Octopus Solar offer? Any negatives?

MoneyMon555

Hi - just been offered solar from Ocopus with no obvious charge as far as I can see.

What  would be the 'catch' or failing that , what would be the downside/negatives on accepting it?

Does anyone here have with experience of this? How did you find it and how are you getting on?

   Thanks

marlot

Are you sure?  They quoted me £8k or so.  For a big system and battery.

MoneyMon555

Well, I got this email (and it is 100% from Octopus), and replied and they said "We hope we can support you with a solar system and battery free of charge through our Warm Home Discount scheme"

and then further on "Thank you for applying for a free solar panel installation through our Warm Home Discount scheme. "

and then in follow up email after sending property details - "Thanks so much for your interest in a solar installation from Octopus Energy. Based on available property information, we think a 6-panel system with A Giv-Energy 5.2kWh Battery would be a great fit for your home.

And the great news is that, subject to your property eligibility, we can install this for you free of charge through Octopus Energy’s Warm Home Discount Industry Initiative Scheme!"

"

What's included in my proposal?

Your proposal includes everything you need to begin generating your own clean, green electrons at home, and save money on your energy bills in the process!

• 6x JA Solar 405w panels
• A Giv-Energy 5.2kWh Battery
• A Giv-Energy Hybrid Inverter
• Installation on a Single Aspect roof
• Bird-Netting as standard
• All electrical components required to complete the install
• All scaffolding, delivery and labour"

I cant find any mention of cost...am I just reading this incorrectly?

Screwdriva

Sounds surreal! If you qualify for a grant based installation, I'd go for it but I'd also offer to pay for additional panels (if they won't install them for free).

MoneyMon555

Screwdriva said:

Sounds surreal! If you qualify for a grant based installation, I'd go for it but I'd also offer to pay for additional panels (if they won't install them for free).

They do mention we could discuss about 'alternative' system fitting...which I took to mean upgrades...

Does that list above sound ok as a set up? 

What do experienced solar people recommend 'over and above' what is outlined?

QrizB

MoneyMon555 said:

They do mention we could discuss about 'alternative' system fitting...which I took to mean upgrades...
Does that list above sound ok as a set up?

Yes, if someone was offering to fit that for me, for free, I'd take it.

MoneyMon555 said:

What do experienced solar people recommend 'over and above' what is outlined?

As Screwdriva says, if there is room on your roof for half-a-dozen more panels, it would make sense to fit them. Last time I paid for a solar installation (three years ago) I was offered the chance to fine-tune the installation for £200 a panel. You might get a similar offer.

A 400-watt panel on your roof is potentially worth £60 a year.

Netexporter

The main thing is to get as many panels on the roof as possible. I'm assuming it is a 3.68kW inverter which would be fine for up to 10 panels. Panels are dirt cheap, at the moment, so it shouldn't cost much extra. It might be worth adding an additional battery if you intend to also charge up with off-peak electricity. You can then export any surplus, above you daily consumption at a profit, on the right Octopus tariffs.

MoneyMon555

Thanks for info both - I am not sure if that is the max number of panels they can fit on there or if there is more space? They only have the address and postcode and therefore possibly looked on Google street view at the general aspect of roof etc? Or have a database of houses and roof space in that postcode? They did all of the 'quote' over email, but do need to come out too , and it is subject to that

Either way, I will enquire about fitting more and possibly an additional battery.

QrizB

I don't know how much electricity your household uses, but if 5kWh will get you most of the way through the day there's unlikely to be much benefit from adding another battery.

But ask and see what they say. If you need a second opinion, come back to this thread and let us know.

ecraig

My 6.5kWh Growatt battery was sometimes not  enough to get me through the whole evening in winter, until I changed to Agile where I find myself topping up the battery in the slightly cheaper period during daylight hours.
Happy to import any amount of energy as long as it’s less than 15p, as then any generation once my battery is full that is exported will earn me the same 15p fixed rate.

moonbramble

One question that springs to mind.  Did you apply for a Warm Home Grant?  If so then great. 

Some areas aren't eligible for them so in my case I would have been charges £15k for the Octopus option through Project Solar but when I did my sums I wasn't going to go with them until I've have some more quotes for a similar system.  They were offering low light panels rather than Sun generation only, which I'd never heard of and coming onto here there are a few negative reports about Project Solar as well.