GordonS

We've had a house in France for a few years and are considering purchasing a ski apartment in the Alps. Are Taxd'H & Tax'F paid in full on a French maison secondaire? I know that there are arrangements whereby TV licence is only paid one and a 2nd phone can be disconnected/reconnected cheaply, but cannot get a clear answer on the 2 main taxes.

Some excellent points, well made, Quillan. I would simply add that there will be a big difference between a full-time resident in France (which I imagine, Quillan, you are) and such as ourselves who spend lumps of time at our French property Spring, Summer and Autumn - NOT winter - as we're not French resident (yet). In our case we have a large South facing roof which could (possibly) be earning good money from a Feed in Tariff all year round, whether we are there or not. I suspect there are many others in a similar position.

Hi C of C and sorry if my post confused. Let me be clear - I know only a little about the PV installation system in France and that is why I'm interested in finding out the facts from people who have had an installation done over there. That said, having done a thorough investigation of the tariff system and the technology in the UK I seem to know more than most installers in the UK. The UK followed France and Germany into the PV renewables arena and it seems reasonable to assume there will be similarities. I base my comments on that alone. Specifically a DIY installation is not going to qualify for the Feed in tariff (FIT) because the installation needs to be done by an approved and registered installer. Presumably linked to EDF through the approval / registration process since EDF are the sole owner of the infrastructure to which a PV system will be linked. If a 'rent-a-roof' company pays the capital cost of putting PV on your roof they will take the lucrative FIT, as I said before. As I understand it, in France unlike the UK, there is a way that tax payers can get a 'subsidy' (setting off the installation cost against tax?) but whenever someone has mentioned the quoted cost of such an install it seems appreciably higher than the cost of the same system without the tax break. Leads me to believe its the contractor taking the benefit, not the householder. In the UK a 4kW system (installed) will be around €14-16k. The difference being, largely, the cost of different performing panels. Anyway I'd love someone on here to make a posting based on solid experience of a bought outright system in France.

Sounds like France is like the UK where there is 'Rent a Roof' where a company installs, ostensibly FOC, the PV Panels and take the lucrative Feed in Tariff. The householder get free electricity from the panels and maybe a small export tariff. General view is steer clear as there are likely to be issues. For starters income from saving / exporting electricity is not much, your insurer may not want to insure you, what happens if you want to move? Better way is to buy the panels and get the lucrative Feed in tariff as well.

We're having PV panels fitted in a few weeks to our house in the UK. Its been an exhausting exercise as it is clear a lot of double glazing / home improvement companies have got into a business that is actually quite technical. Luckily there is some data about from domestic installations that have been up and running in various parts of the UK and, generally, owners are finding annualised savings at, or slightly better than the (official Government calculation method)  forecast. The RICS report mentioned earlier in this thread is well out of date - both in terms of the technology and the financial inducements - and the payback period is more like 7-8 years currently in the UK taking into account a 43.3p Feed in Tariff (FIT) for everything generated, assumed use of half the generated power in the property (thereby reduced electricity bills) and assumed 50% exported at 3p. As the FIT will reduce next Spring now is the time to go for it in the UK I believe. As we have a South facing barn roof in France doing nothing it begs the question whether a solar PV system could earn its keep there. Has anyone got the full picture in France?  From the little I can glean on the subject it looks like the French limit is 3kW (against 4kW in the UK) and the FIT has just been reduced by 20%. I'm unclear whether one needs to be a French taxpayer, which I'm not. Also I've heard that the 'tax subsidised' installations were artificially hiked in price anyway so the contractor got the benefit. Seems a few forum members are getting systems. What have you found out? Please keep the rest of us informed.

Hi, We use dial up internet at our place in Nornamdy and in winter the same software is happy to connect when we're at our apartment in the Alps. Each telephone bill reflects the hours connected on that specific line. So yes you can dial up from wherever and the cost is on the bill for the line used. Gordon

Andrew Following on from a thread about a year ago to which I've not seen anything further. I was interested to know if you had come up with any results / recommendations following on from the work your company was doing testing out ionisation.

Last year I got the necessary 'declaration de travaux exemptes de permis de construire' which enabled me to close up a disused garage / barn to form a closed room. During the winter I thought it might be a good idea to install a (small 6m x 2.3m) pool so I visited the local Marie who, after mentioning the need to employ an architect if the habilatable space went over 167m2, advised me to set up a meeting with the representative of the Ministere de L'Equipment....which I duly did. At the meeting yesterday the representative said that putting a pool in the room would not require a further planning application and when I asked which other authority I should contact to get any necessary approvals he gave the details of the Dept des Affaires Sanitaires et Sociales. When I spoke to this dept. the guy reckoned the Dept L'Equipment was wrong and I should have submitted a dossier of information. Eventaully he recommended I prepare the dossier and information and send it to Dept Services Environmental in the same building. My questions (finally) are:- To whom should I be applying for permission / regulatory guidance as to what equipment to install? If, as seems to be the case, the regs are being tightened against salinated and chlorinated systems, which type of water treatment system are the authorities likely to insist on? Finally, can anyone recommend a manufacturer of a quality one-piece resin pool manufacturer with something around 6m x 2.3m in their range? So far I've only come up with Bakewell Pools - French Manufacture but UK agent. Thanks for any help given Gordon