to £1K in interest payments.

[@rockyallen5092]

Currently the "margin" portion of your return is taxed as an investment (subject to £2,000 pa tax free allowance). The "Capital return" part is tax free. Ripple are lobbying HMRC for it all to be tax free, but I doubt they will succeed.

[@lordstevewilson1331]

Ripple is especially targeting people in for example, grade 2 listed buildings, rented properties, flats.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

It's great that everyone now has the opportunity to take part in the solar revolution :-)

[@caterthun4853]

Gary. My wife is asking for new kitchen. Its going to cost a fortune. Last about 15 to 20 years. Should I invest......or do a runner?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Oh, crikey - that's a tough one. Well, actually I would say, worship the ground your partner walks on and get her anything she asks for! Good luck! :-)

[@jamesduffy8669]

Hi Gary I have shares in both KIRK HILL and in DERRIL WATER. They cover my electricity usage ti 12o% I also intend to have solar fitted to my house next year I am also with Octopus 🐙 GO FASTER, which ends soon. I have a ZAPPI charger and two up to the point next year when I switch to FLUX I have two electric cars. A KIA EV6 and a VAUXHALL MOKKA X. I therefore need another tariff to cover them both till next year when I get solar and a battery, then switch to FLUX I looked at Intelligent Octopus 🐙 but as my car is on the list and my wife's is not, I have asked if I set it up on my KIA,, can I then also use the time of use on my wife's MOKKA X? I am researching your videos on solar and a battery, as they are great I am looking at the MYENERGY LIBBI at present. Thanks for all your help and su4ggestions and steering me through the solar minefield

[@GaryDoesSolar]

It's my pleasure, James. Glad my videos are helping you out :-)

[@Adam-u1n1b]

I think there is a lot to commend Ripple Energy and will probably go for it. But I am concerned at what happens at the end of the project. Who pays for the decommissioning? I understand there is some sort of provision but what if there's a shortfall? Also our shares decrease over the life of the project, so will we still "own" our share if we collectively decide to continue past the original design life of the turbines or panels. All the capital expense will have written off, so it may be worthwhile. Or a newer better wind turbine be purchased to replace the old one.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Good questions, and I don't have the answers, but worth you sending a quick email to Ripple... :-)

[@Adam-u1n1b]

They said: "All factored in, there will be nothing more for coop members to pay"@@GaryDoesSolar

[@jimlymm]

As I understand it, given you get the original capital back over 30+ years, are you taking into account investing that returned capital as well in a compound scheme ? Taking that into account you would get another £1500 in interest. So the actual total returned would be closer to £4000

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I believe that I explained the various investment scenarios well in the video, including compounding on interest. Let me know if you see anything wrong.

[@jimlymm]

@@GaryDoesSolar when ripple return £30 each year for 33 years. What do you do with that money ? It's money you could invest and would earn interest. Surely that needs to factored in when comparing to a straight compound in interest investment?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@@jimlymm Ah, I see where you coming from now. A good point, but by looking at what could be done with that money coming back from the scheme, it starts to muddy the waters a little. I prefer to show the actual expected return from the Ripple investment in isolation (i.e. it's not a great financial investment, and could only be made better by introducing other unrelated investments).

[@davidboettcher1900]

Hi Gary, I didn't hear you mention anything about the tax treatment of the income from Ripple that gets credited to the account with the electricity supplier. My understanding is that it will be taxed at your marginal rate. Can you comment on this please? Thanks!

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yup. Just search for “tax” on this page: rippleenergy.com/faq/all-questions#

[@davidboettcher1900]

@@GaryDoesSolar After careful reading that makes things clearer, but the way it is explained is misleading. Ripple say "The majority of Ripple members will not pay any tax on any of their savings." - but this is only true if the member's personal savings allowance hasn't already been exceeded by other savings income, which since interest rates have gone up is fairly easy to do. Rather than a long winded explanation that says most Ripple members "trading benefit" will be less than their personal savings allowance, Ripple should be clear and say that the trading benefit will be treated as savings income and will be added to any other savings income for tax purposes. I would guess that most people who are investing in Ripple projects will have interest bearing savings. This makes Ripple less attractive as a hedge against future high energy prices, because if if you have already exceeded your personal savings allowance and the trading benefit increases, the increase will all be taxed at your marginal (highest) tax rate. I still support Ripple as a good cause and will invest, but with the very long payback period and current tax treatment of the trading benefit, I can see no financial case for investing and this will have to affect the amount that I invest.

[@mowtownni4587]

I have home solar, but I looked into Ripple energy, they don't allow entries from Northern Ireland. 😢

[@GaryDoesSolar]

That's a shame :-( Hopefully, things will change in the future!

[@SamPrince]

A further drag on the benefits of the Ripple offer is that the money you receive as a discount on your bill is treated as interest for tax purposes. It's a real shame the govt couldn't have waived that to allow some innovation. In the last few years this wouldn't have mattered to many people as with 0.25% interest and £1000 interest allowance before tax you'd need to have a chunky wodge in the bank (£400k?) to pay any tax. As interest rates rise, not only does this investment look less attractive in comparison to cash savings, but more people will go over the £1000/annum interest threshold so all the income from Ripple is being taxed, making it look even worse next to home solar. That ~20% slice of the unit cost you were making gets even smaller. I've been following Ripple for a long while, even before they first launched publicly, but I don't feel like this is a very good financial investment however much my heart wants it to be great. In 40 years the cost of electricity production will be tiny compared to now. Solar cells in the lab are 50% more efficient than today's commercial panels and the cost of onshore and offshore wind is plummeting. Once the gas and oil barons have been levered out of their controlling position, domestic prices will fall and this is likely to be a stranded asset. I can't see a version of the future where this investment has paid for itself before that happens.

[@SamPrince]

@AL yeah I didn't really mean tiny in the sense of utterly negligible, more that the Ukraine-Russia inflation would have subsided and expensive, volatile fossil options would be replaced with renewables that are demonstrably getting cheaper and cheaper over time with no obvious reason to stop getting cheaper soon. In that way, the cost per kWh should be a fraction of today's price if you just extrapolate the wind and solar cost reductions forward. I don't think it's the case that nobody should create solar parks for fear of solar technology getting better, but with the costs and returns as they are right now there are limited circumstances that make sense financially. The income per panel is just not so enticing and this video really opened my eyes to how bad it is due to those distribution costs. I had previously thought putting solar on individual homes was inefficient because of the lack of scale, but it looks like cutting out the grid outweighs that by far.

[@SamPrince]

@AL ps I would agree there is no point attempting interstellar travel, but on the basis that it's only likely to be useful to provide redundancy in the event of a cataclysmic event on Earth and that event is likely to happen before interstellar travel (and earth 2.0 founding) happens.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I'm wondering as time goes on, and the government realises that people are now making money from renewables (either Ripple profits or export revenue) they'll clamp down on it?

[@jasonlewis4686]

Gary I wonder what will happen if carbon pricing of fossil fuels adds further benefit to owning Ripple shares?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

If fossil fuels are priced higher in the market than renewables, I'd expect the Ripple payback to decrease, but who knows :-) Perhaps others can comment...

[@FFVoyager]

7:15. This I don't understand. Why can't the payments be independent of suppliers - and just paid into a bank? We've seen how unstable the suppliers can be, is it wise to have your 'returns' tied into them?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I have to say, I agree - it would be a much more straight-forward investment. There is no connection between Ripple wind turbines and solar panels and your energy account apart from the fact that payments are being made into it.

[@Umski]

I went in for 1kW of Kirk Hill (project 2) but already have 4kWp of PV so it’s more a means of offsetting my winter import - if I understand correctly, the logic for paying into the energy supplier is to avoid any complications with tax and investments as a means of shovelling cash away - hence also the 120% limit so that you’re not profiteering. I kind of get that technically you can withdraw any credit but the idea is that this is a means of ‘greening’ up the grid by investing a small cut from your contribution - I think I prefer this as it keeps my energy monies separated…

[@waqasahmed939]

05:35 Maybe. I think for my parent's house which faces north, perhaps solar panels aren't necessarily amazing on their roof Though still interestingly better in payback

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah, solar panels can certainly spoil a good looking roof!

[@ilyaasoow]

Hi, it would be nice if you could please do cost effective comparison of getting tesla powerwall £6900 + roughly £2000 installation vs investing in new ripple £1000 for 2900kw. We have 3kw solar and our last year's electricity consumption/ import was 2111kwh. We do most of our consumption on suny days. I want to know which one is a waste of money . Thank you.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Unfortunately, l'm not in a position to provide individual advice (not least because of potential liability issues, even if that advice is given free - such is the world today). You're best to speak to an installer for such advice, or post a comment onto a solar forum (e.g. this one in the UK: facebook.com/groups/2197329430289466). Good luck!

[@ilyaasoow]

@GaryDoesSolar thank you for your reply. I have just done my calculations. The Tesla powerwall is a waste of money and will take me close to 18 years to recover my costs, so the ripple investment makes more sense to me because as you said in this video they pay me back part of my initial investment and share the profits over 40 years. Thank you again.

[@Scubadooper]

In your cost comparison you ignore that home solar has a cost to produce. Yes you save wholesale margin and supply costs, but the annualised capital cost (and operation/maintenance cost) is still cost to produce

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hi Matthew, I liken the capital cost of home solar to the up-front Ripple investment. I agree though, that after say 10-15 years, you may need to replace a string inverter and there might be other maintenance costs.

[@Scubadooper]

@@GaryDoesSolar yes, however that Ripple investment is annualised as the production cost. Excluding O&M, you either have to discount it on both sides or include it on both sides.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@@Scubadooper Fair comment 👍🏻

[@AllenB1]

Whether it is wind or solar panels is irrelevant, you buy Kws that can be used anytime winter or summer..

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Now, I wouldn’t say irrelevant, as payments from solar concentrate around the summer, whereas payments for wind will be largely consistent throughout the year, no?

[@AllenB1]

@@GaryDoesSolar That's not how it works, Kws taken in the summer (or when the light is good enough with solar) can be used at anytime through the year.. It is irrelevant whether it is wind or solar. Initially I wanted to invest in a wind farm for shortfall in the winter but the Ripple strategy is all about buying Kws to be used at anytime..

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@@AllenB1 I agree that over the course of a whole year, it doesn't matter, but the monthly payments vary throughout the year - higher in summer for solar.

[@jack504]

Is ripple a for profit company? How do they make their money?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

This might help, from here: rippleenergy.com/faq/all-questions#:~:text=Ripple%20will%20charge,op%20pays%20it. "Ripple will charge an arrangement fee when members sign up to the co-op. This is a % of the Wattage contribution. This is included in all the cost estimates, it's not added later. Ripple will also charge the co-op a monthly management fee once the wind farm or solar park is operational. This covers our member support team, operational support, and our online platform. The management fee will be at a market rate and will form part of the operating cost of the wind farm. Members do not need to pay the monthly management fee as the co-op pays it."

[@jack504]

Thanks, that makes sense. When you go to order it tell you the arrangement cost as well. I was also wondering with the providers that support this, are you locked into the price cap minus the saving or can you lock into other fixes? Do you lose flexibility? Wondering if there would situations where the bill would be less overall on a deal with another provider that doesn't support the ripple energy purchase, or even with one that does.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@@jack504 From what I can see it's mainly Octopus Energy that supports. You can be on any tariff you like - you'll just see regular (monthly?) payments into your account from Ripple. Those payments will go up or down depending on the wholesale price.

[@jayp913]

So how much did you I no eat Gary? £25 or more?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

More.

[@seandevlin7799]

If this goes on for 40 years is it pointless me investing at 62 years old

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah, 40 years is a long time. I hope that both you and I live a lot of that! 👍🏻