Help needed with solar installation certification issue

rwdl1

Hi, I'm hoping to get advice on a solar installation issue. Perhaps there are other people out there who have faced similar issues. We had a solar system installed in Scotland in July 2022 by a now defunct company 'Install Solar Ltd'. This company stated that they were MCS certified at the time of installation. Home Energy Scotland (government agency) approved our loan for the job on this basis. It became clear quickly following installation that something wasn't right about the company. They wanted final payment despite not providing the installation certificate and MCS certificate. It transpired that MCS had revoked the company's certification for compliance reasons in May 2022, prior to the company agreeing to install our system with MCS certification.

The solar system works perfectly well, but we are unable to get paid for exporting energy to the grid without MCS certification and an installation certificate. Also, we will run into issues when selling our house in the future if we have an uncertified solar system on the roof.

We have tried in vain to get assistance with this from MCS and from SP Energy Networks. MCS insist that only the original installer can certify the system, otherwise its 'tough luck' for the customer. Install Solar Ltd unsurprisingly went bust in 2022/23 after scamming numerous customers like us. We feel Home Energy Scotland are also liable for this, given they approved a large tax payer-funded loan for an installation by an uncertified company, leaving a customer in a tough situation.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Has anyone found a solution to this? Is there perhaps a legal route to go down? Thanks in advance!

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

There have been a few similar threads, both here in" Energy" and on "Green & Ethical" where solar PV is more commonly discussed.

Fundamentally, you're stuck with what you've got. You can't obtain a retrospective MCS certificate.

There are a few energy suppliers who say they'll give export tariffs to accounts that don't have MCS certificates; Octopus did offer this at one time. You might like to look around for a supplier that will accept you.

Reed_Richards

The OP, @rwdl1, was the victim of fraud by a company that claimed it was MCS certified but was not.  Is there a means by way you can check, verify a claimed MCS certification?  If there is then it ought to be better publicised and we can help by giving the details here.  But if there isn't a means of checking which guarantees the information is up to date then I think the MCS has a moral obligation to offer retrospective certification, even if that comes at a cost and the risk that your system will fail. 

Reed_Richards

Answering my own question, there is an installer database here https://mcscertified.com/find-an-installer/ .  I looked up my own installer by the name of his company and that worked but I don't know how often this database is updated and how long it takes for a company that has lost its MCS accreditation to be taken off this database.

MWT

Reed_Richards said:

But if there isn't a means of checking which guarantees the information is up to date then I think the MCS has a moral obligation to offer retrospective certification, even if that comes at a cost and the risk that your system will fail. 

I don't know how that would be possible though without dismantling the existing system and reinstalling it from the ground up.

With most installations you wouldn't even be able to inspect the quality of the wiring on the panels without scaffolding and removal of the panels...

Reed_Richards

Fair enough, @MWT, but companies that pay you for your exported electricity don't really care about the quality of your wiring, they really just want to know if the export readings are genuine.  So surely a conformance certificate should be possible, even though it might not cover build quality? 

QrizB

Reed_Richards said:

Is there a means by way you can check, verify a claimed MCS certification? 

and

Reed_Richards said:

Answering my own question, there is an installer database here https://mcscertified.com/find-an-installer/ .

Being certified by MCS also means the installer has to be a member of a certification boduy (eg. NICEIC or NAPIT) and a Consumer Code (eg. RECC or HIES). These organisations also allow you to check up on the certification of members.

When you enter into a contract with an installer they should give you all these details, and you can check them.

MWT

Reed_Richards said:

Fair enough, @MWT, but companies that pay you for your exported electricity don't really care about the quality of your wiring, they really just want to know if the export readings are genuine.  So surely a conformance certificate should be possible, even though it might not cover build quality? 

That was the direction that Octopus were heading in at one point, not sure if they are still doing that though...

The_Green_Hornet

MWT said:

Reed_Richards said:

Fair enough, @MWT, but companies that pay you for your exported electricity don't really care about the quality of your wiring, they really just want to know if the export readings are genuine.  So surely a conformance certificate should be possible, even though it might not cover build quality? 

That was the direction that Octopus were heading in at one point, not sure if they are still doing that though...

Octopus also accept solar installations certified under the FlexiOrb scheme but, as with MCS, this requires that the installer is registered with them. It cannot be done retrospectively.

MWT

The_Green_Hornet said:

MWT said:

Reed_Richards said:

Fair enough, @MWT, but companies that pay you for your exported electricity don't really care about the quality of your wiring, they really just want to know if the export readings are genuine.  So surely a conformance certificate should be possible, even though it might not cover build quality? 

That was the direction that Octopus were heading in at one point, not sure if they are still doing that though...

Octopus also accept solar installations certified under the FlexiOrb scheme but, as with MCS, this requires that the installer is registered with them. It cannot be done retrospectively.

I didn't think I'd imagined it...

This is the current T&Cs :

Qyburn

How does if leave you with G98/G99? MCS certificate number was part of our G99 submission.