Free UK solar?

[Kidds]

I see a lot of adverts for free solar panels fitted to your house.
Could anyone tell me the catches?

FiL who is prone to scammers has invited a salesman round, would like to know what to be aware of other than the don't invite salesmen round part.

 

[Wisconsonian]

It's a cheap system installed, leased or they take the payment out of your electric bill, and the companies swap ownership so fast you have no where to call to get it fixed but the payments continue. That's how it works here anyway.

 

[Still Farming]

All free ????
Yes possibly all installed free.
Yes possibly electric free.
They take the feed in tariffs often.
They buy or sell their rights to other companies often.
You want to sell house or repair roof etc your in bed with them or who ever their traded THEIR assets too and often want mega money to relinquish their remained of say a 20yr contract etc etc etc.
Panels are so cheap these days do it yourself and be your own boss.
Do not sign nothing or VERBALLY agree anything and read the small print CAREFULLY maybe???

 

[Farmer 059]

No such thing as free! Rent a roof has issues for household insurance, dodgy components, risk of damage during install and you have zero control or comeback and no chance to break the contract - better to do it yourself using a well recommended solar expert.

 

[Exfarmer]

The biggest risk with these schemes are if you own the house outright. They will want a charge on the property to install the panels. This will mean that if you want to sell the property at any time anyone purchasing will have difficulty, if not impossible to get a mortgage as as all the banks will insist on first charge.
This means when the house is sold in most cases the owner of the panels will need paying off and I think in the contracts this will mean nearly if not more than the actual retail value

 

[JCMaloney]

Its highly likely the company that installs them and signs you up to an onerous contract will not be around in 5 years time and their assets/contracts will have moved to another company.
Then the fun starts around ownership, warranty, charges on property etc etc.

Had similar at MiL`s house.

 

[PowerDifferent]

In my experience, most of these ads are "click bait" generated by marketing companies who then sell the leads on to their clients.
"No Upfront Costs" is nothing more than a monthly finance agreement instead of paying cash.
As far as I am aware, the domestic rent-a-roof "free" schemes disappeared as soon as the feed-in-tariff scheme ended.
There are, however, some grant arrangements available which were mentioned in article in The Independent a few days ago - https://www.independent.co.uk/advisor/solar-panels/solar-panel-grants.

 

[Doing it for the kids]

Just don’t.

If a 3rd party an take a profit out of the job then do it yourself and enjoy that too

 

[Still Farming]

In my experience, most of these ads are "click bait" generated by marketing companies who then sell the leads on to their clients.
"No Upfront Costs" is nothing more than a monthly finance agreement instead of paying cash.
As far as I am aware, the domestic rent-a-roof "free" schemes disappeared as soon as the feed-in-tariff scheme ended.
There are, however, some grant arrangements available which were mentioned in article in The Independent a few days ago - https://www.independent.co.uk/advisor/solar-panels/solar-panel-grants.

Most likely in the same " bracket" these days as FREE insulation, boiler , etc etc grant sections allegedly too ???

 

[C.E.S]

As others have mentioned it'll either be 'rent-a-roof' in which they'd usually charge you for the energy used in the home or perhaps ECO4 which is a government funded subsidy for low income households (usually installed alongside insulation, ashp ect).

If you can raise the capital invest yourself - solar is a really great product with longevity

 

[Happysun power generator]

The most expensive things usually wear a free coat

 

[Happysun power generator]

Even In China, the price for 500W panel is cost around £50

 

[puppet]

I see a lot of adverts for free solar panels fitted to your house.
Could anyone tell me the catches?

FiL who is prone to scammers has invited a salesman round, would like to know what to be aware of other than the don't invite salesmen round part.

They will have a 3 hour script to wear you down involving calls to their manager who will knock 40% off the inflated price.
Same as double glazing, doors or insurance. There are government grants for panels and insulation which he should access.

 

[JCMaloney]

We`ve just signed up for a solar quote via the District Council (Blaby)

You tell them what you have eg: 3 bed semi, South facing roof etc and they collate the info with other people in the district.

The suppliers than participate in a reverse auction and you get sent a "preferred supplier" to do a quote.

No commitment either way, no pressure selling.

Could be a winner.