Solar Panel Problems.

Rubidium

outofmoney wrote: »

Wifi keeps dropping out. But we are with BT who are not the best supplier.
HA called yesterday and will not accept our word that the cause is the solar panels so want proof from elsewhere.
No idea how we can get proof other than someone seeing it.

The answer is simple, switch off the solar system and wait for the housing association to complain.

You can then demonstrate to them that the problem is the solar inverter.

I doubt if they will show any interest until they lose the FIT payments!

outofmoney

Do they get payment? We have not been told anything about this. If it is not resolved this will be our only choice but of course it means it doesn't help us with our bills.

Ainsley1

Proof from elsewhere? See my earlier post!! What have you got to loose contacting them?

Re switching off....who owns them, who gets the benefit? Are we wrong if we understood they were owned by the HA and they get the benefit? If so why should that affect your bill?

Tell them you will switch it off pending investigation unless they can prove they are not a problem.

steppevos

Yes, the HO are receiving Feed in Tariff (FiT) payments for every kWh electricity produced by the solar panels. (This is way more than you safe from the circa 30% of kWh produced that you use in your house.) The HO also gets about 4p of 50% of kWh produced for what is assumed to go back into the net.
Just write a letter to the HO that you have switched off the solar panels because they are interfering with your equipment. This will get them focused, because they will be loosing considerable money every day especially in the Summer.

outofmoney

Ainsley1 wrote: »

Proof from elsewhere? See my earlier post!! What have you got to loose contacting them?

Re switching off....who owns them, who gets the benefit? Are we wrong if we understood they were owned by the HA and they get the benefit? If so why should that affect your bill?

Tell them you will switch it off pending investigation unless they can prove they are not a problem.

I did contact them. They said there would be a charge so to contact our HA again. No idea of what the charge is and the email address isn't one you can reply to.

Not sure who owns the Solar Panels but we were led to believe they make our bills cheaper. So we lose out not the HA.

outofmoney

steppevos wrote: »

Yes, the HO are receiving Feed in Tariff (FiT) payments for every kWh electricity produced by the solar panels. (This is way more than you safe from the circa 30% of kWh produced that you use in your house.) The HO also gets about 4p of 50% of kWh produced for what is assumed to go back into the net.
Just write a letter to the HO that you have switched off the solar panels because they are interfering with your equipment. This will get them focused, because they will be loosing considerable money every day especially in the Summer.

Ah ok, thanks. We have no paperwork that says this. It only suggests we benefit by reduced bills and money for any electric not used that goes back to the grid. But then again the info book also said aerial sockets would be fitted ready to go and they weren't!

Ainsley1

Well if you do not have the formal paperwork for the solar PV system and have not agreed a contract for feed in then you are either missing out or your HA is getting most of the benefit from generation. Depending upon when it was registered (end of last year was a payment rate change) then they will be benefitting much more than you could theoretically be saving! Unless you use a significant proportion of your electrical consumption during daylight hours, when the weather is good and ignoring poor generation in winter, you might be saving from nothing to a typical max of 50%, but more realistically maybe 10% to 20% of what is generated and possibly much less of what you actually use.

The HA will be getting 150% payment for everything they generate (generate tarrif of all power generated plus half assumed to be exported) so they probably have a lot more to loose than you!

outofmoney

Thanks. We only moved in at the beginning of May so yet to see a bill. But signed no contracts or anything. Will give them a few more days to respond to our last email and then switch off!