Did you sign up for free solar panels? Feedback wanted

Spsipath

same here no replay.
they told me they were going to do a survay.

Spsipath

same here still waiting.

M4ximillion

easy12 wrote: »

I e-mailed the two companies that featured on your initial article with a view to applying for this offer. I received no reply to my first application and my second was answered many months later with a refusal but an offer for me to purchase. My house is a 3 bedroomed semi built in the 40's/50's is south facing with nothing shading and is in Sussex. If my roof area is too small then this offer can only apply to Mansions in my view. Totally disillusioned.

Ive got free solar from ASG and my house is a 3 bed semi ex council house and there are loads of them types with free solar up here. My roof is just a very basic rectangle shape, they prefer that shape so maybe its just the shape of your roof cause they do standard systems and dont customise.

stand17

Move to Yorkshire - we had no problem with A SHADE GREENER.

farmersboy

Company: A Shade Greener

Location: Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

Ease of fitting: Very easy. Came to install the scaffold a few days before the installation (no waiting in for them), took a few hours in install the panels (someone had to be present as the inverter is installed in the roof space) and scaffold taken away about a week later. They even repaired a couple of damaged roof tiles while they were there with a bit of flashing.

Electricity bill: Installed 5th June 2010 so I've almost a full year of readings. System generated approx 3000KWs. I will have used approx 1230kw. Average usage prior to panel installation was 2260kw, therefore savings of around 46%.

Length of time to wait: A couple months.

Tips:
1. Get two energy monitors: Connect one to solar panel meter, this will tell you what is being generated at any given time. Connect other to normal meter, this will tell you what you are using plus generated. A bit of basic maths is needed, but as long as your not using more than double that is being generated it's free electric. The monitors aren't sophisticated enough to work out two seperate readings. Word of warning: the energy monitors are not very accurate and over a period of time can be 20% out. It tells me the solar panels are generating a nominal amount, even when I know they are not.
2. A new battery is being developed (in Germany of course) which will be suitable of domestic installations which will allow you to store energy generated during the day to be used when the panels are not generating (e.g. at night) but last the lifetime of the panel installation. It is due on the market this summer, but probably a few years yet before it reaches the UK and more affordable price. Worth keeping a look out in the future.

Technical glitches: None, but I did have a phone call from an engineer when their system showed it wasn't generating anything to check it out. It was easy to explain - several days of very thick fog locally! Reassuring though that they keep an eye on it.

Things to watch out for: None with a Shade Greener, they are very transparent and open. I have noticed some other companies have started to charge for survey fees. I would say if you can afford to do it and you indend to stay in your house for a while it is worth purchasing your own panels and benefitting from the Feed in Tariff, payback would be 12 to 15 years. I've wasn't in a position to do this so the free panels suited me.

Please: This is Feedback for MSE only - no comments on this post.

crazycaro

I read about this in MSE and thought I would give it a try. I used the company Shade Greener which is local to me. it is quite a small company but appears to be growing rapidly.

Everyone from the company has been pleasant and nothing has been too much trouble. The panels were fitted just before Christmas and I have recently had my first electricity reading. I appear to have used about a quarter to a third less electricity than last year, so this seems to be good for me. However we have also put in place other saving devices such as stand by savers. We were told that you need about a year to really tell how much you are saving.

The company has little tolerance re the position of your house and will only fit were there is nothing blocking the sun. (we had to cut our hedge and have to keep it down, though thankfully this not too low since we back onto a local playing field).

The only negative I think is the 25year contract, after which the panels become yours, but since by this time i will be in my eighties, i don't think i will worry about it too much

All I can say is so far so good:j

choccoholic_2

I had a chap appear on the doorstep (in spite of my 'no cold callers' sign...) who said we'd qualify for free panels no problem. We get full sun on the roof from 10am until it sets, there are no tall trees around and the roof area is huge. We also live on the south coast so benefit from long daylight hours. In spite of this we were told that our roof 'wasn't suitable' for free solar panels - but we were welcome to buy them!

I've since tried several other companies who have all said the same thing. I've declined their offers. Whats most annoying is that a neighbours house - without as much sun and with a much smaller roof - has free panels!

Make of that what you will, but I'm decidedly unimpressed

Old_Folkie

I contacted a company (PV Solar UK). I went to great lengths to ensure that they were aware I was interested only in the FREE panel option. I was contacted a couple of days later by a booking agent who arranged a visit on the date of the Royal Wedding, (had not been invited so the date was acceptable). The paperwork that was sent through implied that I would be making a "large financial investment" despite my clear efforts to explain the contrary. The day before the booked visit, another phone call to re-arrange the date for the following Friday, again accepted. Since that phone call, absolutely no contact. The house appears in all repects acceptable, South facing, roof big enough, absolutely not overlooked or shaded. This is in the South West, on top of a hill. (IF) they get back in contact, I am very tempted to simply turn them down and look elsewhere.

kelandwato

I applied to one but can't remember who it was but apparently my roof was in the wrong place even tho I'm south facing can someone enlighten me what are the requirements and whose best to go to

Thanks

esanderson001

Yes, we had solar panels fitted by a shade greener last week.

A bit of a long lead time to get them fitted but the actual install went really smoothly and they look really smart.

There's a online function too so you can see what they're generating, but to get up to date info, recommend you use an energy meter plugged onto the solar panel input to your electric junction box so know when to turn on dishwasher etc to get max benefit.

Reckon we'll save about £120 a year on electric (and also use more than we would normal by using fan heaters etc on cold but bright wintry days, rather than turning the thermostat up an extra degree).