Discuss the free solar panel company: A Shade Greener

Terrylw1

There is just one problem with applying standard t&c's on estimation against microgen. Estimated consumption is billed into the supplier where the supplier is applying estimates. So, it can be reasonable but since they will eventually take a reading, any over or underestimation to the customer and to the supplier, will be brought back inline.

In microgen, that doesn't happen since the energy is not being accounted for in the same way. This makes supplier estimation routines even worse than they are for standard billed meters since they have very little to go on.

It end up in a similar dispute as a stopped meter, faulty time switch, slow meter, etc. No proof, all down to reasonable endeavours and agreement with the customer. The only saving grace being they can try and monitor it and via the backstop.

The BSC overrides supplier contract terms. This is why I think this whole situation is backwards, it shouldn't be a matter of finding a backstop is required, that should in someway be reported as the situation is created.

amberdog

We have had solar panels fitted by this company. Everything from start to finish was covered and any questions answered.
We live in the Nottinghamshire area and the panel fitting,(plus the strengthening of the loft) was all done seamlessly.
The only thing I can honestly say about the electricity bill is that it is the same as last year if maybe a few pounds less but not by much.
The panels were installed within four weeks of the initial enquiry
The only tips I have are to get a metre from electricity board and watch what items take the most electricity and use wisely.
The only problem we have had and this is not the fault of a shade greener is that when trying to get a remortgage the building society said that they have a 25 year charge on our property. The solicitor from A Shade greener has contacted them and put an addendum in our agreement but this does not seem to have helped at the moment but this is the one thing that did not cross my mind when signing the agreement with them. As I said this is not a Shade greeners fault but something to bear in mind if thinking of remortgaging

sanyuexue_123

amberdog wrote: »

We have had solar panels fitted by this company. Everything from start to finish was covered and any questions answered.
We live in the Nottinghamshire area and the panel fitting,(plus the strengthening of the loft) was all done seamlessly.
The only thing I can honestly say about the electricity bill is that it is the same as last year if maybe a few pounds less but not by much.
The panels were installed within four weeks of the initial enquiry
The only tips I have are to get a metre from electricity board and watch what items take the most electricity and use wisely.
The only problem we have had and this is not the fault of a shade greener is that when trying to get a remortgage the building society said that they have a 25 year charge on our property. The solicitor from A Shade greener has contacted them and put an addendum in our agreement but this does not seem to have helped at the moment but this is the one thing that did not cross my mind when signing the agreement with them. As I said this is not a Shade greeners fault but something to bear in mind if thinking of remortgaging

A shade greeners just put our on .I saw u post Im very worry now .my mortgage will due in 4years time ，if I can't remortgage what should I do ? Are you solve your remorgage now?

sanyuexue_123

Hi all
does any one remortgage have trouble？

sky8888

Hi All
Does any one fit free solar panels has issue for remortgage ？I recently signed A shade greeners free solar panels and just put on 3days a go then I realized that remortgage is a problem，if anybody has any Idea I would be very grateful.

hope6804

I have recently got an appointment for a survey and have this morning spoken to my mortage provider who said that they would need to see a copy of the contract (which would take at most 7 days to make a decision) and then said to check with my insurance company so I have just sent them an email.

paulmapp8306

Whether SPs are worth it is very dependant on your lifestyle.

How the "free" pannels work, is that any energy you use that comes DIRECTLY from your pannels is effectively free to you. Any electricity NOT used directly from the pannels you pay for as normal. Any electricity you generate but dont use gets fed back into the grid, for which a feed in tarrif and a unit tarrif is paid - this money goes to the company supplying the pannels. Thats where they make their money.

So - a few issues.

1. Feed in tarrifs are being reduced (the power companuies didnt like it - and lobbied the government who put the tarrifs in place). Consequently relying on the FITs alone is no longer cost effective (used to take around 7 years to pay for the pannels meaning a long term proffit for the owners - its now nearer 22 years so the owners are more pickly where they go, and in all likelyhood the scheme wont be around much longer).

2. Energy used during daylight hours - and mostly during the height of the day - is free energy. Any energy generated in this time NOT used does not benefit the home owner - but the pannel owner as its fed back into the grid. Energy used in the evening or at night (basically when there is low or no light) is charged for as normal by the power companies. You cant off-set the energy generated in the day against that used at night (you can if you own the pannels though) - which is why the backwards meeter is measuring wrong. It also means if theres no-one around in the day (at work) and most of your useage is evening/night time then you get very little benefit from the pannels. If your at home and using power during the day (working from home, mum with kids at home etc) then its much more worth it.


Whats basically happening is the company is renting the roof of the property (they dont own it - there should be no charge onthe house. As with all rentals, the owner of the asset can actually change), for which they pay you in energy that you use directly from the pannels. So - the question. How much would you lease your roof for? and is the cost of the electricity you take directly from the pannels enough. In reality your being paid, perhaps 50p to £1 per day for renting out your roof space (dependant on you lifestyle/energy useage pattern, location, and unit cost of electricity - standing charges still apply) on a 25 year contract.

zeupater

paulmapp8306 wrote: »

Whether SPs are worth it is very dependant on your lifestyle. ....

Hi

The above has been the subject of much discussion on these boards .....

Regarding the FiT reduction, there was always a plan to reduce the tariff in line with market growth and reducing capital prices. The power companies are really compensated for operating the schemes, the only ones to complain about FiT reductions seemed to be the installers and the RaR scheme operators .... installers because their margins were increasing due to falling panel prices but prices were being maintained by setting system prices relative to the return to the customer, and the RaR because they were starting to massively exceed the margins contained in their business plans and would have liked very much to maximise the period when this was possible ...

Regarding the payback relative to FiTs, you'll probably find that your assumption on the increased timescale is incorrect. Early adopters would be paying around three times current price for an installation and would receive around three times the current tariff, therefore the payback period hasn't really moved at all ....

HTH
Z

simonhornby

My supplier SSE is about to raise prices by about 9%. By installing the panels A Shade Greener report (based on historical data) that I am likely to save 37% (could be over 50% if I plan elec useage carefully).

So the amount of leccy used drops and despite the price increase I still save. The savings start NOW not in a year or two.

Now if you consider the "buy now" or "wait" arguament above - I do not have the cash readily available to buy the panels so I would have to either borrow from a bank or extend my mortgage ie pay bucket loads of interest on the cost of the panels and installation, further reducing the saving - possibly even wiping it out completely.

Alternatively if you are in a position to buy your own system and wait for the techonolgy to develop/price drop, you incur the opportunity cost of not having the FIT income and the Net Present Value of your cash in the bank will be reduced by inflation.

Plus you have the addditional cost of maintenance - ASG anticipate the need for 3 inverters to be installed over the 25 year lease. Buy your own system and you have to take the hit when it comes to replacing the knackered components.

The analogy with other electrical consumer goods doesn't really hold water as PV panels are not new technology by any means. They will not go the way of the squariel, betamax, or nylon bed sheets!!

The technology, no doubt, will become more efficient in time but even now its good enough to be very practical.

The main reason the PV panels are cheaper now is because our Chinese and Korean chums are now mass producing them.

And on top of that are the green issues - I like the idea of taking energy direct from the sun and using it immediately - 8 minutes ago the energy was leaving the sun and now it's powering my toaster!! How cool is that!! (and the only CO2 given off is from burnt toast!!).

For me, on balance, I am happy for an honourable company like A Shade Greener to be in business, creating jobs and providing me with reduced electrity bills - now if only they could come up with scheme for cheap gas as well.

zeupater

simonhornby wrote: »

My supplier SSE is about to raise prices by about 9%. By installing the panels A Shade Greener report (based on historical data) that I am likely to save 37% (could be over 50% if I plan elec useage carefully) ....

Hi Simon

Welcome to the forum ...

Regarding the above, how much electricity do you currently use per year ?? ..... ASG can commission and publish as many reports as they wish, but what you yourself will save will depend on your own particular energy profile, both before and after installing pv ....

If you have a typical RaR system installed (3.3kWp) on a decent aspect roof then it is most likely that the saving will be a little over £100 if you are a standard user and plan your electricity usage carefully ... if you have a high usage profile or you intend to spend a considerable amount on automated energy switching technology devices (or even build them yourself if you're competent) you could use considerably more ...

My advice ... be wary of marketing claims without taking time to understand the reason for the specific wording of the claims and then attempting to validate whether the claim will apply in your own situation ....

Many have posted on the pros and cons of RaR schemes on this and various other forums ... so as it seems that you've made your decision already, it's probably too late to suggest that you make a nice pot of tea and spend the rest of the evening reading the threads ....

A note to all .... truth fears no questions ....

HTH
Z

ps .... 8 minutes before you posted the sun wasn't providing enough power for my pv system to power a digital watch, let alone a toaster .... :D