Solar & Battery Storage Installation... Having second thoughts!

DenzilDonkey

Hi,

I am going down the road of getting Solar Panels and Battery Storage installed. I have funding in place (Home Energy Scotland) and have chosen an installer. A few months ago I made enquiries and the installer had the equipment in stock. I paid a £200 deposit to reserve the equipment. Alarm bells are starting to ring!!

The funding was accepted and I contacted the installer again and there are now several things that are starting to concern me. Apparently the equipment I reserved has been used on another project so what was labelled in my name (I saw it being labelled and attached to the equipment) is no longer there - but there'll be other equipment available.

I have been asked for a 60% drawdown of the total cost to cover materials and transport to the house, yet I have not been given a date for when this would be let alone when the installation would take place. When the 60% has been paid then a date will be discussed (said the installer). After that, I can pay the remainder by credit card and then use the final 40% of the funding (repaid to me after all works completed, certification received, etc) to pay off the credit card. I'm unsure if it was meant that work would not start until the full cost of the installation had been met or not.

After talking to a few people today who have had similar work done (through a different company) there are more things concerning me. No-one has come the house to check suitability or condition of the roof, measure up, or discuss where the invertor and batteries are to be located in the house, etc. I have been asked for roof dimensions, which I assumed would be used as a guide to an initial quote, which I did pass on. I asked who the installers were on the initial conversation and was told they'd be coming from somewhere quite a distance away. I asked again on the latest conversation and they are now from a totally different location.

I'll state now that I have never had anyone carry out work on my home before. I have replaced my own kitchen, bathroom, etc so this is the first time I will have ever had anyone come in to do work on the house. Also, I have not signed an agreement with the installer. All that I have done is paid the initial £200 reservation and received a quote for the work. With this in mind, should I cancel the lot and go elsewhere or am I over-reacting?

I'll get back to replies when I can, work commitments and all that...

TIA

greyteam1959

All sounds a bit iffy to me.

Ben1989

DenzilDonkey said:

After talking to a few people today who have had similar work done (through a different company) there are more things concerning me. No-one has come the house to check suitability or condition of the roof, measure up, or discuss where the invertor and batteries are to be located in the house, etc. I have been asked for roof dimensions, which I assumed would be used as a guide to an initial quote, which I did pass on. I asked who the installers were on the initial conversation and was told they'd be coming from somewhere quite a distance away. I asked again on the latest conversation and they are now from a totally different location.

This paragraph alone would seriously make me not pay the remainder of the money, let alone the rest.

DenzilDonkey

Thanks folks!

As I suspected. Like I say, I've no experience with traders at all so any input is greatly appreciated. I'll get it all cancelled later on and try to get the initial £200 back (at work just now).

onomatopoeia99

The people I used didn't come to the house beforehand and locations of battery and inverter etc were all agreed on the morning they started the install.

They didn't ask for a deposit though and invoiced me when installation was completed, which I paid by bank transfer that evening.