ECOVISION are offering free solar panels - is there a catch I ought to know about?

m33r4

A radio advert last week was inviting people who wanted free solar panels to get in touch with ECOVISION. I sought them online and applied for this too-good-to-be-true offer. With the previous free cavity wall insulation and loft insulation offers, that were genuine, I am presuming this is too?

After I answered a quick few questions over the phone earlier (ie is it a detached house + are there any trees overshadowing the roof + have I got any windows on the roof + is the roof tiled or smooth + do I have a mortgage on the house + do I have buildings insurance and if so for how much and who with), the ECOVISION rep has booked me in a for a survey. However, she said due to an overwhelming amount of interest, they had no booking dates for this survey yet but she has me on a waiting list.

I asked her what this all entailed and she said:

1. All equipment and fitting is free.
2. During daylight hours all electricity generated by the panel is used in my home and any unused electricity is sent to the national grid.
3. No electricity is stored so any electricity needed in the house during darkness will be from my usual electricity supplier.

Any thoughts/feelings/experience about this please?

zeupater

m33r4 wrote: »

A radio advert last week was inviting people who wanted free solar panels to get in touch with ECOVISION. I sought them online and applied for this too-good-to-be-true offer. With the previous free cavity wall insulation and loft insulation offers, that were genuine, I am presuming this is too?

After I answered a quick few questions over the phone earlier (ie is it a detached house + are there any trees overshadowing the roof + have I got any windows on the roof + is the roof tiled or smooth + do I have a mortgage on the house + do I have buildings insurance and if so for how much and who with), the ECOVISION rep has booked me in a for a survey. However, she said due to an overwhelming amount of interest, they had no booking dates for this survey yet but she has me on a waiting list.

I asked her what this all entailed and she said:

1. All equipment and fitting is free.
2. During daylight hours all electricity generated by the panel is used in my home and any unused electricity is sent to the national grid.
3. No electricity is stored so any electricity needed in the house during darkness will be from my usual electricity supplier.

Any thoughts/feelings/experience about this please?

Hi

Make yourself a pot of tea and work your way through the following .....

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2072787
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2637431
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3282368
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3322744
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3325628
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3184368

You'll get a general idea ...

HTH
Z

jhp

Also see http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/free-solar-panels#free

dotwebb

also heard the radio ad applied online 1st told that we qualified.Then had e-mail saying that due to an expert viewing our property by satellite that we did not.Gave list of things one of which was that there was a chimney on the roof!!!.It is too good to be true as they state that you must not have any vents or windows present as well as other factors that are taken into account.Bet if we offered to pay they would install.

grahamc2003

m33r4 wrote: »

A radio advert last week was inviting people who wanted free solar panels to get in touch with ECOVISION. I sought them online and applied for this too-good-to-be-true offer. With the previous free cavity wall insulation and loft insulation offers, that were genuine, I am presuming this is too?

After I answered a quick few questions over the phone earlier (ie is it a detached house + are there any trees overshadowing the roof + have I got any windows on the roof + is the roof tiled or smooth + do I have a mortgage on the house + do I have buildings insurance and if so for how much and who with), the ECOVISION rep has booked me in a for a survey. However, she said due to an overwhelming amount of interest, they had no booking dates for this survey yet but she has me on a waiting list.

I asked her what this all entailed and she said:

1. All equipment and fitting is free.
2. During daylight hours all electricity generated by the panel is used in my home and any unused electricity is sent to the national grid.
3. No electricity is stored so any electricity needed in the house during darkness will be from my usual electricity supplier.

Any thoughts/feelings/experience about this please?

All above board. The only 'catch' is that all our bills are loaded to pay the subsidy to Ecovision which enables these schemes. You are likely to save an index linked £70pa, ECOVISION is likely to get around an index linked £1350pa, and our bills will soon be loaded by £1000pa (according to some estimates, by 2020 I think) to pay for these and other similar 'green' schemes.

So while these types of scheme are expanding, don't expect any change to the regular 30/35% pa increase in our energy bills to pay for them.

lestat1966

just had servey done by ecovision energy for free solar panels and despite the engineer saying that he thought that we would qualify, I gat a reject e mail less than two days later.says you can call to find out why you are rejected or to find out what other solutions the company can provide for your needs, in other words we wont fit for free as you dont match the requirements for it to work but will happily sell you something that will work !!!!!
I cant find anyone who has actually had panels fitted from this company

nibaru

Dotwebb
The panels have to be fitted to MCS standards in order to receive the Tariffs. These standards are put in place in order to ensure that the system is fitted to suitable standards. There has to be a minimum of 300mm clearance top and bottom. If there is not sufficient clearance at the bottom, rainwater can miss the gutter and will be drawn onto the wall below causing damp problems on that wall. Vents can most probably be relocated. Soil vent pipes can be cut of and a valve fitted inside the loft, this is then covered with a tile. Then you can forget about any maintenance or leak problems associated with the flashing that is no longer there. It would be illegal to fit solar PV below any window! They are considered as potential fire escapes. If you were in that room in the case of a fire and the only way out was through the window, you would be out of the window! Any reputable company would never potentially put peoples lives at risk?! So I suspect they would not install if you paid for the system. Likewise, any home-owner would not want to take that risk with the lives of their family? (Free system or otherwise)
Chimneys are an issue only in regard to there has to be 200mm clearance round any obstacle on the roof, for maintenance. Consideration has to be taken regarding access to chimneys for such. All this cuts down on the available roof-space that can be used for solar PV. These "Free" systems, have to be paid for. Whoever is paying for them is laying out a considerable sum. They see no return on investment for between 8-12 years. All this time they are also paying for monitoring, maintenance and insurance on the system and your roof.
However, it does appear that you could have had an explanation that was a little more thorough with appropriate reasons.

nibaru

If the chimney is not used, it may be worth considering the cost of removal against potential savings over 25 years?

zeupater

nibaru wrote: »

Dotwebb
The panels have to be fitted to MCS standards in order to receive the Tariffs. These standards are put in place in order to ensure that the system is fitted to suitable standards. There has to be a minimum of 300mm clearance top and bottom. If there is not sufficient clearance at the bottom, rainwater can miss the gutter and will be drawn onto the wall below causing damp problems on that wall. Vents can most probably be relocated. Soil vent pipes can be cut of and a valve fitted inside the loft, this is then covered with a tile. Then you can forget about any maintenance or leak problems associated with the flashing that is no longer there. It would be illegal to fit solar PV below any window! They are considered as potential fire escapes. If you were in that room in the case of a fire and the only way out was through the window, you would be out of the window! Any reputable company would never potentially put peoples lives at risk?! So I suspect they would not install if you paid for the system. Likewise, any home-owner would not want to take that risk with the lives of their family? (Free system or otherwise)
Chimneys are an issue only in regard to there has to be 200mm clearance round any obstacle on the roof, for maintenance. Consideration has to be taken regarding access to chimneys for such. All this cuts down on the available roof-space that can be used for solar PV. These "Free" systems, have to be paid for. Whoever is paying for them is laying out a considerable sum. They see no return on investment for between 8-12 years. All this time they are also paying for monitoring, maintenance and insurance on the system and your roof.
However, it does appear that you could have had an explanation that was a little more thorough with appropriate reasons.

Hi

Addressing the above in order ....

300mm ... Isn't it the case that this is to prevent vertically deflected air from inducing negative loads on the roof and lifting the panels (or the roof !) in high winds ....

Windows ... Quite odd, that doesn't seem to apply to conservatories. Also, I've seen plenty of pictures of installations with panels on canopy roofs ... I wonder if/how the arrays were signed off ? ... perhaps the relevant installers need to have both their ability to self certify & sign-off to buildings regs and their MCS accreditation withdrawn if found to be illegal ....

Chimney ... It's far more likely that this will be related to shade. The rent-a-roof scheme operators have the ability to pick-and-choose their installations in order to maximise their return on investment, whilst homeowners who would purchase a system have only one roof and will therefore accept a degree of loss of generation.

8-12 years .... If anyone reading this thread has the opportunity to install a single system and achieve this rate of return, surely the rent-a-roof operators would be able to leverage purchasing economies of scale and lack of installer margins to achieve a better return on investment ?

HTH
Z

Angie98

Hi

We have been accepted for receiving solar panels by Ecovision and have received in the post a pack from their solicitors which includes a lease agreement and form of authority which is needed to be signed by your mortgage company, reading through the lease agreement it's not exactly clear as with all legal documents, it does state in the main letter that if we have any legal queries they recommend you seek legal advice! Not sure if to carry on with this as it's not clear if we sell the house what happens and also as it's not written in clear english feel that we may get caught out somewhere? It does explain that the energy does not get stored so us as the Landlord can only benefit from the energy during the day!

zeupater

Angie98 wrote: »

Hi

We have been accepted for receiving solar panels by Ecovision and have received in the post a pack from their solicitors which includes a lease agreement and form of authority which is needed to be signed by your mortgage company, reading through the lease agreement it's not exactly clear as with all legal documents, it does state in the main letter that if we have any legal queries they recommend you seek legal advice! Not sure if to carry on with this as it's not clear if we sell the house what happens and also as it's not written in clear english feel that we may get caught out somewhere? It does explain that the energy does not get stored so us as the Landlord can only benefit from the energy during the day!

Hi

Check the cupboard for teabags and refer to post #2 ....

HTH
Z