Questions answered
What I do, whether it is worth it, what it costs, and what happens when you get in touch. Plain answers, no sales pitch.
Read the answers → Confused by the terms?Jargon explained
kWp, inverter, self-consumption, G98, MCS, roof lease and the rest, each in a paragraph you can actually use.
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Buying a house that already has solar panels: what to ask for
Panels on the roof of a house you are buying are either an asset worth a few thousand pounds, a system that has quietly stopped working, or someone else's property under a lease. Five questions and a handful of documents tell you which.
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Does a home battery make sense? The four numbers that decide
A battery can be the best part of a solar system or the most expensive mistake in it, and the quote will not tell you which. Four numbers from your own bills and the quote decide it, and you can work them out in an evening.
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Solar for an office, workshop or farm: five things to settle before anyone quotes
On a business roof the quotes are bigger, the roof is often older, and the grid connection can decide the whole project. Settle these five things first and the installers quote against the same facts, which is the only way to compare them.
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The two meter readings that tell you whether your solar is working
Your monitoring app shows that the system is on. It does not show whether it is producing what it should. Two readings from the generation meter, a year apart, answer that question, and this is how to take them and what to compare them with.
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Solar on a new-build: how to choose between the developer's options
New homes increasingly come with solar, and the developer's contractor will offer you a menu. The options are priced for the developer's convenience, not your usage. Here is how to tell which one, if any, is right for the house you are buying.
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Adding a battery to a Feed-in Tariff system: what to check first
If your solar was installed between 2010 and 2019 you are probably being offered a battery. It can be a good idea. Here is what it does and does not do to your FiT payments, and the four questions to ask before you sign.
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What "free solar" and roof leases actually commit you to
Somebody wants to put panels on your roof at no cost to you. The panels are free; the roof is not. Here is what these agreements usually contain, what they decide for the next twenty-five years, and what to read before signing.
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Why a solar system underperforms, and how to tell if yours does
Most systems lose a little output every year without anyone noticing. Here are the six usual causes, in the order they are worth checking, and a ten-minute test you can do from your own meter readings.
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How to read a solar quote: the five numbers that matter
Most solar quotes are three pages of kit and one page of promises. These five numbers tell you whether the system is right for you, and most quotes get at least one of them wrong.
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Not sure where to start? That is what the first call is for.
Most enquiries begin with a fifteen-minute conversation and a look at whatever you already have: a quote, a screenshot of your monitoring app, a contract, your bills. If the honest answer is that you do not need me, I will say so, and it costs you nothing.