You have a quote for solar, a battery or both. Before you sign, I check whether it is the right size, whether the savings claims stand up, and what to go back and ask. Fixed fee, plain English, two working days.
- Is the system sized to what you use, not just your roof?
- Do the savings and payback claims stand up?
- Does a battery make sense on your tariff?
- Is the equipment and warranty what you want?
- A basic check of a short installation contract, included
- A list of questions to put to the installer
I’m an electrical engineer and could read the specs, but I still wanted an independent check before spending £12,000. Dale’s yield and payback modelling meant I could choose between three offers with confidence.
If you are building or renovating a house, running an estate, or putting solar on a small commercial building, you are being asked to make decisions about solar, battery storage, a heat pump and EV charging that will define your running costs for twenty-five years. The only technical input available is from the people selling each of those things. A Second Opinion is the independent engineer’s view, at a price that makes sense for the size of the project: £200 for a home, £400 for a business premises.
What I review
The quotation and proposed design in front of you: whether the system is sized to your actual consumption rather than your roof area, whether the yield and savings claims stand up, whether the battery makes sense against your tariff and daily profile, whether the specification is what you want, and what to go back and ask the installer.
For self-builds and estates with several buildings, mixed loads, listed fabric or a farm attached, the same review covers how solar, storage, heat pump and EV charging behave as one system, in a Scottish January rather than in a spreadsheet.
A basic contract check is included
Most domestic quotes come with a short contract of a few pages. I read it as part of the Second Opinion and flag anything that matters, at no extra cost. Longer or more involved documents, such as roof leases, free-solar agreements and anything over about five pages, are the separate Contract and Lease Check.
Heat pumps and EV chargers
I review heat pump and EV charger quotes only as part of a whole-house Second Opinion alongside solar or a battery, where the point is how the pieces work together. I do not review a stand-alone heat pump quote on its own.
What you get
A short written review, in plain language, with a list of questions for the installer and a clear view on whether to proceed, renegotiate or walk away. Delivered within two working days of receiving the documents, with a call to go through it.
I have no relationship with any installer and take no commission from anyone. If the quote in front of you is good, I will tell you that too.
What to send
The quote or proposal, your last twelve months of electricity bills or a smart-meter export if you have one, and a photo or satellite view of the roof. If you have more than one quote, send them all; comparing them on the same basis is half the value.
Why it is capped
This is deliberately a small, fixed-price product. I take a maximum of four a month so that it never competes with larger engagements for attention, and so that the turnaround holds. If the month is full I will say so and offer the next available slot.
People often ask
Why not just trust the installer? They are the experts.
Good installers are experts at installing. But the person quoting the job is also the person who benefits if you say yes, and the system they propose is shaped by what they stock and how they price. That is not dishonest, it is structural.
For a new roof or a boiler replacement you would expect someone independent to specify the work and check it was done properly. Solar is a twenty-five-year asset that often costs more than either, and almost nobody has that person. I am that person.
My project is small. Is paying for advice worth it?
Sometimes not, and I will tell you if so. The Second Opinion exists for exactly this: a fixed fee, two working days, and a clear answer on whether the quote in front of you is sound. It costs a small fraction of the price of the installation, and the three things it checks, the system size against your usage, the savings assumptions, and the small print, are the three places a quote most often goes wrong.
My quote expires on Friday. Can you look at it in time?
Usually, yes. Send it today and the Second Opinion comes back within two working days. If your deadline is shorter than that, say so in the email and I will tell you within the hour whether I can meet it.
Two things worth knowing. First, a deadline on a quote is a sales technique, and a good installer will extend it if you ask. Second, if a company will not give you a few days to get independent advice on a twenty-five-year purchase, that tells you something about the company.
Do you review heat pump or EV charger quotes?
Only as part of a whole-house Second Opinion alongside solar or a battery, where the question is how the pieces work together and what size everything should be. I do not review a stand-alone heat pump quote on its own; a heat pump installer's heat-loss survey is the right check for that.
Should I get a battery with my solar?
It depends on your tariff, how much you use in the evening, and whether you can charge it cheaply overnight. For some households a battery pays for itself comfortably; for others it never does. A quote will almost always include one because it raises the price. A Second Opinion runs the numbers on your actual usage and tariff rather than a typical one.
Other services
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.