Free solar panel discussion

HomeSun_company_representative

slacky555 wrote: »

Can Krish please clarify if the buy out price is just the system price at reduced cost not the system price plus any remaining FIT's?

Hi slacky555,

I can confirm that the buyout price is the system price. The price will reduce over the years (Straight line depreciation). This is not the system price plus any remaining FIT's.

Krish

Mcfi5dhc

HomeSun_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Mcfi5dhc,
To be honest I am not sure of how much savings there would be as I have never come across a customer who has had meters changed therefore I cannot agree or disagree, but if you are stating from your own experience the difference between the meters was saving you £250/year then yes I must agree that is a massive difference.

We like to keep things simple therefore if a customer has any doubts about their meter supplied by the DNO’s our Solar Specialists will answer their queries at the time of the visit. I will speak to the relevant team and enlighten them of your comments about adding a section about the BSM part to our FAQ’s. Thank You.

Panels are required to be maintained to ensure their full functionality as such the £5/month is maintenance and service fee therefore this will not reduce the buyout price of the panels at anytime.

Krish

Hi

Sorry, I'm not getting it.

Example 1 - customer has backwards spinner (until forcibly changed to export/smart meter)
Saves £350 a year, pays £60 a year rental, total saved £290 (ish)

Example 2- customer has new meter (or export, or smart meter)
Saves £100 a year, pays £60 a year rental, total saved £40 (ish)

So, you'll have some customers on Example 1, and some on example 2, but everyone with be no. 2's by the end of say 2015 (when smart meters are rolled out everywhere), and then for the next 20 years.

That seems a lot of hassle for £40 saved a year.
If I have your figures wrong, please let me know.

Thanks

slacky555

HomeSun_company_representative wrote: »

Hi slacky555,

I can confirm that the buyout price is the system price. The price will reduce over the years (Straight line depreciation). This is not the system price plus any remaining FIT's.

Krish

When a buy out happens can you also confirm that there are no legal fees or your fees (paper work) that the buyer has to pay?

For example as you have registered the lease or other documents with the land registry this must have cost you when it was first set up so does this then cost again to get this removed? and who pays?

Also does your company offer support and guidence as how to claim/transfer the FIT's from yourselves to the buyer? and how/who would then give the readings as to what is being generated so that the correct FIT's are paid?

And as there may be maintenance and or replacment of the inverter needed once the system has been bought out do you still offer support/ a one point of call to come to and get the work needed done. or would this be something we would then need to go to eaga about or could we not contact either of you and need to find a third party to carry out work?

zeupater

HomeSun_company_representative wrote: »

Hi slacky555,

I can confirm that the buyout price is the system price. The price will reduce over the years (Straight line depreciation). This is not the system price plus any remaining FIT's.

Krish

Hi Krish

It seems that you have overlooked the request to provide detailed information on typical buy-out prices and depreciation calculation for potential customers to consider. Obviously this is a simple oversight, therefore could you please rectify by addressing the below referenced post ....

Thanks & regards
Z

zeupater wrote: »

Hi Krish

Seeing that the system you supply is likely quite standard from a materials point of view, the only possible differences in cost can really be installation issues and travelling distance from the installers' base ..... therefore, in order to help those who are considering the 'rent-a-roof' system you supply make an informed decision, can you provide a realistic price range for the buy-out option based on your most frequently installed system configuration, along with details of the calculation involved as your previous information doesn't exactly stack up with other information regarding the 25 year straight line depreciation. This must be quite a simple exercise to perform in order to provide transparrency to an interested potential customer (supplier ?) base.

Also, have you had any further information to support the buy-out VAT being 5% and not the standard prevailing rate (~20%), as previously requested ?. I think that there must be a definitive, supported and official answer to this as opposed to an assumption.

Regards

zeupater

Hi Krish

Re:

HomeSun_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Mcfi5dhc,
To ............ but if you are stating from your own experience the difference between the meters was saving you £250/year then yes I must agree that is a massive difference.

I think that the point made was that it wasn't saving £250/year, moving from a BSM to an export meter (/smart meter) was losing £250 of extra income ...

Re:

HomeSun_company_representative wrote: »

.... Panels are required to be maintained to ensure their full functionality as such the £5/month is maintenance and service fee .....

Can you please support this statement with a service schedule and maintenance check list for potential customer to see what service they would be paying for .... Is it not the case that this would be a service cost being levied on the customer (/supplier) for Homesun to maintain the efficiency of Homesun's own capital equipment ?

Thanks & regards
Z

slacky555

HomeSun_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Mcfi5dhc,

Panels are required to be maintained to ensure their full functionality as such the £5/month is maintenance and service fee therefore this will not reduce the buyout price of the panels at anytime.

Krish

I think by now we can safely say that this point is not being answered honestly and homesun are being very misleading, this charge is not for maintenance else it would also be charged to people having the free system which it isn't only people who are offered the solar share.

http://www.homesun.com/our-products-and-services/solarshare/

As per your own website at the very bottom headed benefits what a joke it states that on the solar share scheme it will be fully maintained FOC!

Now you are stating this is not free and the £5 is for maintenance.

Hetty17

A backward-spinning meter sounds great – as well as free electricity from the solar panels, you also benefit from “free” mains electricity because everything you export winds the meter back, thus reducing your bill. But sooner or later the electricity supplier will cotton on, and want you to pay up for the mains electricity you've used but not paid for. How easy will it be to reach agreement on what's owing?


I had solar panels (paid for) installed a couple of months ago, and enjoy watching my meter spin backwards. But the longer that lasts the more difficult it will be to establish a fair assessment of my new actual mains usage.


So I let them know, when I registered for the FIT payments, that I needed a new meter, and it'll be changed in January. They said that they'd look at the figures for a period after the new meter is installed, and use that to estimate what I owe for the backward-spinning months. It'll be interesting to see how well their guesstimate of my “free” units matches mine – and how hard I'll need to argue if they're unreasonable.


Has anyone else “owned up” to an old-style meter? Do the electricity suppliers play fair?


(This is not specific to the “free solar panels” thread topic, but it's where I found recent reference to backward-spinning meters.)

Mcfi5dhc

Hetty17 wrote: »

A backward-spinning meter sounds great – as well as free electricity from the solar panels, you also benefit from “free” mains electricity because everything you export winds the meter back, thus reducing your bill. But sooner or later the electricity supplier will cotton on, and want you to pay up for the mains electricity you've used but not paid for.

No they won't! Been there. Npower weren't bothered. I had a backwards spinner with the full knowledge of npower for a year, no hassle. Never had to pay back a penny.

Hetty17 wrote: »

I had solar panels (paid for) installed a couple of months ago, and enjoy watching my meter spin backwards. But the longer that lasts the more difficult it will be to establish a fair assessment of my new actual mains usage.


So I let them know, when I registered for the FIT payments, that I needed a new meter, and it'll be changed in January. They said that they'd look at the figures for a period after the new meter is installed, and use that to estimate what I owe for the backward-spinning months. It'll be interesting to see how well their guesstimate of my “free” units matches mine – and how hard I'll need to argue if they're unreasonable.


Has anyone else “owned up” to an old-style meter? Do the electricity suppliers play fair?


(This is not specific to the “free solar panels” thread topic, but it's where I found recent reference to backward-spinning meters.)

You may want to look into this a bit more. You don't have to have a new meter yet, and AFAIK, there is no legislation forcing you to pay the difference.

HomeSun_company_representative

slacky555 wrote: »

When a buy out happens can you also confirm that there are no legal fees or your fees (paper work) that the buyer has to pay?

For example as you have registered the lease or other documents with the land registry this must have cost you when it was first set up so does this then cost again to get this removed? and who pays?

Also does your company offer support and guidence as how to claim/transfer the FIT's from yourselves to the buyer? and how/who would then give the readings as to what is being generated so that the correct FIT's are paid?

And as there may be maintenance and or replacment of the inverter needed once the system has been bought out do you still offer support/ a one point of call to come to and get the work needed done. or would this be something we would then need to go to eaga about or could we not contact either of you and need to find a third party to carry out work?

Hi slacky555,

The buyout price, which would be stated in the contract, would be the only amount payable. There are no additional costs to include.

Claiming the FIT’s as well as documenting figures would be the buyer’s responsibility after a system has been bought out.

Once a system has been bought out and if any work is required whether it is under the manufacturer’s warranty or not the buyer can seek assistance from EAGA PLC directly. Please note that EAGA may charge additional costs such as labour.

Thanks

Krish

HomeSun_company_representative

slacky555 wrote: »

I think by now we can safely say that this point is not being answered honestly and homesun are being very misleading, this charge is not for maintenance else it would also be charged to people having the free system which it isn't only people who are offered the solar share.

http://www.homesun.com/our-products-and-services/solarshare/

As per your own website at the very bottom headed benefits what a joke it states that on the solar share scheme it will be fully maintained FOC!

Now you are stating this is not free and the £5 is for maintenance.

Hi slacky555,

First of all I would like to apologise that the news you have received from us has not been in your favour. (Email I sent you yesterday)

On the very top of that page you will see that it clears states £500 + £5 for “SolarCare”. SolarCare = Maintenance, This is about how it is described. SolarShare is £500 + £5 per month. For that you get the system and maintenance. Or you could describe it as £500 + £5 per month maintenance. The bottom line is the same.

On the other hand, I can clearly see why this appears to be a “joke” to you. I will get the word”free” removed as I honestly feel this was a genuine error. Thank you for pointing this out to me and I assure you that I am not here to mislead anyone. I may take time to respond to queries however this only means that I am seeking advice from my colleagues as I only but want to provide the correct and honest responses to everyone.

Sorry if this has caused any confusion.

zeupater -> I have requested the maintenance info from our service partners, and the other info from my colleague. As soon as I obtain this information, I will let you know. – Thanks.

Krish