During the three months that Homesun misled me with their
false advertising (since amended) I gradually came to the conclusion that if solar panels
made any sense at all it could only be if they were owned outright. Signing over your roof
to someone for 25 years looks like a very risky gamble to me and some banks are known to be
refusing mortgages on such properties; so I looked around for an alternative supplier.
I ruled out all the big names precisely because they were big names, so British Gas, Tesco and
the diversifying double glazing companies werent considered, I wanted someone who
would apply their own expertise to the project but allow me to specify how it was put together.
Googling for user comments led me to a small number of apparently independent installers. The
one with the most attractive and informative website was
Solstice Energy of Putney;
not too far from me, so I left my details on their website. Within hours they phoned
with an apology for not getting back to me even sooner and we agreed a survey date for later
the same week.
The surveyors measured the roof, inspected the loft area and discussed my
proposal for putting the inverter and associated equipment in the garage and my
suggestion as to how the cables could be routed invisibly. Unlike Homesuns
surveyor they were happy to sit down and discuss the various options. A few days
later I received a quotation that fell just inside my budget and a proposed
installation date if I should accept it.
Before I did so I questioned the choice of inverter and asked for detailed
drawings to keep the local councils Building Control people happy. All my
questions were answered in a professional manner, often with PDF files and web links
for additional detail. I accepted the quotation and the proposed installation
date beginning 4th January 2011. It was anticipated the job might take four days
but in the event being able to back their van up to the garage door made
fetching and carrying tools and materials so much quicker than taking them into
the roof space that the job was completed in three days. A pictorial record of
the installation is available from the Solstice Energy sub-menu.
A week after completion of the installation an Operation and Maintenance manual
arrived in the post which also detailed all the equipment in use, schematic
diagram and the electrical compliance certificate. The makers documentation for
all the equipment installed had been given to me during installation.
Do I have any criticisms? Well to go into hyper nit-picking mode, I think I
would have preferred the panels to be arranged symmetrically on the roof rather
than being offset to the right which has the minor benefit of shortening the DC
cable run but with no over-riding benefit and the sleeving of some connections
in the meter box is effective more than it is neat and tidy. On the other hand
all the equipment and cabling is laid out exactly as I requested and when I
asked if the armoured cable could be routed underground when I realised it was
going to be very ugly fixed to the house wall there were no complaints even
though it caused quite a lot of extra work not least of which was drilling a
35mm diameter hole through a 9 inch brick pillar and the garages concrete floor.
January 2011