I've been a massive fool...My planet UK Solar.

lyntill · 2 June 2016 at 7:48PM

I'm so sorry to hear your story because I did exactly the same in March 2015. I never imagined I could get caught out so badly. A year later and I am truely out of pocket and Myplanet have gone into liquidation. I wish I had never heard of solar panels or Myplanet.

Gstyle007 · 27 September 2016 at 9:34AM

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Hello again, just a thought, but did they mention anything about changing the inverter, as you'll need a larger unit.

Also, have you applied for FiTs registration yet, as you'll want to change that before it gets registered, but you will need a new MCS certificate with the new system specs.

Also, also, did you already have an EPC, or was one done for you as part of the install, as the larger system will further improve it, so not the end of the world, but an updated certificate would be nice.

I think that'll do, for now.

Mart.

Sorry for the late post 2 years later lol. I honestly thought I had updated everyone, also I did want to wait until I had received the refund and the extra panels.

They did not replace the inverter but added a 2nd one, did have an EPC done originally and they did not give me an updated one.

I have been getting FIT payments so everything is up and running ok, the only problem is the roof is now leaking and I see from other posts that the company have gone into liquidation.

Can anyone advise if my guarantees are still valid? or are they worthless now and will I have to get my home insurance to sort it out?

Cheers

Gstyle007 · 27 September 2016 at 9:40AM

Cardew wrote: »

Well was the £2k in your bank yesterday?

Hi Cardew, sorry for the late reply.

Yes I did get the £2k and an extra 6 panels, I have been getting FIT payments for the last 2 years and everything is still working so all in all even though I overpaid I see from all the other posts that there are some people worse off than me.

I hope this thread has helped some people from making the same mistakes as me and I am grateful for all the help and advice everyone has offered.

Only problem now is that my roof is leaking so need to get that sorted and I presume as the company is now in liquidation my guarantees are worthless.

Cheers

Cardew · 27 September 2016 at 9:52AM

Gstyle007 wrote: »

the only problem is the roof is now leaking and I see from other posts that the company have gone into liquidation.

Can anyone advise if my guarantees are still valid? or are they worthless now and will I have to get my home insurance to sort it out?

Cheers

For years in the solar 'industry' - starting with solar thermal - it has been almost standard practice for some companies to go into liquidation to escape any liability for repairs under warranty. To rub salt into the wound in some cases the directors start up another firm - but using a different name - immediately with the same premises, vans and personnel.

It might be worth reporting the situation to the local trading standards office in case there is some action being taken against the former directors. However unless the guarantee was backed by an insurance company, it is probably worthless.

Are you sure your home insurance will cover shoddy workmanship by another firm?

Gstyle007 · 27 September 2016 at 6:49PM

I've had a look through my paperwork that I got and I have a 10 year guarantee backed by Hies and an insurance company.

I rang them today and the insurance company that backed My Planet has also gone bust but they said that I am still covered (not sure how) and they are just waiting for details of the liquidation of the company and they will give me a ring back in a few days.

So fingers crossed it might be ok, but we will see.

Martyn1981 · 28 September 2016 at 10:16AM

Gstyle007 wrote: »

Sorry for the late post 2 years later lol. I honestly thought I had updated everyone, also I did want to wait until I had received the refund and the extra panels.

Thanks. Turned out to be an excellent thread. It brought together a lot of posters with almost identical experiences, especially the issue of the paperwork not matching the verbal claims. RECC seemed interested when I spoke to them, and were monitoring the thread.

There are still 'free PV' adverts and promotions out there, which are most likely loan based deals, which probably won't work.

Hopefully this thread, as per your initial post, has done some good in raising awareness, informing and warning.

Mart.

doomsayer · 7 October 2016 at 2:28PM

My Planet/ Our Planet no longer exists... they are now trading as Imesco.

Solar_Guy · 20 December 2016 at 12:28PM

I'm a senior professional in this industry and I know there are literally thousands of badly sold systems in the UK alone. The introduction of battery backup in 2016 has seen further mis-selling and I'm sure that at least half of the battery systems bought come with an expectation much higher than what will actually be achieved.
The best advice I can give is to research who you are buying from in some detail. There are very clear publicly available rules for selling this type of product and a sale of this type broke all of those rules. Because of this there is good chance that you would have a case for a refund if you reported the installer to the MCS. The MCS is the rule maker for FIT registered solar installation. This states that you can't send a salesman into a property, perform cold calls, and once a survey and quote has been prepared you are not permitted to sell it immediately. You MUST allow a cooling down period before the system can be bought without any further contact being made my the MCS accredited company. I think that's either 3 or 4 weeks..
Finally, the MCS guidlines also state that the price must be fair. Yours clearly is about 2 x the value of what it should be installed, even if the products used were premium, which my best guess is they won't be.

Sadly, until system owners actually do something about shyster companies, more of this will happen. The friendliest advice I have is call the MCS as soon as possible.

Cardew · 20 December 2016 at 1:41PM

Solar_Guy wrote: »

I'm a senior professional in this industry and I know there are literally thousands of badly sold systems in the UK alone. The introduction of battery backup in 2016 has seen further mis-selling and I'm sure that at least half of the battery systems bought come with an expectation much higher than what will actually be achieved.
The best advice I can give is to research who you are buying from in some detail. There are very clear publicly available rules for selling this type of product and a sale of this type broke all of those rules. Because of this there is good chance that you would have a case for a refund if you reported the installer to the MCS. The MCS is the rule maker for FIT registered solar installation. This states that you can't send a salesman into a property, perform cold calls, and once a survey and quote has been prepared you are not permitted to sell it immediately. You MUST allow a cooling down period before the system can be bought without any further contact being made my the MCS accredited company. I think that's either 3 or 4 weeks..
Finally, the MCS guidlines also state that the price must be fair. Yours clearly is about 2 x the value of what it should be installed, even if the products used were premium, which my best guess is they won't be.

Sadly, until system owners actually do something about shyster companies, more of this will happen. The friendliest advice I have is call the MCS as soon as possible.

Welcome to the forum.

From all the feedback that we get on this forum and elsewhere, MCS are absolutely toothless.

Once a 'shyster' firm has got MCS accreditation, what controls are there to ensure that they conform to their code of practice?

Outrageous prices, outrageous claims for savings, are commonplace.

The solar PV industry is showing many of the signs of the scandals that were prevalent in the Solar thermal 'industry'.

This means that PV firms go 'belly-up' and the directors move on to pastures new leaving worthless guarantees.

P.S.
For your information, most of the posts on solar PV are in the 'Green and Ethical' section of this MSE forum and that is where the majority of PV owners contribute. You might find it better to post in that section.

chrisboa · 27 February 2017 at 2:34PM

Hi I had the same kind of thing you experienced with Solar PV with my Planet.
I am a qualified green deal assessor and domestic energy assessor so should have known better
I had a Norwich firm called Solar Essence signed me up on Hitachi Capital at a very expensive rate. I was very lucky the inverter was fixed by the manufactures Power one. I recently sold my Feed in Tariff or Fit through a broker called cashinyoursolar.co.uk they gave me just short for £10,000 cash lump sum and they now look after the system and I still get the cheaper electricity but no feed in tariff payments as they go to them
Hope the sun shines on your panels
Chris

I've been a massive fool...My planet UK Solar.

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