Free solar panel discussion

dobbers wrote: »

Just curious, how do the energy providers measure the amount of energy you produce from the panels to work out the FIT payments? Is there a separate meter that they have to read on a regular basis?

Dave

Hi

You will have a 'Total Generation Meter' fitted as part of the installation .... you will need to provide readings on a regular basis.

HTH
Z

dobbers wrote: »

Does anyone know what the deal is with expanding an installed system? Say I get a supplier who is MCS certified to install a 1kWp in the spring this year. I assume then that I am eligible for the FIT payments at the 41p rate. If at a later date, say July 2012 I get the system expanded to 3.6kWp by adding more panels from the same supplier do I still get the 41p rate for the whole 3.6kWp?

I understand you only get the FIT payment from an installation by a certified MCS company but what about expansion by adding panels? If I add the extra panels myself does that mean I can't get the FIT payments anymore? My thinking is that panels will come down in price over the coming years as more players enter the market so why pay for someone to add a couple of panels to the roof?

Dave

Hi

My belief is that if you expand the size of your system within the first 12 months it will be classified as an extention to your original system, after that I believe it's classified as a new system .....

Any panels added will need to be done through the MCS route .... If you add panels yourself it's likely that you will lose all rights to FiTs immediately.

If there is the possibility of system expansion at a later date you could have a higher capacity inverter specified on the original install, this would cost more but could save in the long run. Talk to your installers on this when getting quotations .....

As it's not really a 'Free Panel' issue .... check out the pv threads on the green & ethical board, ....

HTH
Z

HomeSun_company_representative wrote: »

Hello Everyone,

First of all I am sorry I have not been responding. I have been away.

Wow, I've missed quite a bit in the last few days and seem to have upset a few of you. (Was not intentional, I promise)

I will catch up shortly and get responding to your questions in due course.

For the lot who are requesting specific detailed readings from our current customers, I will try my best and get this info for you - no promises - as I'm mainly replying on MSE to resolve issues for customers who want to publicly address their concerns with our systems currently installed or any other issues they have with HomeSun . So your patience will be appreciated.

For those who have emailed me directly, I am chasing up with the relevant people for an answer and I will reply back shortly. I have not forgotten about you.

Again thank you all for your patience.

Krish

Posters on MSE have to earn readers respect and the forum gets many thousands of readers every day.

You have an ideal opportunity to publicly demonstrate exactly what type of company Homesun is, by personally ensuring that free juice? gets their £100 survey fee refunded as soon as possible?

I'm sure that they will post back to confirm when they have received their fully refundable deposit back and thank you for your personal efforts sorting out this oversight.

If this is not seen to be done by Homesun on this forum, we can only draw our own conclusions about the reputation of Homesun as a company.

:beer:

zeupater wrote: »

ps .... I'm sure that Krish will look into you deposit refund for you ......

Having bought my own system I regard the lost £100 as part of the overall cost. Jumping through Homesun's hoops made me think hard about what I was getting in to and made me do a lot of calculations - the lessons learned were probably worth £100.

But for the record they sent me an email on 12 December saying a cheque was going to be posted to me and then last Friday that I would definitely get a call back later that day to let me know what the problem was. I heard nothing.

As I paid by credit card then sooner or later I will get them involved so I am not much concerned about it at the moment, I learned a lot from my Homesun dabbling and the lost £100 may damage Homesun more than me.

What really intrigues me is why they turned me down with an absolutely spot on south roof at 30 degrees, no shading whatever, in the south of England and (post Homesun) with 31 sq. metres of panels on my roof.

First day since installation today with more than a few minutes of sun. Knocked up a nice 8kWh. Things are beginning to pick up.

Thanks for your interest.