AS WE are presently having both PV solar and thermo solar installed in our property in Lancaster we feel that we must reply to Henry Hick's letter in the Citizen (February 8).

There seems to be some confusion as to how much solar power actually costs to install.

Although our project is costing approx 30K this is not all solar costs. In fact we have had a 3.4KW Pv solar system fitted which will be connected to the national grid, at no extra cost, so that any excess electricity we produce will be sold to the grid.

The cost of this is £26.800 which we had to pay upfront. However when the system is commissioned we will receive a Government grant of £11.900: therefore the cost to us will be £14.900.

In addition to this we have installed thermo solar in order to heat our hot water and run our underfloor heating system. This has cost an additional £7.500.

The remainder of the 30K has been spent on upgrading our boiler to a high efficiency boiler and installing underfloor heating, neither of which are necessary when installing solar.

We were made very aware by the company that there was a very long pay-back period (20 years was quoted) and at current energy cost this is probably true. But we believe that it will be financially worth it in the long term though even we will need to wait and see.

Although the initial cost means that many people will not be able to afford to take the solar route I hope that these figures make it a more viable option.

Richard and Christine Wood, Lancaster.