Free solar power system. Is it a scam?

furndire

Totally agree re Sarah - BeeMacDee. She was open, honest and very helpful - cannot believe some of the attitudes of people on here.
Certainly ShaderGreen helped me make my mind up what I wanted to do re solar panels.

daytona600_2

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

.........roughly 50% reduction in electricity bills every year.

Don't get over excited; we don't have summer time all the time, unless you move to the tropics.
(American pensioners are said to pick Cuenca
http://watsontravels.blogspot.com/
http://internationalliving.com/2010/02/2009-retirement-index/
I suppose Europeans will have to make do with the Canary Islands?)

Actually Ecuador is amazingly technically backward, having PV or even Solar Thermal on your roof would be something of a novelty.


Meanwhile..........J R Ewing switches to PV by installing 670 panels on his hilside ranch netting a $310,000 subsidy grant. (yes that is not fat finger syndrome; it is a 94Kw installation). Pretty good bit of promotion by the German manufacturers?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/business/media/14adco.html?src=busln

solarworld are german , but also have 3 huge factories in the usa
as they are number one in the states
they also recently donated 100kwp of pv for hospitals in hiati
and for villagers to watch the world cup in south africa
94kwp systems are much cheaper these days
plus numerous 3rd world projects

94kwp solarwood roof system would cost approx £ 250,000 installed
but with FITs of £ 0.314 per kwh would generate high incomes
in edinburgh 81,918kwh x 31.4p = £ 640,000 over 25 years
plymouth 92,793kwh x 31.4p = £ 728,000 over 25 years
and income is tax free & index linked
no brainer really

Cade_Foster

Its a shame Sarah From ASG is having all this hassle because of the actions of a few, it is also a shame people keep trying to do ASG down as well.

JasonUK_2

Microbeman wrote: »

Hi fellow MSE users.
I have been offered a free solar power system by this company called "a shade greener". They have a website (just google ashadegreener) sorry not allowed to post links as a new member.
Basically they are offering to install a photovoltaic solar system for free so that they can get some government money available next year aimed at getting more of these systems in use. All maintenance is by them but I get the benefit of having cheaper electricity. My house fits their criteria (south facing) and they are going to get in touch to give me more details but it just seems too good to be true. Is it a scam? Is a a marketing ploy to get a foot in my door or is it genuine? Some close friends have had their house turned down on the basis that it didn't face South so they are not just offering it to everybody. Has anybody had any experience of this company or has more knowledge of the government scheme. I'd be very interested to know before they visit me.
Thanks
Microbeman

Hi Micro

There are lots of details regarding the Solar Power Systems on Sonork and answers to the questions I have read on this forum appear to be answered in more detail on there.

The main problem appears to be the fact you sign up now for a rate at which you buy the energy back from the supplier and tariffs are due to change so much over the next year or so, which means you may still be buying at today's rate, next year, even if the energy prices go down.

It is suggested on the other forum that you should wait around 12 months to see how tariffs change.

Jason

John_Pierpoint

Sorry Jason I don't understand your posting.
Are you saying that once you have got panels you are unable to change electricity suppliers - so they can charge you what ever they like?

What we do know is that if you wait around the FiT rate will go down, so "a shade greener" will be less keen to give you the panels?

noncom_2

Not wanting to stir up trouble, but is the resemblence between the username "SarahLucyD" and the new user "DavieSL" coincidental?

Cardew

Cade_Foster wrote: »

Its a shame Sarah From ASG is having all this hassle because of the actions of a few, it is also a shame people keep trying to do ASG down as well.

Totally agree that it has been an 'own goal' for people to object to Sarah posting - but that has been discussed enough.

However I don't think anyone has been trying 'do ASG down' in recent months - although there was clearly a lot of misunderstanding initially.

Most of the posts have been queries and/or misunderstandings on the concept and finer details of the scheme. Sarah and now it appears Lucy(DaviesL) have been in a position to answer those points.

Had they given any innaccurate or disingenous answers, there are enough knowledgeable people on this website to have taken issue with them; and that simply hasn't happened - nor has their been any attempt to promote their scheme.

Their answers on the ASG scheme - e.g. siting criteria and predicted output - have provided useful information for anyone considering funding and installing their own solar system.

noncom_2

Ignoring the somewhat unpleasant tone of the first line of DaviesL's post (slightly ironic in my opinion, given what you say about your dislike of forum users), I will simply clarify:

I was NOT trying to stir up trouble, and am glad to hear that Sarah from ASG wasn't trying to re-enter the forum under disguise.

Although I personally think it's ridiculous that she is banned, given the open and helpful advice she's offered to many people on the forum, I was concerned that if it transpired that she was trying to circumvent the ban in an underhand way it would only reflect badly on her company. I am glad to hear that this is not the case.

By the way, my name is Andy, which I sign my posts with fairly regularly, so I am not hiding behind anything. I hope your remarks about cyberbullying and rudeness were not addressed to me.

JasonUK_2

Just to clear up any confusion. I believe SarahL is actually Sarah Dyson from A Shade Greener. In a previous posting I noticed that she used her middle name of Lucy.

Having reviewed the testimonials on the Shade Greener site I felt they all looked a little suspicious. No Christian names given?

Jason

XRayDave

JasonUK wrote: »

The main problem appears to be the fact you sign up now for a rate at which you buy the energy back from the supplier and tariffs are due to change so much over the next year or so, which means you may still be buying at today's rate, next year, even if the energy prices go down.

It is suggested on the other forum that you should wait around 12 months to see how tariffs change.

Jason

I'm puzzled Jason by your post. You start off talking about Solar Power Systems and then about buying electricity from a supplier.

If you are referring to (and i don't think that you are) the FIT payments - they are index-linked I believe and currently at 41.3p / kWh for each unit of solar electricity generated PLUS an additional 3p / kWh for every unit of electricity exported to the grid.

As far as BUYING electricity from a suplier - such as BG/nPower/eon etc goes, their prices in the main have just altered and anyone signing up will be locked into a 12-month contract with a penalty of around £25-40 for each fuel should you switch energy suppliers before the end of your 12-month contract.

After the 12-month contract ends, most energy suppliers switch you onto their "Standard Rate", for example, the unit cost for electricity would go from 9p/kWh to around 12.5 - 14p/kWh

XRD