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We were told that we had the maximum number of panels allowed by UK Power Networks for domestic systems. The limit was managed by not having more panels. We had 42 panels but could have accommodated more. Any more would have caused us problems with UK Power Networks. It seems that we have exported all of our generation. We have been billed for all of our usage with no allowance for having 40 odd solar panels in a very sunny region of the country!

The panels can generate 14 kw at any one time. We were told that this is the limit allowed before having to apply for special permissions from UK Power Networks. Since they went live in around April/May time we have generated over 9000 kwh. Our reason for getting agitated was that our usage, that we are being billed for, is about the same! The electricians kept telling us that our usage was normal but how could that be right if we have generated over 9000kwh?! It now looks like the solar has all been going out and not feeding our usage

We are extremely careful to spread the load of our appliances. Washing, tumble drying and dishwashing all wait for a sunny day and are turned on separately from each other. We have a wood burner but if we use the heat pump it is only on during daylight hours etc etc. So annoying to have to fight so hard to achieve the acknowledgment that things were not right. Such drastic action as to changer the inverter, re jig the solar strings and the three phase does smack of an almighty bloomer on their part.

We have a result! They are now saying that the inverter from the solar panels is "faulty". This in spite of two people saying it was "working fine". Their solution is to replace it but, as that model is now discontinued, they will upgrade it to a larger one. Hmmm Alongside this they will need to reconfigure some of the wiring on the roof. They are also saying that the three phase supply is sending out "some" of our generated power straight to the grid so they will need to do some work on that. The electrician who installed our set up told us that he is not trained in solar and has not installed three phase before. The boss is a highly skilled electrician and expert in all things solar and they now have a second solar expert in the company who was not there when we had our installation done. I am thinking that they left our chap to install it all in spite of him not being au fait with solar or three phase!

He is now going to "speak to the boss". Hmmmm.

Quick update. We are still battling this problem! The company we used has grown considerably and is involved in huge solar installations. They employed an office manager who was, apparently, useless and they are still picking up the pieces. One of those pieces is that she did not apply for our certificates (MCS is one and there was another) and so that has only just come through about nine months late. After much badgering from me they sent out their "solar expert" who was most puzzled that our export is roughly equal to our import! He went away and, eventually, came back with some sort of meter that he put on our smart meter (?). That was a week ago and we are still awaiting the results from the, week long, test he was supposed to be downloading. He tried to imply that we have air source heating and a fairly large square footage to heat. I told him that the heating was not on in summer (!) and that we never have it on at night now just during the day. We use the wood burner at night. All appliances are used when the sun is shining etc etc. Cheeky burger mentioned using candles and, if it was cold, lighting them!

We built the way that is being suggested. You may find that each trade that comes on site recommends another trade. We would stop and ask, at a single building site, for recommendations. Another route is to make friends of you local Builders Merchants. The guys on the counter know all the local trades and often have a nose for who is good and who is not. Our carpenters were well known for sending stuff back if it wasn't up to their high standards etc.

A small developer near us has started putting bungalows on all his developments. He was forced, on a four plot development, to build bungalows by the LPA and they sold like hot cakes! On the next development of five plots, two were bungalows and they sold first while the large four and five bedroom houses hung around while people haggled over the asking price. Bungalows are suitable for everyone but not everyone can or, indeed, wants to live in a house. It could be said that it is discrimination against the disabled to build a whole development with no single storey houses available.

I agree with the comment about not opening up the whole of the ground floor. We did it once in an old Victorian house we renovated and I hated it from the get go. I felt that if I was at one end of the space I should be at the other end and could never feel comfortable. We renovated two more houses and didn't make either of those open plan. Never regretted it. With this new build everyone assumed we would have the whole kitchen/diner/lounge affair but we have stuck with the kitchen, which is large enough for a table and chairs, together with a more formal dining room and a large lounge. Having lived in it, now, for nine months we are happy with that layout. We still have visitors who say "Ooh - you could knock through from the dining room to the kitchen or the lounge to dining room". Why? When I am relaxing I don't want reminding of food prep/cooking or of a table waiting to be fully cleared etc. Builders, of course, love the open plan layout because it covers a smaller footprint.

Following this as we have just had our solar guy out to talk about battery storage. He sells them and he mentioned that he is not recommending one to us but would advise us to go down the flexible tariff route. I have to qualify this by saying that he was in defence mode after examining our system which we are suspicious has been wired up wrongly to send the energy from our 46 solar panels straight to the grid down one phase of our three phase set up. Still awaiting his final verdict on that but he was one subdued salesman after he looked at our meter and checked out the wiring in the loft. When that is all sorted we will have to look closely at the Cosy option. We are retired so can adjust our usage to suit the grid.

Apart from the heat problem I always thought that we should not look at screens above our normal field of vision. Indeed they are supposed to be slightly below it. That is why tv units are so low. Surely above the mantlepiece is too high for comfortable viewing?

Do be aware that Highways often just just use Google Earth to decide matters. If it comes down to fine details then do get them out. Our whole project was nearly scuppered by Highways' opinion based on them looking at Google Earth rather than coming out with a tape measure!

Having served on our Parish Council I can tell you that most are lay people who know nothing about planning regs. They may, indeed, object but the objection has to be a valid one. It cannot just be a spiteful "we don't like it" kind of objection or it will be ignored.

Our neighbour was told the same about a section 106 and a contribution for affordable housing. He queried it and was told that if he reduced the footprint of the house he would not be subject to the section 106. He duly re submitted plans for a house with a smaller footprint, got consent for it with no section 106, then put in for changes that would increase the size to the original one planned.

Yes, I agree. We wanted to use an existing farm track to access our new build. It had been in use for hundreds of years by all sorts of farm machinery. Of course when we wanted to include it as our access road we were asked to get a tree survey done followed by a report on whether root guards would be needed etc etc etc. We put our "official" driveway over the other side of the plot. We still had a fight over the "visibility splay" which was well within the legal limit. They look on google earth and tell us "no - splay not wide enough". We had to stamp our feet and get them to actually come out with a tape measure before we could get on with it!

I used to work in a Builders Merchants. There are various levels of discount depending on how much you are likely to spend. The best kind of account is a "Cash Account". This means that you pay cash (debit/credit card etc) at the time of ordering. This beats all the big boys who have "Accounts" that they promise to pay within 3 months but rarely do. Whilst it is a trade secret what the discounts are for each individual customer they are much more likely to want to deal with a cash customer than any credit customer. I phoned around for each order and our local merchant always beat them (deliveries cost money). That was all except on one occasion when I beat their price on insulation. He could not believe the price I had been quoted and I had to prove it before he approached his Area Manager so that he could supply it to me at what was cost to him!

These ecologists like to make work for themselves. When Anglian Water were surveying for the installation of a main sewer in our village we had a visit from the ecologists. There is a, natural, pond on our property. They were looking for Great Crested Newts and paid regular visits to try to spot any. We forbade them entry in the end because they were turning up at gone 10 pm with a whoosh of gravel on our driveway, then made their way to the pond through our back gates without a by your leave. Goodness knows what they were charging AW! They took no notice of us telling them that the pond had the water from a leaking artesian well running through it which rendered it much too cold a habitat for newts! Good luck with the bats. We do have them around here (sshhh) but we, somehow, evaded them sending out a bat detector.

Ah, that may be why then. I think the seller was a bit bemused by how much interest he was getting.

All sorted on the digger front One came up very local to us and we happened to see it on Facebook just after it was posted. We viewed it the next day. He was a very nice chap and well known in the local area for being fair to deal with. It is a Takeuchi 016. It comes with 3 buckets and has a cab (essential for us) He has owned it a while and it had one owner before him. Lots of interest in it but we got in first. Some people are buying to export apparently?!

I will chat this through with the owner of the company that installed it. He is highly regarded in his field Trouble is that he is also extremely busy in this current climate.

No gas here. We have Air Source Heat Pump. It is a new build so as efficient as we can make it.

Oh yes. Getting that sorted is our main priority. Selling us a battery set up might just lure them here a bit more smartish Feeling despondent today. Got a bill for the scaffolding on the garage, which has hardly been used due to one hold up or another - sigh.

Will do my best to squeeze them for what we can get. We are intending on getting a battery for the solar so might be able to strike a deal on that. No to the PV divert to our HW immersion heater. Husband is a retired plumber so he could figure it out if the sparky was to help.

The contractors have already applied for it. It should have been applied for long ago but the duff office manager did not do it. They couldn't be more apologetic but that does not help us does it!?