Breakdown cover by third-party company or installer team

[CambridgeRenewables]

Is there an AA/RAC type breakdown cover company for solar PV and battery systems? If the original installer can't come to the site quickly enough or the workmanship warranty has expired, there isn't seem to be a "peace of mind" backup solution.

I am thinking about setting up a company just focusing on tech support and breakdown cover for households with PV and battery. With a small monthly/annual fee per household, we'd provide on-demand troubleshooting and repair services to give the customers peace of mind.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome!

 

[Murdoch]

Do a proper business plan to determine how many customers you would need and take it from there

I suspect the distances you would need to cover each day is likely to make this impractical.

 

[CambridgeRenewables]

Do a proper business plan to determine how many customers you would need and take it from there

I suspect the distances you would need to cover each day is likely to make this impractical.

Hi Murdoch,

Thanks for the reply. I am thinking hiring 10 electricians from different regions of England.

If we (hypothetically) cover 100,000 households in South England, and take into account of 0.5% inverter annual failure rate and 0.05% PV annual failure rate, we'd have 550 households per year to work on among 10 electricians or 5 house visits/repairments per month per electrician.

I don't know about the battery failure rates, and maybe I have missed some other obvious things. Please correct me if there are other factors that would break the math above.

 

[Geoff1946]

I know nothing about this organisation beyond seeing their advert. On the face of it they are offering a similar service to your proposal.

https://spectrasolar.co.uk/england/...16pe6RRW1eDGAlFsaZzuqXiVhLPxpaC_qxXMbv56G0tQA

 

[binky]

There certainly has been companies offering similar services, amoungst a lot of scammers offering free inspections/ safety checks , which may well potentially put customers off using your services. What is lacking is fault finding and repairs, along with bird mesh, something I do, but don't advertise, as I'm semi retired.

 

[Murdoch]

Hi Murdoch,

Thanks for the reply. I am thinking hiring 10 electricians from different regions of England.

If we (hypothetically) cover 100,000 households in South England, and take into account of 0.5% inverter annual failure rate and 0.05% PV annual failure rate, we'd have 550 households per year to work on among 10 electricians or 5 house visits/repairments per month per electrician.

I don't know about the battery failure rates, and maybe I have missed some other obvious things. Please correct me if there are other factors that would break the math above.

employ or subcontract. Huge difference

 

[CambridgeRenewables]

Thank you so much for the questions and suggestions.

I used to run tech/biotech companies and raised more than £10 million in private and government funding before. If I were to start this business, I would raise some capital first and invest in marketing and hiring experienced employees. I am in the process of figuring out if the business would make financial sense.

Would installers welcome such a business and recommend it to their customers (obviously, providing we are legit and experienced)? This would allow them to focus on new customers and leave the non-profitable after-sales service to us.

 

[Andy™]

leave the non-profitable after-sales service to us.

not wanting to state the obvious, but if its 'non-profitable' then you might be wasting your time

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

With a small monthly/annual fee per household,

It sounds a good idea, but I have to say, in these financial difficult times, how will you ask people to spend money on something they do not need. If any "solar system" goes wrong is not the first place to call the installer? If they are not trading/not interested, then would not the person look for an electrician/ask for solar trained people?

Unless you actually employ people I can not see it going far, and employing people will cost more money than you are making. Subbing/finding someone local to the job will cost you time trying to find someone who is willing to go, and not too expensive, but how will that work? subscriber is paying you £15/mth would it not cost you £150+ to get someone local just to go and look? I could not see you staying in business long.

Unless you are 100% sure, I would have to stand beside Murdoch

 

[Murdoch]

I have PV and wouldn’t pay for support ….

 

[binky]

Would installers welcome such a business and recommend it to their customers

In short, absolutely not, any MCS registered business is up to their eyeballs in work, and what makes you think this line of repair work is unprofitable? Solar is very reliable when installed correctly, even cheap Chinese inveters last over 10 years these days. To anyone capable of doing the work, there's more customers than hours in the day already.


Now, don't get me wrong, there's a market for what you propose, but I suspect you will struggle to recruit what you need tradesman wise, unless paying silly money for their services

 

[Geoff1946]

It doesn't really fit your business plan, but could perhaps be sold as an add on to the, "whole house" insurance sold by the likes of BG, covering electrics, plumbing, drains, etc. I think these will exclude solar installations at the moment.

 

[CambridgeRenewables]

Thank you all for the feedback! I really appreciate your candidness.

@binky If installers are up to their eyeballs in work, they are stretched and may not want to / be able to serve their post-installation clients quickly enough. I think that they don't make profits but losses from inspections or repairs while the workmanship warranty is still valid.

I am willing to offer £50k salary + company van for each experienced electrician I hire (initially ten). I am not sure if this would be attractive enough but the person won't need to rush from installation to installation and can work from home if the client's problem can be solved remotely.

@Geoff1946 Yes, this would be similar to an insurance type of business. Most of the early investments would go to marketing (to whoever has solar/battery). The lower failure rates and more people signing up would make the business viable.

@Richard-the-ninth I am thinking £5 to £8 per month. To whoever now spending £12-20k on solar installation, this is a minimal investment. Instead of looking for new electricians, the customer would have us in the back of their minds if they need work.

 

[binky]

Good package

MCS insists registered installers offer a 5 year warranty, so it's in their interests not to do dodgy installation work or fit gear that doesn't last, at least until the end of the warranty

Some of the installers do offer maintenance packages, but I couldn't say how many as I have no dealings with them.

What I do see as a possible market is fixing DIY lash ups? So many people have installed gear themselves with little clue as to what they are doing....

It's also fair to say in the initial solar rush a few years ago, lots of installers disappeared when the government slashed the FiT. I would say these people are probably your best market. These are the main supply of repair work I've undertaken over the years.

 

[Geoff1946]

It's also fair to say in the initial solar rush a few years ago, lots of installers disappeared when the government slashed the FiT. I would say these people are probably your best market. These are the main supply of repair work I've undertaken over the years.

I would fall into that category. The reputable local company who installed my system in 2013 subsequently abandoned the solar business.
If I do have problems I can't fix myself I don't know where I could get help. Hopefully the external panel installation will be OK- it's managed nearly ten years. I suppose if the inverter gives up I will just swap it, but scrambling about on the roof would definitely not be for me.

I also didn't know about the mandatory 5 year warranty. The only problem I did have fell in that timescale, but when I phoned the installer they just said "Oh we aren't in that business any more".

 

[binky]

I would fall into that category. The reputable local company who installed my system in 2013 subsequently abandoned the solar business.
If I do have problems I can't fix myself I don't know where I could get help. Hopefully the external panel installation will be OK- it's managed nearly ten years. I suppose if the inverter gives up I will just swap it, but scrambling about on the roof would definitely not be for me.

I also didn't know about the mandatory 5 year warranty. The only problem I did have fell in that timescale, but when I phoned the installer they just said "Oh we aren't in that business any more".

You can always contact me for advice

 

[Geoff1946]

Thank you. Appreciated. But really its the prospect of a wiring fault out on the roof that concerns me (and would certainly defeat me), and you live rather a long way away.

 

[binky]

Thank you. Appreciated. But really its the prospect of a wiring fault out on the roof that concerns me (and would certainly defeat me), and you live rather a long way away.

I have a motorhome, distance is not that much of an issue .

Roof faults will have showed themselves by now, so should be reliable for many years to come. Just make sure no debris builds up under the panels, leaves, moss or anything else that can hold mositure against the panels, cables or connectors is the main source of trouble.

 

[Murdoch]

Thank you all for the feedback! I really appreciate your candidness.

@binky If installers are up to their eyeballs in work, they are stretched and may not want to / be able to serve their post-installation clients quickly enough. I think that they don't make profits but losses from inspections or repairs while the workmanship warranty is still valid.

I am willing to offer £50k salary + company van for each experienced electrician I hire (initially ten). I am not sure if this would be attractive enough but the person won't need to rush from installation to installation and can work from home if the client's problem can be solved remotely.


@Richard-the-ninth I am thinking £5 to £8 per month. To whoever now spending £12-20k on solar installation

so using £8 per month, and assuming £70 k per engineer, you’ll need about 730 customers to cover your fixed overheads , and that doesn’t include your central business costs

an interesting idea but would you get enough people signing up?

 

[CambridgeRenewables]

so using £8 per month, and assuming £70 k per engineer, you’ll need about 730 customers to cover your fixed overheads , and that doesn’t include your central business costs

an interesting idea but would you get enough people signing up?

You are right. I would need a lot of households to sign up. You said you have PV, but don't need support. Why is that? I guess you probably never had issues with your system that you can't solve, or your original installer is very supportive.