Grant Funded Solar Panel Fitting Issues - Help!

ALSOM

Really hoping someone can advise me on what to do as completely stuck & not getting anywhere....
Sorry it's a bit long.

At the end of 2022 we applied for a green energy grant (council/government funded) & were accepted. We were told in January 2023 that they couldn't improve our insulation but would fit solar panels to our roof. All the assessments & surveys were completed, everything went though incredibly smoothly. Up until the contractor Warma Uk got involved. 

For a little background: We live on a hill about a mile in from the South Coast. Our house is hit quite hard on our exposed South/South West side by wind. We have a large flat, fibreglass roof (only a few years old) & old render on the house which was repaired in the last year (but probably need replacing). I am a wheelchair user & our neighbours very kindly allow us to use the shared driveway as our own to make getting in & out of the house easier. Our neighbours run a business out of a studio in their back garden which members of the public visit. They also have a disabled teenager who sometimes requires the use of a wheelchair.

Apart from a severe lack of communication things appeared to be moving forward quickly with Warma UK. We had some queries about the contract which were half addressed, & some about the fitting that were basically ignored & still haven't been answered. I then had a call from the project manager dealing with our case asking if they could put scaffolding up the next day (Fri 10 Mar). With the expectation that the fitting would take place between Tues-Thurs the following week (they'd confirm exact dates later). I said yes, but I'd like the queries answered before fitting...they responded with ...'what queries'... They had directly been emailed multiple times with & regarding these queries over the previous 6 weeks.

The scaffolding went up on the 10 March with the tower on the South side of our house. Without asking our neighbours or us, they put several of the poles onto our neighbours property. Including one sloped support which made access to their back gate almost impossible with a wheelchair & dangerous for clients visiting. There was no padding or tape to highlight the pole. There were also no endcaps to protect our wall. I tried calling & emailed Warma UK on the 10th after being made aware of the issues by our neighbours. After repeatedly trying to contact them in various ways I finally succeeded to get an answer on the 21 March & the scaffolding was slightly rearranged that day. The sloped pole was moved further onto our neighbours property & a second shifted slightly to enable easier access to our neighbours gate (but no tape or padding was added, despite being told it was a business access for members of the public) It is still not in a great place for them & they have added warning tape. Despite being informed our render wasn't great & has only recently been fixed, protection was only added to the poles which weren't actually touching our wall (so easy to fit). We've since been hit by 55-60mph winds, the scaffolding definitely moves. Although they did ensure I could get my wheelchair past the scaffolding (my only exit from the house) it is much more awkward & I have to go down a slope at a difficult angle to avoid a warped footplate. Which has resulted in my wheelchair sliding on more than a few occasions. All of these issues wouldn't have been so bad if it was just for a short period of time (we have incredibly understanding neighbours) However, 9 weeks later, the scaffolding is still up, with no installation date on the horizon. Our neighbours are annoyed (as are we). We can't afford to annoy them as it is only their good will that allows me to easily get in & out of our house & into the car. 

I have lost count of the amount of phone calls & emails I have sent just to try & find out what is happening.

On 27 March we had a large pallet of fittings arrive which is sat in our back garden, on the grass, blocking my access to the raised vegetable patch (so I can't plant anything). A few days later on one of the few occasions I managed to actually speak to someone, I was informed these were the wrong fittings as they had only just realised we had a flat fibreglass roof...We currently have another smaller box inside the house of other fittings which arrived early April....I have no idea if these are correct or not...

Having repeatedly requested to speak to a manager & more recently director of the company, just to get some kind of communication over the last 7 weeks I finally spoke to someone on 3 May. I was informed the project manager had been let go & our scaffolding would be removed within the next 2 days. Our fitting wasn't one they were used to, so they needed to look into the logistics, which may take a while. I was fine with all of that & finally thought I had someone who at the very least, would let me know what was happening. The 5 May came & went, I emailed that afternoon, to say that the scaffolding was still up, could they let me know what was happening please. Aware of the bank holiday I gave it until the 10th May to try calling again. It is now the 12 May, I have left a message for the last few days asking for the manager or anyone to contact me back. 

Warma UK seem completely incompetent & incapable of any form of communication. We desperately need the scaffolding to be removed, but don't know if we can legally get another company to remove it for us (not that we can really afford that anyway). Is it possible to get this company removed from our fitting or would we lose the grant? I know we're not paying for this & it could be a great opportunity for us but I'm now just really worried they will damage our roof/house which we really can't afford to get fixed. What can I do?

Clive_Woody

I am sorry to hear you've been treated so badly. I can't offer a lot of constructive advice but I would suggest contacting your local MP and asking for their support. They (or their minions) may be able to prompt Warma into doing something, failing that I'd try one of the newspapers as they have people who love a story like this and will chase for resolution (sorry for sounding insensitive).

ALSOM

Clive_Woody said:

I am sorry to hear you've been treated so badly. I can't offer a lot of constructive advice but I would suggest contacting your local MP and asking for their support. They (or their minions) may be able to prompt Warma into doing something, failing that I'd try one of the newspapers as they have people who love a story like this and will chase for resolution (sorry for sounding insensitive).

Thanks for the reply, don't find that insensitive just a bit sad it's true.
Unfortunately our local MP is bit of a waste of space, so not sure how far that will get me...am trying the council though.
Thinking of doing reviews but was hoping to avoid media....but looking like it maybe the only way forward if I can't get anyone to talk to me... 

cannugec5

Have you contacted the grant supplier? 

I am currently going through the process for a grant for an Air Source Heat Pump, and for that I deal with Home Energy Scotland. If I had the saga you describe I think the funders would very much want to know. The companies approved to do the work under such grant schemes are carefully monitored and controlled. In fact I’ve had to agree to give an honest review once installation is complete, as part of my application. 

ComicGeek

If it's on a flat roof, then the only two options are to fix frames through the existing roof or install weighted down frames on top.

The first option isn't great as it can create weatherproofing issues, particularly as there are so many required penetrations and bound to be a problem somewhere. 

The second option adds a lot of weight to the roof, and particularly in windy areas as it may need a lot of ballast to hold down, so the roof needs to be structurally assessed to make sure it's safe to add - unlikely unless it was designed for it.

I'm surprised that the first survey didn't just state that it wasn't feasible. I would bet that would be the final answer - any bodge job is going to cause lots of issues for you moving forward, you will be on here in 6 months time complaining about water leaks and a sagging roof.