info please on 'my planet'

Barney57

Cold callers normally get the instant goodbye, however guy today from 'my planet' stated we could have solar panels installed for £100, will make a small loss over the 1st year , then make a profit.
He stated 1) it is not a roof lease scheme. 2) the government are providing a grant.
Sounds to good to be true, has anybody had any dealings with 'my planet'.

Thanks

rogerblack

If it's not a roof lease scheme - then you would normally be able to claim FIT payments.
The 'savings of under 100/year' - is plausible for roof lease systems.
There are as I understand it no other schemes for existing homes that would not be of this sort.
Do you have anything on paper?
I suspect the salesman was at least being misleading, if not outright deceptive.

Martyn1981

Could it be some sort of finance scheme, where the income should/might cover the repayments?

Whatever it is, you need to ask lots of questions and be very careful. Then check back on here.

Mart.

jimjames

I've seen some advertising similar that appeared to imply that you'd get a grant to install solar panels and then be able to get FITs too. It didn't seem to make sense but I'll see if I can find it again

jimjames

This is the link I'd been emailed

http://www.solaressence.co.uk/solar-funding-scheme.html

Any ideas? Details copied from website:

About the Solar Funding Scheme:

The Solar Funding Scheme was introduced to assist people who recognise the benefits of solar panels, but simply could not afford to have them installed.

The Solar Funding Scheme will pay for the installation of a solar panel system, and you will receive, in full, the lucrative payments available from the government’s solar scheme.

In the present economic climate the government is under pressure to slash funding for solar panels, but if you act now payments will be guaranteed to you for 20 years. Use the form above to check if you qualify for funding, or call us on 0800 8488650 for free advice.

Update: Just read a bit more. Although it doesn't say so directly it appears that this scheme is a bank loan paid back via FIT. Very misleading info as far as I can see.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

This looks like their website.

Stawmn

We had Myplanet UK come and give us a quote. We won't have them in the house again, but there was one good thing we found out. By changing to LED from filament bulbs, we could save a chunk on our energy bill and reduce our electricity use. Our monthly bill for electricity is £660 per year but this could be reduced by £295 just by the change in bulbs. You can buy the bulbs quite cheaply online and as they last so much longer than filament bulbs the difference in outlay over all on bulbs would probably be minimal.

Even in the calculations from MyplanetUK it was plain that the change of a bulb would present a much greater saving against a much smaller initial investment.

Martyn1981

Welcome to MSE.

If you have a large number of old incandescent bulbs then you will certainly save money replacing them with CFL's or LEDs, but I think £295 is unlikely.

A £295 saving works out at replacing 16 100W bulbs that are on for 4 hours per day every day, with 10W LED's.

90W savings * 16 * 4hrs * 365 days = 2,100kWh @ 14p = £295

But, can I ask, do you usually have 16 100W bulbs running 4hrs per day? And if the answer is yes, then why?

Mart.

sjday

I'm having a site survey/quote done tomorrow by MyPlanet and will update with my experience.
Both people I have spoken to so far have been courteous and professional.
I will be reading anything I'm given very carefully before taking anything further.

nigelpm

Barney57 wrote: »

Cold callers normally get the instant goodbye, however guy today from 'my planet' stated we could have solar panels installed for £100, will make a small loss over the 1st year , then make a profit.

Thanks

Should have stuck to your normal "instant goodbye" IMHO.

I'd have probably asked them what planet they were on?

Certainly not earth judging by what they told you.

MEVW62

sjday: having had what looks like a very high quote from myplanet myself, I'll be interested to see what they come up with for you.

I've gone through their quote in some detail and emailed them a lot of questions, including why their estimated yield is higher than the PVGIS estimate for my exact location, how important is some tree shading that I've noticed since their visit, and why their price is so much higher (more than £2000 in some cases, though being sure it's a like-for-like comparison is tricky). I asked for a reply in writing so we'll see what they come up with...