Freesolarscheme.com?

larkim

Got an advertising postcard through the door yesterday from freesolarscheme.com which claims that it is installing systems free AND the homeowner gets the FIT!

Naturally I don't believe a word of it, but their postcard couldn't be clearer.

Anyone come across this outfit, and know how they manage to deliver on their promises and make money at the same time?

Matt

larkim

Blurry photos of the flyer below.

Photo of the flyer front

Photo of the flyer reverse

ctdctd

If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is a scam!

No address or contact info on the web site - I tried a false email address and the next page asks you to enter your contact details.

freesolarscheme.com was created on 11/10/11 and its registration details are hidden - not a good sign

http://www.whois.net/whois/freesolarscheme.com

And if you keep the FIT, how do they make any money - it's got to be a scam!

larkim

My thoughts exactly!!

evepanteli

I looked into this company... they are not a scam... but they don't openly advertise how the free solar panel offer works.

If you go through the application process you'll find that the business model is in fact a 50/50 revenue split where the householder keeps half of the FIT and the solar company keeps the other half.

It's a fair offer (beats the other scummy free solar offers out there) but whoever is in charge of marketing at that company needs sacking. The offer should be clear from the start!

The website seems to be owned by a lead gen company who passes the information on to the actual solar company - that's why the details are masked.

Hope that helps!
:beer:

penrhyn

So the model probably fails as soon as the FIT is halved?

Cardew

penrhyn wrote: »

So the model probably fails as soon as the FIT is halved?

Indeed for Rent - a - Roof companies it drops by more than a half - from 43.1p/kWh to 16.8p/kWh

evepanteli

Cardew wrote: »

penrhyn wrote: »

So the model probably fails as soon as the FIT is halved?

Indeed for Rent - a - Roof companies it drops by more than a half - from 43.1p/kWh to 16.8p/kWh

That's only after December 12th 2011. Anyone who gets solar panels installed before the deadline and is granted a microgeneration certificate before this date is guaranteed the higher rate for the next 25 years! Hence the mad scramble by all the solar companies to sign people up before 12th December.

Cardew

evepanteli wrote: »

That's only after December 12th 2011. Anyone who gets solar panels installed before the deadline and is granted a microgeneration certificate before this date is guaranteed the higher rate for the next 25 years! Hence the mad scramble by all the solar companies to sign people up before 12th December.

But it seems that even the drop in the FiT isn't affecting some companies like A Shade Greener who state on their website:



Not sure how they intend to make money after the December deadline as the FiT is effectively halved and it would take twice as long to break even... guess someone will have to read their terms and conditions to see if there's anything sneaky in there,

Just about every thread on this forum is about the 12 Dec deadline so it is taken as read that we all knew about the impending cut.

There has also been comment several times about A Shade Greener vowing to carry on after the cuts - to be strictly accurate they will get the old FIT rate until April 2012 for installations after 12 Dec.

Also the FIT is not 'effectively halved' it is considerably lower - for Rent a Roof companies it drops down to 16.8p/kWh; for individuals it is halved.