New Solar Installation

pnw72

Hi

I'm interested in getting Solar PV & possibly solar heating.

I'm on the Herts/LB Harrow border.

Can anyone recommend a good company for quotes?

Also, what are the implications for mortgage lending? A mortgage broker friend thought that the mortgage companies don't like solar.

And finally, if we moved some years down the line, who gets the FIT payments? Us or the new owner?

Best regards

System

Have a look at the YouGen website for installer information. My guess is that mortgage lenders have issues with 'rent a roof' schemes not PV Solar per se. What I would do though is get any installer that you choose to confirm the strength of your roof in writing to prevent issues if you decide to sell. Best advice that I can find is that PV Solar is regarded as fixtures and fittings, and the FITS will be transferred to the new owner on completion. I see this as a selling point: £1000 pa interest free.

carlsm60

Be careful that you're not missold your panels. We have 13 fitted and was promised £110 a month back in payments to cover the 10 year loan of £106 per month. FIT payments average out at £50. Meaning £60 is supposed to be saved on our electric bill. We've never paid £60 per month. It will take us over 20 years to break even! Not the deal we were promised by Heart and Solar from Bradford

Kreisler

Hi has anyone had dealings with Smart Save Solutions, they came out Saturday talk to us, by Wednesday a technician was here surveying our roof for solar panels and to be fiitted Monday. Feeling bulldozed to say the least and all for £10,000 where as ikea is offering for £6,669 but their argument is that ikea's panels are older and less efficient is this true. Advice anyone who has been in this situation?

macman

Then don't let yourself be bulldozed-it's up to you when you have them fitted, and they're clearly attempting to circumvent any cooling-off period by rushing the install. Say you want 14 days to think it over, don't fall for their pressure selling methods. Any good supplier will not be able to an install at such short notice
You don't state the size of the system, but it appears that you are paying well over the odds-do you really think that their panels are 35% more efficient than any other?.
You should have comparative rating/output figures for any system quoted, so do your own research.

System

Kreisler wrote: »

Hi has anyone had dealings with Smart Save Solutions, they came out Saturday talk to us, by Wednesday a technician was here surveying our roof for solar panels and to be fiitted Monday. Feeling bulldozed to say the least and all for £10,000 where as ikea is offering for £6,669 but their argument is that ikea's panels are older and less efficient is this true. Advice anyone who has been in this situation?

Walk away, say 'no thank you' and sign nothing. Look at the YouGen site for installer recommendations and advice. Use the Energy Savings Trust website to do your own research on cost versus savings. Patience and time taken to look carefully at all the options could save you a fortune over 20 years.

This link is a calculator that you can use to calculate your likely PV output per year.

http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/pvest.php

captainhindsight_2

Solar can be a good investment, but like anything you have to use a company that know what they are doing and can give you accurate estimates of your use age, payback etc.

MCs is a certification scheme for renewable installers, so if you go to there website you will be able to search for installers in your area.

Like anything, your going to be better off using a small local installer who has a passion for the technology and will know all the ins and outs of it all.

Larger companies have sales people, who don't know much about what they are selling and just quote case studies which have no resemblance to your property or circumstances.


No issues with mortgage lending, you friend obviously isn't a very good mortgage broker as he is thinking about the free panels where a third party own the panels and receive the rhi or fit payments over the life time of the payments which can be an issue with lending but this does not apply to what you are doing as from your op you are looking to pay for them your self.

So they can actually be a benefit if you want to sell, as guaranteed income and lower fuel bills.

But if you are thinking of moving you are unlikely to get a good roi as like all renewable technologies the main benefits are over the long term not the short term.

Martyn1981

Kreisler wrote: »

Hi has anyone had dealings with Smart Save Solutions, they came out Saturday talk to us, by Wednesday a technician was here surveying our roof for solar panels and to be fiitted Monday. Feeling bulldozed to say the least and all for £10,000 where as ikea is offering for £6,669 but their argument is that ikea's panels are older and less efficient is this true. Advice anyone who has been in this situation?

Hiya Kreisler. I think you need to cancel this order immediately before the 7 day cooling off period is complete (during which time it is a breach of MCS regs to install a system).

After cancelling you can always renegotiate a price (whilst shopping round looking for better deals) but I think you should break this 7 day period first.

What size is the system? Many folk on the Green & Ethical board are now negotiating installs for 4kWp systems at less than £6k. So that's a good place to have a nose and learn.

The criticism of Ikea's panels (Hanergy) scares me, yes they are less efficient as they use thin-film, but that doesn't mean they are old, or faulty. It just means they take more space to supply the same power. In the same way there are higher efficiency panels that take up less space, but cost more.

Important to note that 4kWp of 10% efficient panels, still generates the same as 4kWp of 16% efficient panels, or 4kWp of 22% efficient panels. It's just the space taken up that differs. But this confusion can be used to confuse/mislead folk. So it's the nameplate size of the system in kW's that's important, usually stated in kWp, with p standing for peak output in test conditions.

Mart.

PS Cancel that order and take your time. No rush. M.

Smiley_Dan

Take a look at YouGen for reviews: http://www.yougen.co.uk/search/