Battery Vehicle Society

Well the rep came round, nice chap, didnt in anyway try to flog it, just turned up and carried out a full inspection and measure of the roof and other such things, I was pretty impressed, very professional I thought.
Thought I was going to have to get tough if he started all the normal bull with pricing i.e he has to phone his supervisor tosh but no, there was none of this, no prices were mentioned at this stage

Apparently the designers will "design" the system and let me know the maxium they can get from my roof, I'm hoping for the maximum and as the rep said you do have a great position at zero degrees from south although the roof is a slightly odd design ........... so we shall see, they will then give me a price

ChrisB

Did the same to me Chris - then I waited and waited and waited and ........

eventually I called them and they said they had the figures and would post them. It was almost as if they were waiting for me to call, to gauge my interest.

Anyhow it was 12k for 2200 watt system. We decided it was a little too pricey for that power and they would be ever so unsightly !.

What we want is the ones that look like red clay tiles - or one or two panels that deliver a couple of kWatts.

John

With everyone jumping on the solar bandwagon how long do we realistically think this sell back scheme will last? Farmers turning over fields to it with a guaranteed income sounds like the european market and unsustainable subsidies all over again. I give it five years max whatever it says on the tin

Oh dear that doesnt sound great even more so that they quoted almost 2k over their advertised price I've asked for the 3.9kw system "if" they can get enough panels on the roof at a "claimed" price of £14.5k ................. we shall see , must admit I had hoped to have something from them this week and we are getting towards the end of it, my fear is to get it in before the dreaded VAT goes up if its the right price



Think the farmers thing is totally different to the home owners version, must admit I do wonder if there so called fixed for 25yrs scheme will last or if in a few years down the line they pull the plug and go back on their word
Having said that you would still have the system, and thus be fairly energy safe, I'm looking at it that even if they pull it after say 5 yrs I'm hoping that I'd be able to recoup enough from it that it will have made it the same price as if I installed it myself ................well thats the plan

ChrisB

I have some concerns about this whole thing. They are being sold to many unsuspecting people. My wifes father is having a load installed and his girlfriend (Older / retired) has also been convinced to buy them. They are expecting to get a return on their investment. We have a 10kw set on our office roof since we have had poor weather its been generating way under 1kw. So I would question the potential returns.
On a slightly different front, but related, in the late 1990/early 2000s a lot of glass house owners were coonvinced to buy gas powered gas turbine combined heat and power units. They want the exhaust fr the added CO2 thats put into the glass house, and the heat as well, so it looked like a great idea, they got the heat and CO2 they wanted and got paid by the gas supplier for the electricity. Then the Gas/ system supplier concerned went broke, so they were then stuck with systems that no other supplier would take on, and all of a sudden the whole deal was less than good and they had made significant investment. They might have a better chance now of attracting a new supplier, but that wasnt an option then.
I would also have concerns having kit belonging to someone elese on my roof (the free installations) for 25 years or less. This would have some issues with liability if the company goes broke, and also what if you want to sell the house and the new owner doesnt want it. Result no sale.
At least if its yours, there is some control of the situation.

Personally I have my few panels to make a difference to my own house / energy usage, Im not looking at a major return, but I am looking to have a reduction in energy costs. I also have battery storage which means the power generated makes a real difference to me. Its not big, but it runs my solar water system and some internal lighting. Great when we lose mains, which is quite often.
In many locations the planning restrictions can be significant, not only if you live in a conservation area, but if your prooperty can be seen from one. I have the conservation area in my village 1m outside my property. Result my solar panels had to be on another roof face. Not perfect but OK.

At the moment lots of people see this as merely a return on an investment, not a green thing, or that they are saving the earth. They arnt.
Good luck with the installation.

Grumpy-b

Pretty much agree with everything you've said, certainly would never have one of these so called "free" installations yeah right, rent your roof out for a few quid .......dont think so.

One of my plans was to see what Tesco's came up with and then price up a system myself, NOT with the intention of selling power back but to be able to come off grid for some of the time and charge yea olde berlingo at the end of the day electricity aint going to get any cheaper.............well unless we start using Blue Power

ChrisB

Well that was a waste of a couple of hours then



errrrr

We face 0 degrees south, the roof is at 30 degrees slant and we live on the south coast, what more do they want, OK so its not going to be a breeze of an install as theres several parts to the roof area and the panels would need to be spread over these areas but otherwise

Looks to me like if its not a get in bang it up walk away job then they arnt interested

Might make a phone call later this week and see what they have to say

Otherwise back to square one and DIY it

ChrisB