"A shade greener"- anyone given Solar f.oc from them?

[ChrisT70 10]

anyone have any good things to say about "a shade greener"?

Has anyone had a system fitted by them?

 

we applied months ago, and got no response. Emailed a chase up, to be told they were inundated and wading through applications.

 

2 weeks later on we had an email saying the google earth picture showed potential shading issues (roof is almost fully south facing, garden has trees all round showing shadows on the grass, but the tree line is much lower than roof line, so no shadows possible onto roof)

 

We queried this and asked if a surveyor could actually come and see rather than relying on google earth, as we think it would be perfect going by the criteria on their website.

 

we were told then that wouldnt be possible as its too costly and time consuming to send surveyors.

 

queried this again and the reponse was that the girl who replies to the email enquiries had "double checked" the google earth picture and decided it had shading issues.

overall we are quite disapointed that a proper surveyor doesnt even check on site, obviously they are cherry picking with their "free" issue systems to do the easiest installs they can with minimal work prior.

 

now tempted to have a "paid installer" quote or at least survey the job to see if it is actually viable as it looks.

[Hanksy 10]

search free panels on here, there is a 3 page thread about a shade greener!

[Lostrider 10]

ASG are OK, I have had mine for 9 months now with no issues.

We got ours right at the start when people couldn't believe they were free so were at the top of the list.

They may feel the trees could be an issue in the future as the panels are up for 25 years minimum so the shade may increase in time. We had trees at our address but a surveyor came and decided they were too far away.

I think you are right , the demand is such that they can be picky and choose sites that have no issues.

There are other companies that do the free panels, and probably more in the future while the fits are attractive.

I think as a rule of thumb, if you are in all day the free ones offer benefits, if you out all day, and you can afford the outlay you may better purchasing a system. You can't use the free power if you are not in, and you cant store it, cheaply.

[ChrisT70 10]

ASG are OK, I have had mine for 9 months now with no issues.

We got ours right at the start when people couldn't believe they were free so were at the top of the list.

They may feel the trees could be an issue in the future as the panels are up for 25 years minimum so the shade may increase in time. We had trees at our address but a surveyor came and decided they were too far away.

I think you are right , the demand is such that they can be picky and choose sites that have no issues.

There are other companies that do the free panels, and probably more in the future while the fits are attractive.

I think as a rule of thumb, if you are in all day the free ones offer benefits, if you out all day, and you can afford the outlay you may better purchasing a system. You can't use the free power if you are not in, and you cant store it, cheaply.

 

we would simply top the tree if need be, to ensure it couldnt shade the roof at any time. it currently shades the garden only, not even as high as our bedroom window. you cant tell that from google earth pics tho, hence the disapointment that they dont even trouble themselves to send anyone round. its within their hour travelling criteria/postcode, due south, and large enough for all the panels. shame really as i dont have £12k spare, but the payback period for buying in is worth considering.

[mike-s 13]

As 'lostrider' I got mine early on in the scheme, no problems whatsoever, they had an allocation for 6000 properties and have been getting 1000 applications A WEEK!.

[ukdobby 223]

Was told months ago I wasn't suitable and lo and be hold the next street down facing south exactly same as me gets them done,whats all that about?

[ChrisT70 10]

i cant get that they judge the height of trees from a top view on google earth. no site visit as it isnt profitable for them. if google shows no trees you get it, with trees you dont regardless of if its impossible for them to throw shadows upwards! v poor company imho.

[Lostrider 10]

There may be other reasons. Roof angle comes into it but how they can tell on Google I dont know unless you are on streetview. I also think maybe they want roofs where they can fit 18 panels(3.2kwh), as this would give them the best return on there outlay. i.e fitting cost will be almost the same for 10 panels as 18.

[ChrisT70 10]

There may be other reasons. Roof angle comes into it but how they can tell on Google I dont know unless you are on streetview. I also think maybe they want roofs where they can fit 18 panels(3.2kwh), as this would give them the best return on there outlay. i.e fitting cost will be almost the same for 10 panels as 18.

 

no there are no other reasons gievn, their email says shading might be a factor , no matter if its only minor, and they cant afford to send an actual surveyor, they use google view from above which is silly. I emailed them a description of the roof height and trees which shade the actual garden but they have stopped replying now.

 

no streetview available either as its the back of the house facing woods. the roof is big enough for 18 panels. i'm getting tempted to save up for the paid install myself and get the feed in tariff myself.

Edited January 30, 2011 by ChrisT70

[Bonjon 10]

TBH its their business so if they are in doubt they will reject you as there are 1000's of applicants a week and some might fit the criteria better.

 

They will only install on ideal roofs, and they aint short on customers so can afford to be picky.

 

I wouldn't take it personally, my roof got turned down too.

[PrincessKate 10]

They offered to do our house, but we rejected instead we are thinking of installing a ground source heat pump and make use of the RHI scheme!

[ChrisT70 10]

TBH its their business so if they are in doubt they will reject you as there are 1000's of applicants a week and some might fit the criteria better.

 

They will only install on ideal roofs, and they aint short on customers so can afford to be picky.

 

I wouldn't take it personally, my roof got turned down too.

 

no its not been taken personally, i think it was us just being annoyed that the girl who deals to the email enquiries is the one who decides, and "has re-looked at the google earth picture" and confirmed its got shading issues.

 

her initial email was that "a surveyor" looked at the picture, but the "surveyor" cant look at any jobs in the flesh as it would waste money.

 

i asked her why when the picture shows no shade on the roof, and could she explain, but they ignored us completely.

 

basically its appears they are just vetting pictures using untrained (poss cheap) labour to fish out the easy jobs where they dont have any work to do to investigate. I'm a qualified and experienced engineer myself and i (wrongly) expected a site visit from someone with sense to look at the job.

 

no worries, its being publicised strongly on the back of it being free, and its probably getting peoples hopes up more than it should thats all.

 

i'd actually be confident enough to fit them myself if i had spare capital lying around to buy them in, i've fitted them to motorhomes before with good effect, and am 17th edition qualified on electrical installations so it wouldnt trouble me. anyone have some cheap panels for sale?