Free solar panel discussion

Riceicle

Have had my lease checked out before signing and it is all in favour of the "Supplier" of the solar panels who will make an awful lot of money from this. You are responsible for everything including keeping them working, cleaning, and any damage caused to your property.
What happens if you sell your property and the new buyer isn't interested and wants to install their own so they can make money from the excess electricity? You will be charged for the removal and if any damage is caused to your property/roof it is your responsibility and you will also be charged for the balance of years left on the lease!!

Has the Government body thought this through and checked out the lease for the taxpaying public, again I don't think so. Why aren't they looking after us on this one?????

Is it worth it for approx £100 a year? I don't think so and will not be signing up.



Be aware!!!!

Gizmosmum_2

RRatchet wrote: »

Hi,

Just wondering if any one know if the pv panels have to be installed on a domestic roof. Our house roof is unsuitable; what little space is taken up by solar hot water panels; which work very well. However we have acres (well almost) of garden space and extensive steading roofs that are very suitable.

Thanks

Free solar panels - I doubt it the extra cost of ground mount and planning permission would make it less attractive to rent a roof companies. If you're buying then yes, no problem but it will take a bit longer because you need planning permission.

HTH

furndire

Riceicle wrote: »

Have had my lease checked out before signing and it is all in favour of the "Supplier" of the solar panels who will make an awful lot of money from this. You are responsible for everything including keeping them working, cleaning, and any damage caused to your property.
What happens if you sell your property and the new buyer isn't interested and wants to install their own so they can make money from the excess electricity? You will be charged for the removal and if any damage is caused to your property/roof it is your responsibility and you will also be charged for the balance of years left on the lease!!

Has the Government body thought this through and checked out the lease for the taxpaying public, again I don't think so. Why aren't they looking after us on this one?????

Is it worth it for approx £100 a year? I don't think so and will not be signing up.



Be aware!!!!

Name & shame the company - to let people know which ones to avoid like the plague. Not all of them are as bad as this.

Raymek

It may not be everyone's experience but my friend had a system installed about a year ago. He thought he needed two panels but they said he only needed one. 1st problem was, he did not have enough hot water. 2nd problem, the system froze last winter and now the company are refusing to repair it saying its not their fault the weather was colder than expected! Now they are demanding a huge sum for labour and a replacement panel, which he has to pay for. The company were wholly responsible for installation and maintenance, but has resulted in my friend having to use the emersion heater for hot water! Having consulted a solicitor, it will cost him more to take the company to court and then they will probably go bankrupt and he will still be without an adequate system and all the costs.
So....my advice is, be very careful who you use and get insurance and cast iron guarantees if you can.

zeupater

Raymek wrote: »

It may not be everyone's experience but my friend had a system installed about a year ago. He thought he needed two panels but they said he only needed one. 1st problem was, he did not have enough hot water. 2nd problem, the system froze last winter and now the company are refusing to repair it saying its not their fault the weather was colder than expected! Now they are demanding a huge sum for labour and a replacement panel, which he has to pay for. The company were wholly responsible for installation and maintenance, but has resulted in my friend having to use the emersion heater for hot water! Having consulted a solicitor, it will cost him more to take the company to court and then they will probably go bankrupt and he will still be without an adequate system and all the costs.
So....my advice is, be very careful who you use and get insurance and cast iron guarantees if you can.

Hi

Solar thermal is not exactly related to free pv, but looking at the issue all that is required is for your friend to request that the installer provides details of the glycol concentration which they chose to use in the system in order to protect it from frost damage along with detailed temperature records for the installation location at the time that the damage happened .... 40% seems to be pretty standard for most UK conditions and that should protect to -20C with higher concentrations being the norm in areas which are more prone to extremes ..... the installer should know this ..........

HTH
Z

malcolm59_2

Great article and feedback but one very important ommission.
If your house is mortgaged, then the mortgage companies such as Northern Rock will NOT permit you to install the 'Free' panels because they do not want liability for lost income if the home owner defaults on the mortgage.

M4ximillion

malcolm59 wrote: »

Great article and feedback but one very important ommission.
If your house is mortgaged, then the mortgage companies such as Northern Rock will NOT permit you to install the 'Free' panels because they do not want liability for lost income if the home owner defaults on the mortgage.

Depends which free solar company you go with. With Shade Greener theyve got all the mortgage companies backing to their lease and my mortgage company (Natwest) gave them consent and my neighbour has just had a remortgage with her mortgage company (Halifax) without any probs. I guess it depends on what the lease says but theyre ok with ASG

zeupater

M4ximillion wrote: »

Depends which free solar company you go with. With Shade Greener theyve got all the mortgage companies backing to their lease and my mortgage company (Natwest) gave them consent and my neighbour has just had a remortgage with her mortgage company (Halifax) without any probs. I guess it depends on what the lease says but theyre ok with ASG

Hi

Might be a little steep to claim 'all', maybe 'most', 'many' or 'some' would be appropriate ...... The CML claims 108 lending member organisations & 81 associate members ....
http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/membership/directory

... it's probably unlikely that all of the lenders have been approached and if this is the case there is a possibility that there will be issues for someone in the future .....

HTH
Z

semb

Had solar panels fitted in April, working well thanks to the recent sunny weather!!
Only problem is the electricity meter, as soon as panels were online my meter readings went up strangely, apparently its recording the electricity I'm feeding back to the grid as well as what I'm using!
Not sure how common this is but it may be worth checking if thinking about fitting solar panels to avoid this problem.

By the way its a Siemens meter and my energy company are going to fit a new one.

M4ximillion

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

Might be a little steep to claim 'all', maybe 'most', 'many' or 'some' would be appropriate ...... The CML claims 108 lending member organisations & 81 associate members ....
http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/membership/directory

... it's probably unlikely that all of the lenders have been approached and if this is the case there is a possibility that there will be issues for someone in the future .....

HTH
Z

Im sure youre right, there are probably some small ones they havent got the consent of but i wonder if youd have been so quick to correct Malcom59 if he'd said that ALL the mortgage companies would NOT give their consent. But then again, I'm a free solar fan, not 'anti' so I get different treatment on this particular thread.