Project Solar dilemma

MoneyMon555

Hi - I got offered home solar set up for free including installation via Octopus Warm Homes grant. (see thread I started the other day if interested ,as I know nothing  on domestic solar power)

 Now, despite it being free, I have alarm bells going off because although it is via the reliable Octopus Energy , the company to provide and fit is Project Solar 


I  know this isn't a yes/no type question, but would like opinions on whether I am being overly cautious and looking a gift horse in the mouth, but I am seriously thinking that I may not go through with it - I dont use a huge amount of electric and my water is heated by gas anyway.And  I cant afford to have any stress or issues with the running of it, any outages would be a disaster.

 What are MSE forum members thoughts on this?

Alnat1

It's free and can only save you money. You'll have free electricity when the weather is decent, a battery to give you more free energy after dark, the option of TOU tariffs to save even more. If it did fail out of guarantee you don't have to fix it, leave it broken and you'd be in no worse a position than you are now. Although I'd guess the savings you will have made might make you think it's worth repairing.

Personally, I'd grab it.

MoneyMon555

Alnat1 said:

It's free and can only save you money. You'll have free electricity when the weather is decent, a battery to give you more free energy after dark, the option of TOU tariffs to save even more. If it did fail out of guarantee you don't have to fix it, leave it broken and you'd be in no worse a position than you are now. Although I'd guess the savings you will have made might make you think it's worth repairing.

Personally, I'd grab it.

If it developed a fault though, would I be at the mercy of Project Solar coming out , and/or losing power?

Can you just 'bypass' it in the event of an issue?

Do you have to manually do any 'switching' of things to go from battery to mains and vice versa? Or is it all automated?

They cant make you go on some expensive tariff in order to do this set up, then claim you'll never have much to pay, but only find you pay more than you do without it?

ads_2

We had solar panels and a battery fitted just over a year ago, but paid for the system. The panels and battery covered around 90% of our electricity costs during the last year.

A standard system involves installing an inverter which connects to the panels, battery and mains. This means that you will not lose your electricity connection if there is a fault with the panels or battery, but it does mean you will suffer a power cut like everyone else on your street if one occurs. There are ways to avoid even the local power cuts but that was a cost too far for us.

Do you get to own the solar system, or is it on a hire basis where you get to share the benefits with Octopus?

MoneyMon555

ads_2 said:

Do you get to own the solar system, or is it on a hire basis where you get to share the benefits with Octopus?

That is a very interesting question and thank you for bringing my attention to it. (exactly why I posted on here)

I will find out. That could be a decisive factor for me.

Alnat1

The inverter is the most likely item to fail. If it stopped working you'd simply use grid electricity.

I explain the inverter as the "brain". It automatically does all the "thinking". If the sun's out it's taking in the power generated from the panels, using it to run the house load, sticking any extra into the battery. If the battery's full, power will be exported to the grid.

You can give the inverter instructions via app/website, so could set it to fill the battery between certain hours if you choose a tariff that has cheap slots overnight. I chose Agile for winter, which you have to check every day and adjust charging times to the cheapest 30 minute slots available. Others opt for Flux which has the same cheap hours every day with fixed prices for those hours.

A PV/battery system can't cost you more than you pay now but it can save you lots if you take time to understand how it works and choose the right tariff/s for you. Our system was fitted Mar 22 and we switched to Octopus a month later once we had all the required paperwork. We are fairly low users, no EV, and the export payments (plus govt £400 last winter, savings session credits and 4 x £50 referral credits) have covered all our energy bills since. The credits have covered any electricity imported plus gas central heating costs and both standing charges. Our account is currently £270 in credit.

No brainer! Go for it.

Martyn1981

MoneyMon555 said:

Hi - I got offered home solar set up for free including installation via Octopus Warm Homes grant. (see thread I started the other day if interested ,as I know nothing  on domestic solar power)

 Now, despite it being free, I have alarm bells going off because although it is via the reliable Octopus Energy , the company to provide and fit is Project Solar 

My bold - if that's the reason for your concern, then yes, I'd be very concerned too.

MoneyMon555

Thanks for all that info @alnat , Really appreciate that

MoneyMon555

Martyn1981 said:

MoneyMon555 said:

Hi - I got offered home solar set up for free including installation via Octopus Warm Homes grant. (see thread I started the other day if interested ,as I know nothing  on domestic solar power)

 Now, despite it being free, I have alarm bells going off because although it is via the reliable Octopus Energy , the company to provide and fit is Project Solar 

My bold - if that's the reason for your concern, then yes, I'd be very concerned too.

I'm trying to work out the 'balance' of that. What could be the worst thing that could happen?

Martyn1981

MoneyMon555 said:

Martyn1981 said:

MoneyMon555 said:

Hi - I got offered home solar set up for free including installation via Octopus Warm Homes grant. (see thread I started the other day if interested ,as I know nothing  on domestic solar power)

 Now, despite it being free, I have alarm bells going off because although it is via the reliable Octopus Energy , the company to provide and fit is Project Solar 

My bold - if that's the reason for your concern, then yes, I'd be very concerned too.

I'm trying to work out the 'balance' of that. What could be the worst thing that could happen?

Excellent question. I could 'imagineer' problems, but I keep coming back to the system being free, and via Octopus, a highly professional company that appears to have its heart in the right place.

As others have said, you get a PV system (I apologise for not seeing the other thread and comments first), which I personally think is a great thing. In fact I've bored people to tears talking about them on here for a dozen years. It really is like entering the future, as your roof suddenly becomes a powerstation, and typically, they are extremely reliable with very few problems nor failures. I'd go for it, if that helps.

Perhaps you could speak to Octopus and say that you have some concerns, as relates to the extensive history you have found about the installers past. As you are the 'free recipient' it may seem cheeky, but perhaps they would be willing to arrange for a representative of theirs to carry out a quick (1hr?) review of the system install at the end of the install day - just for peace of mind, and due dilligence on their part, perhaps randomly. 


What would also be very helpful, if you proceed, is if you'd keep us updated as this is a really interesting situation for many reasons.

paul991

just check the electricians are members of |Nic Napit or MCs