Solar Panel Troubles when selling

Robbie_R00

Hi All!

I own the solar panels outright on the property I am looking to sell. We have agreed a price, and we are going through the usual survey, legal, weird clauses in the deeds etc. Transferring the Feed-in-tariff seems remarkably simple, so no problems there.

The buyers' surveyor has done the usual job, and among the queries, he believes that the solar panels to be overloading the roof. My initial thoughts are to go back to the installer. So, here is where I might need some advice....

The panels were installed by Zenith Staybrite, who are now in administration, and their sister company, Staybrite Solar, have washed their hands of anything to do with solar panels. We did have a 10 year warranty, which, of course, is now worth nothing and we are not covered. What I have managed to read is that the installer would have been responsible for checking the load on the roof, so if there is a problem you can go back to the installer. Naturally I can't do that.

The solicitor has also queried whether we have building regs for the panels, probably because of the overload issue. We didn't apply for building regs, as the panels aren't adding a great deal of weight to the roof, certainly not more than a third, which seems to be the marker for needing to do so. (Ought Zenith Staybrite have advised us to do this too, or were they quite disreputable?)

So, what do I do? Can I obtain indemnity insurance against a roof collapse and building regs, since Staybrite Solar are not keen to help? The panels have successfully negotiated 4 1/2 years so far without incident. And are there any guidelines you can refer me to for working out whether the roof really is overloaded. It seems that Zenith ought to have checked that as part of their work.

Our own house insurance covers the panels, but I wonder if the new owners may struggle to get insurance if it turns out there is an overload (hence indemnity as a possibility)

Thanks all!

[Deleted User]

Call a roof surveyor in to check this?

http://www.1stassociated.co.uk/roofs-structural-problems.asp

From https://sunmetrix.com/is-my-roof-suitable-for-solar-panels-and-what-is-the-weight-of-a-solar-panel/
How heavy are solar panels?
This is a common question! On average, solar panels and the mounting equipment weigh 2-4 lbs per square foot (10-20 kg per square meter), which is usually within the acceptable limits of your roof. However, one has to take into account the point loads, as installers often want to minimize the number of mounting locations in order to minimize the risk of leaks. If the installer does not distribute the weight optimally, the point loads can be considerable.

Also a fairly old post on MSE (found on google lol) but has some useful advice on assessing whether your roof can bear solar panels, above para will help.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4847521/roof-strengthening-for-solar-panels

sal_III

Is removing the panels and selling without them and option for you and the buyer?

AFAIK indemnity insurance is to cover for cost of removal of stuff build without permission etc. Not to pay in case your roof collapses due to not properly installed solar panels. So I doubt this is an option, but ask your solicitor nevertheless.

saajan_12

Indemnity wouldn't really help the buyers if they're worried about roof colalpse. Indemnity would insure against the risk of the panels being not allowed and found out. In that case, it would pay out fines, costs of alterations to make the panels compliant and/or removal costs.

The building regs may satisfy the buyers by giving them some indication that "someone checked and thought the panels were fine". However if the roof actually collapsed, you'd need buildings insurance, indemnity wouldn't cover this.

eddddy

You or the buyer just need to get a report from a Structural Engineer.

If the engineer agrees that the roof is not strong enough to hold the panels, he/she will tell you what needs to be done.

If the roof isn't strong enough, and you have a conventional loft, it will probably be a case of adding a few extra timbers to support the roof.

Robbie_R00 wrote: »

So, what do I do? Can I obtain indemnity insurance against a roof collapse and building regs, since Staybrite Solar are not keen to help?

You cannot get indemnity insurance (or buildings insurance or any other insurance) that will cover the cost of a roof collapse due to poor workmanship/design.

theartfullodger

Yes, but think of the huge subsidies the rest of us tax-payers have been bunging you... yum yum yum, £ £ £ £ £ £

pinklady21

Are you in Scotland? Solar panels are exempt from planning and building regs in Scotland, I believe.
O/P I feel your pain - I am also in the latter stages of selling my house with solar panels on the roof since 2012. Agree the FiT is great, and am very sad to be leaving them behind, but my goodness the buyers have been difficult about them!
It has been tortuous trying to explain to them how the entire concept works - they seem to think that the "free money" they will benefit from is too good to be true, and have been asking question after question about it for weeks now.
Only when I threatened to remove the panels and take them with me, did they finally start doing some research into what this means for them.
I am astonished that they have waited until this late stage to do this though!

They have also queried whether the roof is sound enough to take the weight - my response has been that the company who installed them assessed the roof, they have been up for years without any issues, and are not actually that heavy anyway.

I suppose the only way to convince your buyers is by way of a structural survey by an engineer - but why should you pay for that??? You are giving your buyers the balance of the FiT payments for panels that you paid for, after all.
Best of luck.

pinklady21

theartfullodger wrote: »

Yes, but think of the huge subsidies the rest of us tax-payers have been bunging you... yum yum yum, £ £ £ £ £ £

Aye - not tax payers, everyone who buys electricity. We all have a supplement on our leccy bills that pays for the renewable incentives.
Why on earth more people don't take advantage is a mystery to me!

davidmcn

pinklady21 wrote: »

Are you in Scotland?

Not sure where exactly the boundaries of "South West UK" are, but I doubt anywhere in Scotland is within them...

Davesnave

pinklady21 wrote: »

Why on earth more people don't take advantage is a mystery to me!

Quite straightforward. They go on the Energy Saving Trust web site, input their details and see what the potential saving would be per year.


In my case it was £238, which is very nice, but I don't think I'll be here when the £5000 installation cost has been covered.


Yes, I know the price of leccy keeps going up, but it's still not a total no brainer for many of us, especially when reading tales like this one.

MysteryMe

With the original installation paperwork from the installer was there anything connected to an insurance backed guarantee scheme? You could check with them direct to see if Zenith Staybrite were part of the scheme. That means that the IBGS take over any warranty of a company that has gone bust which is basically the majority of the original solar panel installers

http://www.insurancebackedguarantee.org.uk/

If your installation is registered with the MCS they would have received the required buildings compliance docs from the installer before a certificate was issued.