Did you sign up for free solar panels? Feedback wanted

We applied for free panels from ASG last summer after reading about it on HUKD. I watched the BBC news story which confirmed it was legit, and went for it on the basis that the BBC must have had their lawyers check it out thoroughly before promoting it!

For ASG you have to live in the right geographical area - roughly an hour's drive of Sheffield (tho I think they're moving out). You need a south facing roof with nothing shading it (like big trees or tall neighbourly houses) and the roof needs to be big enough and strong enough for the full set of 18 panels.

If applying it's worth mentioning anything in the notes that might help as the initial assessment is based solely on their Google Earth view of your house. We mentioned in ours that the tall trees seen on the photo were no longer there - the surveyor later said if we hadn't told them that we'd probably have been rejected.

We had to sign some contracts (quite straightforward) and give our mortgage company and insurance details as they obtain permission from both of those - no problems with Halifax.

Installed in October, and pretty much hassle free. We did have to clear the loft out a bit, and the scaffolding was up for a while but I can't complain. Installation of the panels took a morning and the electrician was there a full day (he had a bit of trouble with something or other but got there in the end).

It's hard to say if we've saved much because our bills were messed up by Eon forgetting to taken our direct debit for several months, so we were paying more and ended up repaying too much - we've just switched supplier now though so hopefully it'll settle down. The meter doesn't seem to move much though!

A friend has also now got ASG panels and is also perfectly happy with the whole business.

ASG seem quite big on customer service - they're now doing a monthly prize draw on Facebook and have a tour bus that travels around South Yorkshire. They've just started a referral scheme too.

We haven't paid a single penny for our panels - I can't recommend it highly enough. A lot of these 'free solar panel' companies seem to be getting bad press and it's a shame that they all get tarred with the same brush as these are one of the totally genuine ones.:)

rogerblack wrote: »

I on the other hand will pay this year probably around a pound for your panels.

(not, strictly your panels of course).

The feed-in-tarrif is essentially a tax.
It takes money disproportionately from the poorer-off, and gives it to those - largely better off - who are in a position to install panels on their roofs.

I do agree that it's a pretty dumb system but then most things dreamed up by the government are pretty dumb. The same could be said for people driving around in their Priuses (again, generally wealthy people in the first place). Great for them that they're not paying any road tax, and great for the environment that they're cleaner cars, but just because they emit less carbon doesn't mean they'll require less road maintenance. My £280 (or whatever it is now) road tax on my 8-yr old Mondeo is subsidising these Band A cars.

We'll lose our child benefit next year, but continue to pay the same amount in tax to subsidise the people on benefits who just can't be bothered to work (I don't include genuine cases in that before I start the usual argument - solely the minority who are just bone idle, and although that's not most people, they do exist in their millions!).

Anyway, this is all off-topic so I'll leave my little rant in reply there. I sympathise with the post above but so many things are unfair that I'm just glad that for once I'm able to be on the receiving end rather than paying out. For me personally and selfishly, the feed-in tariff rocks.