Faulty solar panels - suggestions welcome

sunnykappy

Hello Friends,

We had solar panels fitted 5 years ago. Two and a half years ago, they packed up and have generated nothing since then. I have contacted the supplier (gone bost), his supplier (went bust) and the manufacturer in China (bust). All the suggestions from those parties have failed to resolve the issues and I didn't get much help either from trade bodies such as the RECC, or the government either...

A salesman visited from Solar Plants this week. He was confident that his team could get the system up and running, but it would cost £5k. Does anyone have any positive or negative feedback which they could share about Solar Plants? I am reluctant to invest £5k further (already £10k in the hole) - unless it is extremely likely that Solar Plants can deliver a solution which will work long-term.

Alternatively, does anyone know any (very) good solar repair teams?

Many thanks!

The_Green_Hornet

I suggest the first thing to do would be to get your system checked out by a qualified electrician to find out why it has failed.

You can search for one here or here.

lstar337

sunnykappy wrote: »

Hello Friends,

We had solar panels fitted 5 years ago. Two and a half years ago, they packed up and have generated nothing since then. I have contacted the supplier (gone bost), his supplier (went bust) and the manufacturer in China (bust). All the suggestions from those parties have failed to resolve the issues and I didn't get much help either from trade bodies such as the RECC, or the government either...

A salesman visited from Solar Plants this week. He was confident that his team could get the system up and running, but it would cost £5k. Does anyone have any positive or negative feedback which they could share about Solar Plants? I am reluctant to invest £5k further (already £10k in the hole) - unless it is extremely likely that Solar Plants can deliver a solution which will work long-term.

Alternatively, does anyone know any (very) good solar repair teams?

Many thanks!

I'm no expert, but 5K would get you a whole new system by todays prices.

Dave_Fowler

Two fairly simple things to check -

1. Is there a display on the generation meter?

2. Is there any display on the inverter - perhaps a light or an error code?

With this information it should be possible to narrow down where the fault is.

Dave F

Geoff1963

Are the panels in several sections, so Solar Plants could prove there word on just one ? I'd have thought the panels themselves would be quite robust, so it would be just the electronics to control them, and £5K sounds a lot for that ; being 50 % of the total.

tunnel

sunnykappy wrote: »

We had solar panels fitted 5 years ago. Two and a half years ago, they packed up and have generated nothing since then.

Alternatively, does anyone know any (very) good solar repair teams?

Surely this is a wind up!! Nobody in their right minds would leave collecting the FiT for two and a half years and then ask in their very first post if anyone knows a good repair team.
Depending on the date of install in 2012 you could have earnt the £5k in FiTs(assuming a 4kWp system) to replace the whole system. Doesn't take a mathematician to work it out.

sunnykappy

Dear All,

Many thanks for your suggestions. Have tried most of these (with no success) but there's one idea which I'll be taking forward.

Best wishes.

michaels

lstar337 wrote: »

I'm no expert, but 5K would get you a whole new system by todays prices.

I wonder what the rules are on 'repairs' involving wholesale replacement before it becomes a new system and the original FIT no longer valid?

sunnykappy

Thanks for mentioning this. I liaised with the F-It provider and they confirmed that it still fits the original defintion.

Thanks again to all for your suggestions!