Solar panels

Hijpo

Hi,

I had solar panels fitted in December and since the sun started shining a few months ago they have been over heating. Upon further investigation this can cause damage to the other components installed on the solar system and degrade the quality and efficiency of the liquid solution in the panels themselves.

I have had the installers out three times in the past two months due to this problem. Each time it has taken them a week or two to call and fix the issue (possibly causing more damage to the system due to the over heating/stagnation) but the problem persists. The last time they were here the chap doing the work told me that there is a fault with the controllers they have been supplied which means a "heat dump" valve is not activating when the panels over heat.

He told me that they will be back to replace the control unit when they get more in. Due the issue not being fixed properly this time i asked what i should do when the panels over heat and he said i should turn on the hot tap and let the water run out to bring the temp down in the main tank so that the cold water replacing it can cool the panels on the roof. That was easily 3 weeks ago and i have not heard from them since. The panels are now over heating gain and probably causing more damage. There is a 20 year guarantee on the system from the manufacturer but i don’t know if its void due to the level of maintenance provided by the installer.

The system cost me €5000 euros to install, i know this is excessive for the type of system installed but the installer gave us an opportunity to get a full refund on our system if we advertised for them and got 6 other households to install the system. This is now not achievable due to the amount of service calls noticed by our neighbours.

From my point of view we paid €5000 for a solar system and worked for five or six months before failing. After 3 service calls the fault is still not fixed and turns out to be caused by a known fault with the control unit. We also can not avail of the reimbursement deal which attracted us in the first place because the people we were looking to advertise to now know the system is faulty.

Ideally i would like to have a different installer review our system and replace anything that needs replacing, forwarding the costs to the original installer as i have no confidence in them at this stage.

What are our options?


Many thanks!

Paulw

To me, it sounds like the system is not fit for purpose, so under your consumer rights, you should be entitled to a full refund. Also, any repair should be permanent, which it hasn't been. But, unfortunately, due to the cost, you can't take a claim to the small claims court. You would need to consult a solicitor, to see if it is worth taking to a higher court.

Either way, you should seek a refund.

Hijpo

Paulw wrote: »

To me, it sounds like the system is not fit for purpose, so under your consumer rights, you should be entitled to a full refund. Also, any repair should be permanent, which it hasn't been. But, unfortunately, due to the cost, you can't take a claim to the small claims court. You would need to consult a solicitor, to see if it is worth taking to a higher court.

Either way, you should seek a refund.

Thanks for the reply.

Can I just ring them up and ask for the refund? Are they obliged to facilitate me? Is it worth talking to a solicitor anyway?

Paulw

Hijpo wrote: »

Can I just ring them up and ask for the refund? Are they obliged to facilitate me? Is it worth talking to a solicitor anyway?

First port of call would be to ring them and request a refund. If they start to fob you off, then you can argue your case, but the next step would be to consult a solicitor and send them a solicitor's letter requesting a refund.

rathulf

i have the same problem myself and have been in contact with the installer (whom i presume is the same as yours) and the manufacturer of the tubes that were installed- if you want to learn more pm me

Hijpo

rathulf wrote: »

i have the same problem myself and have been in contact with the installer (whom i presume is the same as yours) and the manufacturer of the tubes that were installed- if you want to learn more pm me

Pm sent

TheChizler

Sounds like the exact same situation we have back home, had a few other installers out for new opinions and they reckon an unsuitable system was installed day one. When on automatic the Kingspan controller provided can either switch the valve for heat dump, or run the pump, and the company won't swap out for one that can do both, meaning that the glycol boils every hot day as there's no circulation when it overheats.

Either they should have had a different heat dump solution, or installed the type of tubes that disconnect from the flow when it overheats.

Had a few other problems with this company, not calling back or showing up to check it when it overheats; installing a non-freshwater valve on the hot water tank dump as a replacement for the heat dump, which rusted in the open position meaning all our hot water poured straight into the sewer for about two weeks straight, huge gas bill for this period; drilled a large hole in the toilet drain for the outflow pipe for this valve and never sealed it stinking out the house; left about a foot of this outflow pipe sticking into the horizontal toilet drain causing a blockage; when repressurising the glycol the high pressure hose burst showering the stairs, landing, walls and ceiling in red antifreeze; taking a day to get back to us to tell us if they used the toxic or non-toxic variety, meaning we couldn't let our dog in the house; saying they'd pay for the emergency carpet cleaning and failing to do so; when the bleaching and matting effect of the glycol became apparent refusing to pay for the damage.

And they're a relatively big Dublin based company!

homer911

You should consider posting in the sustainable energy forum

It sounds like the tank is under spec'd for the number of tubes, or perhaps the stagnation temp is set too low. The controller should have a manual override for the heat dump as well. I presume you have one. In about 6 years of use my heat dump has operated no more than 30 hours