How To Choose a PV installer.

Energetic_2

I've been asked by a large money saving comparison type website (after making a complaint about their out of date pricing and tariff info on PV) to compile a list of things the public should consider when choosing a PV installer. I have strong feelings on this as i feel the rogues and sales led companies have tarnished the industry.

So in the experience of those of you who have had PV installed or those looking into it what makes a good installer? I'm particularly interested in the Pre-install service and quoting from a customers point of view.

Energetic_2

OK i'll start then... Heres my take on it, from an installer point of view, that i wrote a while back for Martyns FAQ sticky...


Find someone local who has a reputation to preserve locally. A small company has far better control of the quality and is much more likely to offer you help and support after the install than a large one. In the volatile market we are in a prudently run small business is better placed to be around in the future to honour warranty claims etc. than a large company with lots of wage bills to pay, many regional installers are struggling under heavy wage bills.

IMHO its best to find a company who started pre or very early 2011, before the 'gold rush', guys who started then have a good knowledge of the industry and are well placed to explain the merits of different panel manufacturers, the difference between cheap Chinese, better tier 1 Chinese, Korean, European etc... Those who entered later may only be familiar with Chinese.

Choose a company led by engineers or electricians, not salesmen, if the guy who's doing the original survey can't answer basic technical questions kick him out, don't even bother with a quote.

Choose a company who uses PV design software to give you an estimate of yield. PV-Sol and PV-Syst are the best examples. We use PV-Sol and it allows us to build a 3D model of the roof with the correct pitch and orientations, we model in trees, neighbouring properties and anything else that can cause shading. We can select the panels and inverters that we might use to work out the best system for that roof. The software models the impact of the shading in 10min intervals throughout the year and so far our estimates are usually within 5%. This does not and cannot replace the SAP calculation required in EVERY quote by MCS. Depending on where you are in the UK the software estimate can be very different to the SAP calc.

Choose a company that is looking to add value to you system, displays/monitors/power management systems find out if they are included or not.

Panels are important. The Chinese manufacturers are operating at a loss and swimming in debt, expect lots to go bust and lots of mergers and acquisitions, who knows where that market will be in 5 years. We advise to choose a company you trust to be around in 10 years to honour warranty claims if anything goes wrong. At the moment we do a lot of Hyundai all black panels, they are well priced, more expensive than many, but good value. A system that looks good can be worth paying a bit more for.

The BEST VALUE is NOT ALWAYS THE CHEAPEST!

There are lots of installers out there keen for work, great deals are available at the moment with superb returns and 6-7 year paybacks. Any claims that an installer makes about 'the best this' or 'the best that' can be verified on the internet. Don't sign anything on the day, don’t go with anyone you have doubts about. This is a big investment, it's important to get it right and to get your head round it all, installers should understand this and should not put you under any pressure to make a decision.

There are lots of great trustworthy local installers who are keen to get the best deal for you, word of mouth is how we survive, and it’s in our interest to make sure you're happy and raving about PV!

rogerblack

Warranties are important.
25 year warranties are almost meaningless, unless backed with some form of insurance against the panel installer, the panel maker going out of buisness.
I'm unsure of the exact terms - perhaps others could comment on exactly what should be looked for for it to be legally useful.

I question if any company can say with a straight face that they will be around in 23 years to honor warranty claims.

If you have money to invest, and are interested in the return - it may be worth considering a system larger than 4kWp, or in some cases extra panels on a different orientation - here comes the above mentioned need for expert consultation and not just a cookie cutter 'stick it on the southfacing roof' approach.

Aside: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/welcome-to-the-new-web-home-of-the-department-of-energy-climate-change - oh great.

They moved their somehat useful website, with lots of sections and smashed it into a dozen dumbed-down pages, and threw the rest into a search engine.
The feed in tarrif page does not contain a list of rates, or a link to such, and entering 'feed in tarrif rates' into the search box brings up a document from 2011.

Wonderful.

Energetic_2

One of my issues with the internet. Our industry is very dynamic, frequent changes in policy have left mass confusion and advisory websites, media and the general public can't keep up. Some installers can't even get the figures right and if thats the case what hope do those outside the industry have? Articles about a spike in silicon prices which will kill off the industry are still surfacing from goggle, dated 2008...

Good point on the warranties, re installation - It's not a massive expense for us as an installer to insurance back our warranty for domestic installs. We do this as standard for all jobs.
Re Panels- i believe the 25 year output warranty is an MCS requirement but chinese manufacturers with insurance backed warranties worry me more about their quality, not less :-)