patp

Thanks. I like the option of another company putting the matter right. Does anyone advise on compensation?

No they did not give a reason. I assumed that is where they sent all cases considered to be in need of mediation. Yes the strings are dangling. I wondered why the company wanted to come out to sort them out once they were discovered. Are they dangerous?

MCS have escalated the complaint to NICEIC. Will update when I know more.

This is the resolution that Spartek are offering. I can never fully eliminate human error and people will always make mistakes – All I can do is put things right and I hope you are happy with our resolution today. -------------------------------------- To Summarize: Issues Low generation due to unconnected string since installation. Loss of export payments due to paperwork returned incorrect and in an untimely manor. Resolutions Spartek to compensate for calculated loss of generation of approx. 3500kwh based on current 20/80 usage/export ratio (export rate TBC) Spartek to compensate for loss of export (export rate TBC) Good Will Spartek to replace existing Solis Inverter for new Huawei Hybrid inverter FOC as good will gesture & set up Huawei’s high end monitoring system. Spartek to connect ‘lost string’ at same time --------------------------------------------------- There is no mention of the positioning of the panels that are in shade. He denies that the shade is having any effect on generation. I give below the shade report from our advisor - Shade report (1).pdf

Does anyone know if MCS actually come out and inspect the work. We already suspect that the original contractor is trying to palm us off with an inferior inverter to the one already fitted. They have already tried to send out the original fitter to connect up the strings that he missed the first time! He told us he "does not do solar" and that he "does not do" three phase. This is the comment from our advisor about the inverter problem. Remember that the original installer came twice and declared that there was "nothing wrong with the inverter". We were, apparently, just using too much power. Advisor - "The Huawei Hybrid inverter is £381.99 cheaper than the solis equivalent, with that costing way over £1,762.91 (Huawei £1,380.92). The Solis App isn’t great, however when it’s all running you will rarely need to look at it." Original installer -

It was the boss of the original firm, himself, who found a whole row of strings hanging behind roofing felt. No wonder he wants to come and connect them all up. Two of his employees, one of them a sarky "I have been in solar for 28 years" guy had been up in the roof space to "check if everything is working properly" prior to the boss discovering the unconnected strings. The employee who installed the system, along with wiring the rest of the house, declared that solar, and three phase, were "not his thing". No one came out to check his installation. Alongside all these tangible errors they did not give a solar quote which would have given us an idea of how the shading on the roof would affect the system. They did not issue an MCS, and another certificate, until I was trying to sign up with the Octopus tarif and they asked for it. It is an unbelievable mess. i am starting to think that I should engage legal help with this.

What have others done? The walls are made of blockwork. I have googled a bit and most of them come up with dry lining type solutions, shiplap being one of them. We are having some K render type finish on the outside. Am thinking that would be too expensive on the inside.

I asked the original installer where the RCD unit was for the solar system. This is his reply - There is no RCD installed on the Solar System. We do not install RCDs on Solar circuits as it can cause nuisance tripping – We install the cabling in a method compliant with BS7871 so no Additional Protection (RCD) is required on the circuit. I’m not sure what this special camera is ? Can you please provide me with more details and the report issued by your advisor. Our sell price for a Huawei Hybrid Inverter is £1850, our sell price for a Solis Inverter is £1000. The Huawei online monitoring is far superior than that of Solis & the Huawei also allows for direct connection of batteries where as the Solis does not. Sorry to hear this is causing you stress, I do feel the resolution I offered you was very fair and proportionate. If you are going to refer this to MCS then I will let the process take its course, however you still have an unconnected string which needs to be resolved – Can we still attend to rectify this ? Will take no more than 2 hours.

That's very interesting about the 3 phase @SteamyTea. We have 46 panels, most of them on a South facing roof with some on a West facing roof. We also have 3 phase. We hoped that with so many panels in sunny Norfolk we would cover most of our power needs but now wonder if one inverter is going to cope? The installer is very experienced but just got very busy during the period of our installation and sent the ordinary electrician to install our system. He would regularly say that "I don't know - I don't do solar" or "I don't know about 3 phase". We assumed that a solar expert would arrive to check the system but that never happened. @Dillsue that is my instinct. MCS, however seem to want the original guy to sort out his mess. To be fair he is willing to do that but we are not always happy with his idea of a fix. I suppose we could let him fix his mess and then get it checked out by the second guy and go from there?

On first enquiry they just try to push the original installer to come back and sort it out. When I outline how many faults there are, and how clever the installer appears to be, they say "would you like us to refer it then?". It seems that they expect the installer to rush around sorting it out if they hear they are being reported to MCS. I understand that if it is just a case of one fault that is acceptable. We have a series of faults, and a disagreement between professionals as to how they should be addressed. That is my biggest problem - that I am not able to decide which one of the two is best qualified to advise. An instance of the above is that the original installer wants to change the Solis inverter, that he fitted, for a Huawei one. He cites the Huawei one has better technology for him to do remote monitoring. At the beginning of all this I was told, twice, that the inverter was fine. Then they decided it was faulty! Hmmm. The second guy says there is no need to replace the Solis as it is a better inverter than the Huawei. As that (the free replacement inverter) is part of the "compensation" deal that was offered I would then have to re negotiate what they offer. So draining.........

Who checks that he has rectified it? We can't keep paying the other guy to come and check it. As far as I can tell MCS only tell the original contractor to put it right. He is willing to put it right. I cannot find out if they send someone to oversee the work.

The installer has emailed and wants to come and connect all the loose strings up. He says it will only take a couple of hours. I am concerned that he is going to be up in the roof space covering his tracks. Am I being paranoid?!

Latest problem is that the installer is insisting that we need to change the Solis inverter for a Huawei one. Second chap says that Solis is fine so why change it and he is looking for faults! The original company seem absolutely obsessed with changing the Solis inverter after telling us, twice, that it was fine! I have contacte MCS and, after filling out their complaint form, they have emailed me to ask me to fill in their complaint form! Am I going mad here?! I phoned them and they seemed a bit reluctant to get involved until I explained what had happened up to now. I am doing my best with my limited technological skills to put the complaint together in the format they require. I thought that passing it over to them might take away the stress not add to it

Wildflowers? They do have to be cut but only once per year!

Yeah, it is driving me nuts to be honest

Does anyone have an opinion on the Huawei inverter in comparison to the Solus. One guy is telling us one thing while the other prefers the other. The Solis has been fitted from the start but the original guy seems to have a bee in his bonnet about changing it. First he wanted to fit a larger unit and now he wants to change to Huawei. Our advisor says that the Solis is the best.

Thanks guys. I do admit to feeling, as piggy in the middle, a bit overwhelmed by it all. The second guy is very annoyed that another installer has disregarded all the MCS rules and regulations. I am feeling nervous now about telling the installer of the latest findings as, while he stays professional, he is a very forceful character. Should I give him the chance to answer the latest findings i.e. the fact that there is no RCD on the solar set up and that a special shade measuring camera has indicated that about a third of the panels cannot function properly? He glossed over both of those issues during his damage limitation visit the other day.

Well, we called out the owner or another solar installation company and he has found multiple faults on the system! I have taken advice from another MCS Approved Installer, who inspected the installation, and gives me the following information :- 1) There was not a MCS/RECC approved quote a) Shading issues were not noted - I believe this has led to an installation not fit for purpose as the tall trees in the immediate vicinity will cause heavy shading issues. b) Annual yield was not noted therefore the customer has blindly accepted the quote. 2) The installation has been installed wrong: a) The panels on the south facing roof have been connected to form 1 x string. This potentially will create a voltage far higher than the inverter is designed to take. This should have been connected to form 2 strings and therefore halving the voltage, and increasing the annual yield. b) There is no RCD protection for the solar PV system. c) I question whether the installer is qualified - the overall job would suggest otherwise! 3) The MCS certificate has the wrong details. a) It has the wrong installation/commissioning date. b) It states only 1 system (should be 2 as the install covers two roof spaces. 4) There was no handover pack issued - the client therefore has no warranties, guarantees or any information about the system. I got a reply - 1) There was not a MCS/RECC approved quote a) Shading issues were not noted - I believe this has led to an installation not fit for purpose as the tall trees in the immediate vicinity will cause heavy shading issues. Panels were installed where they are as you did not want to see them from the Garden. b) Annual yield was not noted therefore the customer has blindly accepted the quote. 2) The installation has been installed wrong: a) The panels on the south facing roof have been connected to form 1 x string. This potentially will create a voltage far higher than the inverter is designed to take. This should have been connected to form 2 strings and therefore halving the voltage, and increasing the annual yield. This I agree with an needs to be looked into & corrected if the case. b) There is no RCD protection for the solar PV system. – Incorrect c) I question whether the installer is qualified - the overall job would suggest otherwise! 3) The MCS certificate has the wrong details. a) It has the wrong installation/commissioning date. I will look into this b) It states only 1 system (should be 2 as the install covers two roof spaces. Incorrect 4) There was no handover pack issued - the client therefore has no warranties, guarantees or any information about the system. This is normally sent via email, I have requested the office put together a hard copy and post out to you asap or I can bring with me on Thursday. I did not say that we did not want to see the panels from the garden! I commented that I thought all solar panels went on the South facing roof. If shading had been explained to me, and if I had got a proper estimate, as required under his registration, I would have happily had them on the West facing roof. He came out to talk things through with us. He apologised for all the errors and offered to change the inverter from a Sonus to a Huawei free of charge, retrieve a whole load of strings that were hanging down behind the felting and, therefore not connected (!) and compensate us for our electricity costs and loss of FIT. He glossed over the shading issue from the mature trees on the South side saying we would generate enough for out usage even with the shade. Our advisor came out again with his shade measuring camera and stood by his claim that the panels would not generate optimum power in the shade. He then looked for the RCD unit for the solar system and confirms that there is not one. We do have one large one for the main supply but not one for the solar. He still maintains that the paperwork is not correct. He tells us that the Sonus unit is the best one and cannot understand why they seem obsessed with changing it. My thinking is that they have a Huawei hanging around and hope fitting it for free will appease us. My thinking is that I should go to the NICEIC and ask them to do an inspection and then take over the arbitration in the matter. I feel drained

Gulp

Has anyone ever looked into the cost of a lift as opposed to a stair lift? I have horror stories of my mother having to be fireman lifted over her stair lift when she collapsed upstairs in her house. I know that some people design a lift into their self build to future proof them and just wondered at the cost of them. We are considering a move to a retirement village where the "bungalow" actually has stairs! Also has dormer windows but we could live with them. We love the surroundings and everything else about it but not the stairs. Don't want to invite a lift salesman round

Is there no other downstairs wc? If so it is a no brainer to put one in.

It is me that is not explaining it very well. They work for large builders and local authorities, now, so are more than competent if not rather over stretched The inverter was declared to be working fine by two people checking it and then, when the boss was brought in, he declared it "faulty". It is being replaced with a new, larger, one. This, of course, is cover up speech for "we installed one that was too small and now we have to fix it without losing face".

I agree with JohnMo about them being a rip off. The companies that hold the contracts charge ridiculous prices and the grant just brings them down to nearer normal prices.

Thanks I will check when next I speak to the owner of the company. He is very knowledgeable, but also very elusive as he is always away on big contracts. I would imagine we don't have an 11kw inverter and that is why they are replacing it. He explained, right at the start, that if we went any larger than the 40 odd panels we would need to apply for permissions. We agreed that there was no need, on a three bedroom bungalow, to go any larger. My reason for updating this post was to give feedback that we have solved the problem. Of course if their solution does not work then I will be back

The smart meter is at the end of a long drive in the green box. It was a new, three phase, meter installed, by Octopus, earlier this year so must, surely, be a smart meter? As far as we can see there is only one reading on it and that is our usage. They went and looked at it, scratched their heads, and then came back a few days later, with a device to fit to it so that could tell them what was going on. I presume that was a polyphase meter (?) They said that the export and import are almost exactly the same. The in house reading, that we can see, tells us, too, that we have imported roughly the same as we have exported. Our usage roughly equals what we used in the old house before building this super insulated one and installing 40 odd solar panels! I think that we can assume, therefore, that we are exporting all our solar generation. We are not signed up, yet, to any feed in tariffs due to another error on the electricians part where we did not get the MCS certificate until recently and it is still with Octopus awaiting their/UKPN approval. The fact that they are going to install a new, larger, inverter and restring the solar panels together with some work on the three phase system says it all really. It is a complete turnaround from blaming us for using all the, generated power, and a whole lot more on top. They made a big error, I believe, in leaving the original electrician, who admits to not being their solar guy or to know anything about three phase, to install our whole system which says it all really.