Free solar panels

[stoop]

quote:Originally posted by desmartinson

whats the point stoop, surely you dont get enough sun in england to make it profitable.

The company that is fitting them free gratis obviously have different ideas  

[stoop]

Well - all up and running. Arrived at 7-30am and finished by 1-30pm! Excellent lads all 3 of them.

Interesting point is that the leccy pointed out my meter was going backwards when I'm putting power back into the grid. He said this is normal - so I guess it sort of stores the electric you don't use and goes forward again when you do use non solar power. I've seen a few topics on this and some say it's illegal but surely a company like this (who have fitted thousands of systems) know what they are doing.

I'll put some pictures up when they remove the scaffolding.

[keng38]

My dad had a 3.5kw system added and has generated about £500 worth of electric so far.
His meter runs backwards as well but I dont think the electricity generated is metered.
I have heard the government look at the size of panels, angle of roof and direction facing and work it out from the Manufacturers guaranteed figures.
My electric bill is around £120 a month so would definately have these if I could get a loan.

Stoop what benefit do you get from them owning the system?

[stoop]

The benefit is that we are at home at least 6 days a week and we can use all the free electricity we can produce. Plus if the meter goes backwards when we are not using it then we gain both ways - we can use that electric later. I also don't have to worry about anything going wrong as the owners will fix it asap if they want to maximise their return.

Don't get me wrong though - if I had £15,000 sat in an account doing nothing I would have bought them myself. A nice pension if you have the cash to lay out.

[Rimms]

Stoop, be careful about the meter running backwards, that is illegal under the 'Feed in Tariff' scheme. The company should have either fitted an  "Import / Export" meter or have arranged for the utility company to fit such a meter which will show how much has been generated (for which your installer will get 41p per kwh) and how much has been exported (for which they get a further 3p per Kwh) and how much has been imported from the grid for which you need to pay for. With your meter running backwards, you are getting free electric and the amount of electric you have actually used  is being reduced  and they are getting both the generation and export tariff. Your benefit in this scheme is only the free electric that you use and not to have your meter run backwards and lower your quarterly payment. Think of it as if you went over to Calis for 3 months and did not use any of the free electric from the panels. Your installer would get the generation tariff and your meter would run backwards so the electric company would owe you a big refund as your meter would read several hundred Kwh hours lower than the previous reading.  

You might find that the Utility provider turns up and fits a meter, but be careful, some have been caught out and my friend who had the 4Kw system fitted showed me the form he had to fill in to register for the FIT which clearly asks the question, "does the meter run backwards when the PV is generating" he had to tell the truth as there is no way he would not be found out and EON were out in days to fit the new meter.

[stoop]

I checked this out with the fitters and they have told me to let British gas know that I have a wheel type meter. Then it's up to them to change it if they want to. Some don't bother as they say they will roll out smart meters before too long.

Might leave it a few days though ;-)

To be fair they have been told that I have solar and they should know my meter is an old type but I'll make sure I drop them a line.

[Rimms]

As I said, be careful, if you get copped, it's your syetem and your electric meter, not the bloke who installed it.

[stoop]

I've emailed BG to let them know that I have a wheel type meter and that we had panels fitted on the 9th. It's now up to them to decide if they want to replace my meter or not.

I'll keep you informed on this as it will be interesting to see how long they take to reply and replace it.

[Rimms]

Let's hope they forget, your on a massive winner at the moment, long may it last

[stoop]

Just had the washer on plus usual background stuff and it's dull. It still went backwards