Breakdown cover by third-party company or installer team

[Murdoch]

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.

I simply don’t believe in support policies ………

 

[binky]

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.

Fitted correctly, PV is very reliable. It doesn't need servicing, bar giving the panels a wash. Despite the self cleaning properties of panels, washing a couple of times a year is still a good idea.

There are millions of PV systems fitted, so I wouldn't think getting a sufficiently large customer base would be too hard.

 

[CambridgeRenewables]

Fitted correctly, PV is very reliable. It doesn't need servicing, bar giving the panels a wash. Despite the self cleaning properties of panels, washing a couple of times a year is still a good idea.

There are millions of PV systems fitted, so I wouldn't think getting a sufficiently large customer base would be too hard.

Yes, the PVs are robust enough, but now with batteries and EV chargers, technical issues may raise more often.

 

[binky]

Yes, the PVs are robust enough, but now with batteries and EV chargers, technical issues may raise more often.

I would agree with that, I've fitted a few sets of batteries, but decided not to continue with them. Mostly this has been down to lack of availability of the better products, and partly down to reducing workload with a view to retirement. But it's also down to technical niggles with battery systems, such as the fact they pull a bit from the grid as part of self-maintenance routines, which pees customers off! I don't need the hassle .

One thing I will say though, DC cabling does not seem to be as reliable as promised. I was talking to the trouble shooter for a large solar company based in Exeter a few weeks ago who does nothing but repair work. He is of the opinion that the he DC cabling is prone to damp issues, especially on larger commercial installations where cable is often run close to flatish roof surfaces and has a habit of trapping things like leaves. Seagull poo is also a large issue as it's so corrosive. He was also telling me they are recruiting more staff to deal with maintenance due to the amount of work they are getting. So I would say solar repairs is a definite market, if not so much your service plans, although again there is a market for that as some people just like 'peace of mind'.