HELMS - solar panel installation (Scotland)

spaceboy

This is a company based in Glasgow i believe and they cold called our area recently.

They visited us and did a technical survey, and then came back to show us the quote and get us to sign the contract. However I was not totally convinced by them and told the guy we wanted to think about it. He didn't seem happy and claimed he'd driven all the way from Glasgow for the appointment with us only. I asked if we could keep the quote and think about it and he said no he had to take that away with him, and as he was leaving he said if you change your mind give us a call.

Seems very odd that he wouldn't leave the quote with us! Has anyone else had dealings with this company? I believe they used to be called PV Solar UK Ltd, or that is who installs the panels.

rogerblack

Does seem odd.
At what price?
What amount of panels?
Paying much more than 5K/4kW would seem a rip-off.

spaceboy

It wasnt completely clear. There was a price of £8k-odd for 14 panels on a south-facing roof, but there was also a figure of £12k-odd which didnt get explained properly. There's a lot of "you wont be paying that" because of the money your panels are making.

The price did include installation and maintenance of the panels for 23 years.

pinnks

Cold calling, double glazing tactics... I would say follow your instincts and walk away. Folk on here can no doubt make local recommendations and you could look at yougen.co.uk for local firms.

rogerblack

spaceboy wrote: »

It wasnt completely clear. There was a price of £8k-odd for 14 panels on a south-facing roof, but there was also a figure of £12k-odd which didnt get explained properly. There's a lot of "you wont be paying that" because of the money your panels are making.

This is about double the best figure you might expect for 8K. The 12K is remarkably similar to the 'with finance' option that others have mentioned in another similar thread.
Run away, and report these people to

Sterlingtimes

A little Googling finds some worrying stories.

But more particularly, a video describes their scheme based upon the Green Deal. That is presented as an alternative to FITS but you own the panels. I suspect that the owner may own the panels and the loan which funds them and some how the deal arranger takes the FITS.

spaceboy

rogerblack wrote: »

This is about double the best figure you might expect for 8K. The 12K is remarkably similar to the 'with finance' option that others have mentioned in another similar thread.
Run away, and report these people to

The yougen.co.uk website does seem to indicate that £8k is about the usual price.

theboylard

spaceboy wrote: »

The yougen.co.uk website does seem to indicate that £8k is about the usual price.

But they are way behind current pricing.

If you just wander round the Green & ethical board here you will find the majority of posters in the last year had their installs done for less than 6k. I'd even go so far add to suggest the average is 5.2k, but that's a quick flick round.

smitchy73

I had similar quotes from HELMS, I'm in Ayrshire, quote was £8k, with interest etc on their finance deal, pay back to the company was about £12.5k over the ten years paying about £108pm. You could pay the £8k in cash though. You'd be daft. They also couldn't tell me which panels or inverters they use as "they just use the best in the market at the time".


I started to get other quotes from various other companies and was down to about £5500 for a 4kWh system, not with finance though, this was all payable with a deposit and on completion.

spaceboy

Thanks. I used the installer search page on

http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/consumers/installer-search

and there are a lot of installers based near me who I will try.

I did ask the HELMS guy about the type of panels and he wasn't very clear, mentioned the names Sharp and Panasonic but he couldn't be clearer than that.

Martyn1981

spaceboy wrote: »

The yougen.co.uk website does seem to indicate that £8k is about the usual price.

That's not strictly true, they suggest a price range of £6k to £8k. I'd interpret that to mean £7k is their (out of date) average, and £8k is the high end.

The cost of photovoltaic systems has fallen rapidly since the feed-in tariff was introduced. A 1.5kW system will cost around £4,000. You should be able to get a 4kW installation for £6 - 8,000.

And, as TBL points out, those prices are out of date. £4k for a 1.5kWp system :rotfl: I paid £4k for my 2kWp system back in July 2012.

For 4kWp, TBL's £5.2k seems a reasonable guess based on researched and haggled installs reported on these threads. Most seem to be beating £6k, and we've had quite a few in the mid to high £4k's too.

Mart.