Solar Together

Pat38493

I received a letter from my local council offering me the chance to take part in the Solar Together initiative - it appears that they want to use joint purchasing power to get multiple households to sign up at the same time for solar panels (and optionally batteries).

Since there is no commitment until later I have signed up to see what happens.  Has anyone else had something similar?

QrizB

My neighbour signed up via our council.

His installation went smoothly and the equipment works well. He is happy with it.

Despite what you might think, and what the marketing materials suggest, the Solar Together scheme is not guaranteed to be cheaper than buying it directly from an installer and you might get a smaller choice of components.

Pat38493

QrizB said:

My neighbour signed up via our council.

His installation went smoothly and the equipment works well. He is happy with it.

Despite what you might think, and what the marketing materials suggest, the Solar Together scheme is not guaranteed to be cheaper than buying it directly from an installer and you might get a smaller choice of components.

I was wondering about that - I am just curious to see what they come up with but if I seriously think about moving ahead, I will post the equipment details of what they want to install to see if it's reasonable.

I also seem to recall reading in the news recently that there is a "new generation" of solar panels coming soon which is much better than current?  Is there any truth to that?

dunstonh

We signed up for it but withdrew and received the refund promptly.

The pricing package is bulk-arranged.  i.e. everyone pays the same relative to their number of panels and battery size and a small range of add-ons.    So, there is an averaging out of expected installation costs within that.  That could lead to some paying more or less than they could elsewhere but it is logically a good way for them to price and for people to understand.

We withdrew as:
a) their arrangement is for bog standard houses.  Not for those looking for bespoke installations.   We wanted the panels across one of the stable blocks and one of the barns but they didnt cater for that.
b) we get many power cuts a year and wanted the ability for them to work whilst power is off.   They didn't offer that option
c) we wanted more micro panel inverters/optimisers than they included in the deal. 

Solar together is the administrator and they were very efficient.  The refund of the deposit arrived within a few days after the site visit by the firm.  However, I know two people who went ahead.  Both are getting what they were told to expect although one wasn't happy with a particular individual that broke something in their loft and tried to hide it. 

marcia_

 I applied for a quote through my councils solar together promotion. The quote they gave was significantly more than an independent quote i had. 

Dogbyte009

I had panels and a battery installed via Solar Together back in 2020. Smooth process and quite a bit cheaper than if I'd bought the system independently.

freakazoid04

Just going through the process.  The comments above are correct.  Solar Together just arrange for you to go to a pre-approved solar PV company.  The one I was given, I wasn't happy with.  I then went with a local company that gave me more panels on my roof, better configuration with panels and battery, much better warranty for the battery and the panels, the use of mircoinverters - which are much better than bog-standard inverter and a much better battery!  All for less that was being quoted from the company that Solar Together had recommended.  There are a lot of Solar companies out there and you just have to do your research and find a good one.  The difference in price  and performance is quite substantial, so do your homework, I'm afraid.  Or just be lucky.

Netexporter

I also seem to recall reading in the news recently that there is a "new generation" of solar panels coming soon which is much better than current?  Is there any truth to that?

There are panels that include perovskite that have now broken the 30% efficiency milestone. The best commonly available panels turn in efficiencies a bit over 20%. There is probably only a case for the 30% panels in situations where space is limited, as they are bound to be more expensive per Wp for some time. If you can get a large enough array on your roof to suit your needs the efficiency isn't really important.

Pat38493

Not directly related, but I heard a news article today about situations where the company installing the devices lost their accreditation in between the customer signing the contract, and the equipment being installed - this resulted in being unable to export to the grid as the installer was not certified.

I assume that generally you can rig the system up in a way that all the energy you generate or have in your battery, is used by your own house, and only any excess is sent back to the grid?

Netexporter

Pat38493 said:

Not directly related, but I heard a news article today about situations where the company installing the devices lost their accreditation in between the customer signing the contract, and the equipment being installed - this resulted in being unable to export to the grid as the installer was not certified.

I assume that generally you can rig the system up in a way that all the energy you generate or have in your battery, is used by your own house, and only any excess is sent back to the grid?

I think the days of MCS may be numbered, now that Octopus have broken ranks and will offer you a SEG without MCS certification, especially if other suppliers follow suit. The work still has to be done to one of two industry standards and be covered by other industry standards bodies.

MCS was a good idea, in principal, but it hasn't stopped poor quality installations entirely. As for their "find an installer" database. It is woeful.

Pat38493

Netexporter said:

Pat38493 said:

Not directly related, but I heard a news article today about situations where the company installing the devices lost their accreditation in between the customer signing the contract, and the equipment being installed - this resulted in being unable to export to the grid as the installer was not certified.

I assume that generally you can rig the system up in a way that all the energy you generate or have in your battery, is used by your own house, and only any excess is sent back to the grid?

I think the days of MCS may be numbered, now that Octopus have broken ranks and will offer you a SEG without MCS certification, especially if other suppliers follow suit. The work still has to be done to one of two industry standards and be covered by other industry standards bodies.

MCS was a good idea, in principal, but it hasn't stopped poor quality installations entirely. As for their "find an installer" database. It is woeful.

Interesting because the guy that they interviewed was claiming that it was Octopus he wanted to export by and they wouldn't accept it because of the missing MCS.  Maybe something changed very recently?