Did you sign up for free solar panels? Feedback wanted

grahamc2003

espresso wrote: »

Can you please show your calculations regarding your panels generating a benefit of £336 in 2.5 months please? Surely even if you had actually used every kWh produced, it was not worth £151 of energy savings or am I missing something obvious?

I don't think you're missing anything, and I think djm has made a mistake (or two).

£185 in fit payments equates to about 411kwh generation, and even if he used the lot (more or less impossible) and is paying a high cost for his electricity (say 14p/kwh for tier two), then that works out at a £57 saving.

Using more realistic numbers (50% usage, 10p/kwh) the electricity savings of 411kwh of generation would be about £20.

mikeashbee

I feel concern as grahamc2003 does about effect on the value of my house. Many down our street have loft conversions, and I suspect that a prospective buyer may want to do the same. Perhaps a MSE fan who is an estate agent has views on the effect such an installation would have on value and sale potential of a house, where a possible 5th bedroom and en-suite are feasible?

M4ximillion

I thought this thread was about FEEDBACK from people who have free solar panels but i see all the usual suspects are on here too going on about the free schemes and will start intimidating folk who signed up for the free solar just because they dont agree with it - why dont you go and argue amongst yourselves on the other free solar discussion thread that you are running?

In proper response to the questions on this thread my feedback is as follows:

Which free solar panel company did you use? A Shade Greener
Whereabouts are you? Norht Notts
How smooth was the panel-fitting process? Excellent, took half a day - amazingly thorough and really nice guys. V knowledgeable
How much did you save on your electricity bill? I had them installed in February and my consumption is down by about 40% from same period last year and my panels have produced 925kw hours up to now. I compared it with what they predicted theyd achieve (ASG let me have a breakdown) and Ive worked out that if they keep on like that theyll give me about 3000kw hours in the year. Im delighted!!!!
How long did you have to wait for the panels? A couple of months from application
What are your tips to ensure you get the most out of the free panels? Make sure you use things like washer, tumble drier, dishwasher on timers so that it comes on during day. I stagger mine and get them starting at around 11.30.
Were there any technical glitches? No, it was excellent
What should other MoneySavers watch out for when signing up? Make sure that you go with a company that is REALLY free. I hear that some free solar companies charge for stuff like surveys and scaffold.


If I could have afforded my own panels I would have paid for htem and got the FIT myself, but I couldnt afford it because i have no equity in my home, am mortgaged up to the hilt so couldn't get an extension of my mortgage so the free scheme means that at least i can save money by having the free leccy and if I go on like this ive calculated that I will be saving about £260 a year based on what Im paying for my leccy now (will be going up from what they are saying in papers). Its a no brainer in my view.

sombuild

If you are offered free PV I strongly suggest you show the contract to your solicitor before signing check the following:
1-What happens if you want to move house will the buyer want to take over your contract?
2-Who pays for the PV removal if you need to repair the roof.
3-If you are out at work in the day time you do no get use the power generated and the feed in tariff goes to the PV panel supplier therefore you receive no benefit.
4-Ask who maintains the equipment the inverters for example will fail before the lease expires.
5-Who insurers the PV panels
6-there no such thing as a free lunch.

M4ximillion

mikeashbee wrote: »

I feel concern as grahamc2003 does about effect on the value of my house. Many down our street have loft conversions, and I suspect that a prospective buyer may want to do the same. Perhaps a MSE fan who is an estate agent has views on the effect such an installation would have on value and sale potential of a house, where a possible 5th bedroom and en-suite are feasible?

Why do you think that they couldnt have a loft conversion? One of ASGs homeowners have had one already ASG removed the panels and put them back after the conversion - its on their facebook page. So many myths going around about free solar. Bout time they got squashed!

iscamaid

We had free solar panels fitted earlier this year with Homesun. The fitters were inexperienced and when the scaffolding company arrived (contracted in and not part of Homesun) they had to let us know we had several gaping holes in the roof and broken tiles strewn over the scaffolding planks.

The PV panels had long white scratches from the fitters and over 24 tiles had been bodged with white putty by the fitters to try and put them back together!. It was raining when we found out and had been all day, so you can imagine how upset I was to find out there were holes in the roof and the fitters had sloped off without a word and left us in such a mess.

The supervisor for Eaga, the company that fits for Homesun, was good and came the same day. However he said he would put his most experienced fitter onto it. What they forgot to do was lift the panels and look under. I called them back the next day and lo and behold the solar panels had been fitted over broken tiles.

We thought the nightmare was over until we went into the loft 2 days later and found there was over 20 tears in the roofing felt, up to 50cm long. We called Eaga back and they had to again lift the panels to put in new felt. The roofer left without checking the loft and when we next went up we found the new felt was fine but by removing the torn felt the roofer had dislodged the old felt and this was hanging down in places. All in all we had nearly 100 tiles broken or cracked which had to be replaced. Eaga was pretty good and came back promptly to replace.Needless to say Homesun did not ring to check progress, we had to do all the chasing.

The Customer Service Section never apologised properly and we had a marketing call from Homesun last week asking if we could have a large advertising board in our garden!!!!!!

ok rant over, back to original questions:

Which free solar panel company did you use? HOMESUN

Whereabouts are you? SOUTH WEST

How smooth was the panel-fitting process? SEE RANT

How much did you save on your electricity bill? IN USE FOR 4 MONTHS SO FAR, DAILY GENERATION 20 KWH IN FULL SUN 4 -5 KWH IN CLOUD, USAGE 7-8 KWH, SAVING APPROX 4-5 KWH.

How long did you have to wait for the panels? 2 MONTHS

What are your tips to ensure you get the most out of the free panels? WE NOW USE THE DISHWASHER AND WASHING MACHINE IN THE DAY AND STAGGER OUR USAGE OF HIGH CONSUMPTION ITEMS THROUGH THE DAY IF WE ARE HOME.

Were there any technical glitches? WE HAVE HAD HOMESUN BACK 3 TIMES TO ADJUST THE MODEM AS IT WAS NOT PICKING UP A SIGNAL

What should other MoneySavers watch out for when signing up? BE PREPARED TO HAVE SCAFFOLDING UP FOR 6 WEEKS AND A CONSTANT STREAM OF WORKMEN THROUGH YOUR HOUSE!

debraladiva

Signed up, but though I have the perfect south facing roof it is a triangle shape and does not have 23sq foot. The solar panels are not custom designed so 1 size is all they have. I'll unfortunatley have to wait until more specs are available

purplerock99

We tried to sign up but, despite having the perfect south-west facing roof, we were disqualified from the offer because we live on a boat. As is so often the case, only bricks and mortar qualify for these offers. Mobile homes, static houseboats etc are considered "temporary" homes and therefore not eligible. We've been living on our boat in the same place for 7 years, how much more permanent could we be???

Judith_Proctor

I got my free panels from Home Sun. We live in Dorset. Our roof isn't large enough to take 16 panels (which means you pay nothing at all), so we have 13 panels and pay Home Sun £5 per month.

The installation was hassle free and the workmen came exactly when they said they would. Total damage - one plant trodden on and one cracked flagstone on the lawn (took the weight of part of the scaffolding). Not enough to cause me any concern. They were careful to avoid any damage to my raspberries and primroses, which grow right underneath where the scaffolding was.

No mess afterwards.

Too soon to evaluate savings as we've only had the panels for a month. I'm trying to do my laundry when the sun is shining in order to get maximum benefit. We get around 1.9kW at peak sunny times and a lot less when it's cloudy.

I'll get a better feel when I've seen a few electricity bills, but I expect to recover my £5 per month in reduced costs.

Judith

jonjono

I did manage to persuade my parents to look into this (I would too but I don't own this property). However, it seems that they decided not to go for it as they are considering moving in a few years and received information that it could affect whether banks are willing to give a mortgage to people trying to buy the house. I havnt looked into it properly myself so im not sure how well informed they are, just wondering if anyone else has encountered this problem?