Changes to FIT coming sooner that we thought!

[Aquinas_Quark]

How long does it normally take for the FiT certificate to be received and processed By the energy supplier after the install has been completed?

Sent FIT application to nPower 14th Sept, still getting told on the 'phone "you should get a letter by the end of this week...or early next week".....ho hum!

 

[GaryM]

Sent FIT application to nPower 14th Sept, still getting told on the 'phone "you should get a letter by the end of this week...or early next week".....ho hum!

Have they acknowledged receipt?
I asked EDF how it worked with them and they said that as soon as they receive the FiT then you're in so to speak even though it can take up to two weeks to process.

 

[SolarCity]

I wonder if the MCS website will be able to cope with the increased load. Can you imagine the uproar if their site goes down for a couple of days on Dec 8th?

 

[GaryM]

There will be some very unhappy customers, that's for sure. Another thing for sure is that I doubt they will understand!

 

[jupestar]

Yeah we have got s few unhappy customers (cause they were awaiting DNO/Planning) - one site that managed to get it's permissions through is a Conservative Club..............

It'll probably be the last install we complete before the deadline. How ironic is that.

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

I am about to place an order for a 4kw system. I am now worried that it will not be installed and passed off in time. I have seen the question asked on this thread three times but it has not been answered.

How long does it take from install to completion and signing off so the still gets the current FiT payment, One week?, six weeks???? ie if it is installed next week, when will it all be passed off paper work wise?

If I am not given a set in stone guarantee by the installer that it will all be done before 8th December, I cannot go ahead with the order.

We had an install done in one day, it was commissioned by evening, we sent the FIT application off the next day. You need the MCS certificate, and read the generation meter (ours read 0 obviously). HOWEVER 17 days later I am still chasing nPower for an acknowledgement. BUT I have a proof of delivery with Recorded Mail and I believe the important date is the date RECEIVED by the energy supplier. Cheers.

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

Have they acknowledged receipt?
I asked EDF how it worked with them and they said that as soon as they receive the FiT then you're in so to speak even though it can take up to two weeks to process.

No acknowledgement given, but I have Recorded Delivery confirmation of receipt. "Up to 2 weeks" with nPower means 3 months, so I will be less than polite this week when I call them!

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

please find attached document released this afternoon outlining timescale and paymentsView attachment 8521

What is the address of the website this is from? Thanks.

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

If interest rates were higher would people choose to invest in PV after all investment is all about the rate of return on the money invested

I don't understand this: all this talk of 10-12% return on a solar PV installation. If you have £10K in a bank at 4%, you still HAVE the capital. With solar PV it's GONE. So I would say that at 43.3p/kWh you may get an EFFECTIVE return of say about 6%, with 21p/kWh NO WAY!
Am I wrong?

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

Furthermore - is anyone planning retaliation when the government (or any future one) says - we need a new hospital/school/olympicfunslide and can't keep paying 43.3p/kWh to those who installed in 2011? I look forward to a strictly middle-class riot - looting at Debenhams, then M&S for 7:30 sharp......?

 

[Scooby]

This is not just a riot, this is an M&S rio...

 

[stevechorner]

Sent FIT application to nPower 14th Sept, still getting told on the 'phone "you should get a letter by the end of this week...or early next week".....ho hum!

Hmmm...this worries me somewhat....sent mine to NPower on 20th October..Rang last week and asked if they had received it...they said we can't tell you that cos we don't know but you should hear by the end of next week (ie. 4th Nov).....this was after hanging on for 20 mins waiting for an answer when the voice said we have a 5 to 10 minute delay. I am ringing them again on Friday (4th) and giving them no excuses this time....time to be Mr Nasty now....

 

[stevechorner]

Hmmm...this worries me somewhat....sent mine to NPower on 20th October..Rang last week and asked if they had received it...they said we can't tell you that cos we don't know but you should hear by the end of next week (ie. 4th Nov).....this was after hanging on for 20 mins waiting for an answer when the voice said we have a 5 to 10 minute delay. I am ringing them again on Friday (4th) and giving them no excuses this time....time to be Mr Nasty now....

Found out today NPower are taking 4 to 6 weeks to turnround Applications before they send FIT offer letters. Hopeless. They can't even acknowledge receipt of forms, their email address [email protected] has an Out of Office response and it takes 25 minutes to get through to the FIT Team on the phone 08450782977. There's Customer Service for you. That's what happens when you have a one in six monopoly I guess...be as shoddy as you want.

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

Found out today NPower are taking 4 to 6 weeks to turnround Applications before they send FIT offer letters. Hopeless. They can't even acknowledge receipt of forms, their email address [email protected] has an Out of Office response and it takes 25 minutes to get through to the FIT Team on the phone 08450782977. There's Customer Service for you. That's what happens when you have a one in six monopoly I guess...be as shoddy as you want.

Ouch! I will try and ask for a manager next time I call nPowewr, this is NOT good as we have to know if all is OK with the application BEFORE 8th December!!

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

Ouch! I will try and ask for a manager next time I call nPowewr, this is NOT good as we have to know if all is OK with the application BEFORE 8th December!!

Or should we apply to another power firm, as well, and just cancel after one is approved...?
Sneaky but could work!

 

[TrickyDicky101]

I received a letter from nPower this morning acknowledging receipt of my FIT application (it was sent in somewhere around the 23rd October).

Alan, can I have your email address? I want to ask you a question about the voltages your array generates (on the DC array flow).

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

I received a letter from nPower this morning acknowledging receipt of my FIT application (it was sent in somewhere around the 23rd October).

Alan, can I have your email address? I want to ask you a question about the voltages your array generates (on the DC array flow).

Of course - being a newbie I'm not sure of the procedure, can I send this to you privately? Or do you want me to reply on this thread - no worries either way.
Alan

 

[TedM]

Or should we apply to another power firm, as well, and just cancel after one is approved...?
Sneaky but could work!

Definitely DO NOT do this. You could end up with a charge of fraud and no FiT at all.

 

[TrickyDicky101]

Hover your mouse pointer over my username (ie in one of my posts), left-click and select Private Message and send it to me in that - many thanks!

 

[Gary K]

I think the microgeneration Departments of all the suppliers are having the same problems due to the increase in applications fueled by the cut off date.
I had my system completed and running on the 4th of October and the paperwork was sent to Eon by the installers on the 7th. Having not hears anything by 2nd November, I got her indoors to chase up only to be told that they had no record of an application at our adress. When she insisted it had been sent they checked again and rung back to say the had found the application in a spread-sheet( whatever that means) and it was in order to be processed so we should get the letter back by the 18th.
When the post turned up an hour later, lo and behold, there was our acceptance letter on the 2nd, that
we were to expect on the 18th so clearly the left hand does not know what the right is doing.
It probhably isn't helping that the department that that you need to talk to is so busy that they have another office intercepting the calls and taking messages!!!

 

[Tradeskills4u]

As far as I can tell from this document on the energy saving trust website, as long as the paperwork is delivered to your FIT Licensee on the 12th December then it doesn't matter how long it takes for them to process it for the installation to be eligible.

Energy Saving Trust FIT review fact sheet_UK / PDFs / Generate your own energy / Media - Energy Saving Trust
They even recommend sending by special delivery which will provide proof of receipt.

Also a couple of other interesting points. The paperwork must only be sent after the install is complete and they underline after. This could catch a few people out and also they recommend speaking to you licensee to confirm "exactly what information they require from you and when they need to receive it by".

All in All I think it is wise to provide a few more days grace to guarantee the higher rate.

 

[flamefix]

If they start asking for photo's of work then there may be a few twitchy bottoms.

 

[series530]

Something else to be aware of:

if you submit data to your power provider, receipt of that data doesn't mean that you immediately become provisionally eligible for FIT. My provider has said that the data pack must be correct and complete in order to gain eligibility. the pack will be checked when resources permit and rejected if not in order. Thus, it is wise to check and double check that everything is correct before submission. It would be a real shame to queue something in, wait for several weeks only to find that you paper work isn't complete and the 12th December has passed.

 

[SRE]

As far as I can tell from this document on the energy saving trust website, as long as the paperwork is delivered to your FIT Licensee on the 12th December then it doesn't matter how long it takes for them to process it for the installation to be eligible.

Energy Saving Trust FIT review fact sheet_UK / PDFs / Generate your own energy / Media - Energy Saving Trust
They even recommend sending by special delivery which will provide proof of receipt.

Also a couple of other interesting points. The paperwork must only be sent after the install is complete and they underline after. This could catch a few people out and also they recommend speaking to you licensee to confirm "exactly what information they require from you and when they need to receive it by".

All in All I think it is wise to provide a few more days grace to guarantee the higher rate.

As I understand it recipt on the 12th of December would mean the new 21p rate. Therefore the documents will need to be with the utility on the 9th (Fri) which means the last installation will be on the 8th december as originally leaked by EST last week.

 

[jugs]

Hi, I came upon this forum while researching for a solar/FIT system.
Sadly, with the change in the FIT system, I wont now be installing one, as the break even point has disappeared into the sunset, & I will get a better return on capital by leaving it in the bank :crazy:.
I've spoken to several installation company's, most of whom cannot guarantee completion of an accepted system by the 8th as ether they can't get components or their teams are fully utilized up-to the 8th, it's total madness. :veryangry2:
Several friends / acquaintances are in the same boat, 2 have already canceled orders.

My £12k investment is going on a wood burner, a chain saw & a backup gen set. That should leave me £9k for fuel .

With the original FIT "agreement" the financial case was just about acceptable with the 25yr period, but if the government can change the payment rules as they go, you have to ask -

- how long is a 25yr guarantee good for??
- index linked to what ??
- & does tax free really mean free of tax ???

I feel for the guys who've put so much into getting this up and running & who will get nowt out of their hard work because of the political ******s in control.​

Why DO we allow ignorant politicians to control everything ?????????????:veryangry2:

 

[Scooby]

Hmmm, jugs, with the original FIT "agreement" the financial case was a darn sight more than 'acceptable', hence the knee-jerk - with emphasis on 'jerk' - reaction by the government. If they had only kept proper tabs on what was happening on the ground, they could likely have controlled more carefully the reductions in tariff - making them smaller and more regular - thereby keeping the payback period running effectively at a pretty constant level. With no boom and bust. But, hey, that's asking them to actually be aware of what is happening.

It was always the case that they could change the FIT rates for future installs whenever it suited them. We just assumed they wouldn't be stupid about it.

Any change to the FIT rates already in place - and to the 25 year pay period - would require a change to parliamentary legislation, and the howls if that was even attempted would be quite deafening.

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

Any change to the FIT rates already in place - and to the 25 year pay period - would require a change to parliamentary legislation, and the howls if that was even attempted would be quite deafening.

Hi, I am also distrustful of ANY government, so have printed out (to keep for 25 years!) all I could find on the 43.3p rate (energysavingtrust, .gov, ofgem pages etc); but do you know where exactly the official statement is of the higher tariff payment? Thanks!

 

[Scooby]

Anything can change...

However, the 25 year term is pretty well established and set - I think it would take something pretty extraordinary to change it. Even Greg Babes confirmed on Radio 4 it would stay when challenged recently on the FIT reduction in December. So, safe as houses...

 

[Dan]

Don't mind me while I bump some threads in the solar PV forum. If they're not current or applicable topics, just ignore the threads; they'll drop off the page. If they are, feel free to chip in and chat solar stuff in the solar panels forum.