FIT: last date to fit PV

Blaketon

Hello folks.
I had a surveyor from Tesco a week ago who gave the thumbs for a go ahead with Tesco's 4KW PV system. I have an ideal roof etc., he said. I have heard no more from Tesco, although have phoned them and they said they would chase it up. I would have thought Tesco would want to sell as many as they could.
My question is : when is the last date I could safely have the panels fitted to get the 21p FIT bearing in mind that there is paperwork after the panels are fitted and the 21p rate ends at the end of this month?

Ectophile

It all depends how on-the-ball the installers are. They should be able to get you the required documents on the day the system is installed. Filling the forms out takes an hour or two. Then stick it in the post, special delivery, to arrive at your chosen energy company the next day.

Check if your energy company accepts emailed submissions - that may shave a day off the process (but make sure your scanner is working, and you can email reasonably large attachments).

I had my panels installed when the FIT was due to be cut after the 11th December. Since the 11th was a Sunday, in practice that meant the energy company had to have the documents by the 10th. My panels were installed on the 8th, and I emailed it all off on the 9th.

That was cutting it a bit fine!

Blaketon

Thanks for that Ecophile. Still no word from Tesco after over a week - I wonder if they intend to honour their sub-£7K (4KW) price as shown on their website?

How do you find the PV? Was it worth it?

Ectophile

I went to a recommended local company - which had the advantage that I could pop down to their showroom to fill out forms and make the payments. They weren't cheap, but they were friendly and kept me informed what was happening.

Once the system is installed, you don't have to do anything with it - it just sits there generating whenever there's enough light.

There was a huge backlog of applications - it's taken 6 months for my energy company to ask for a meter reading, and it may be a few more weeks before I get paid.