Consumers told to do research before going solar

Homeowners have been advised to do their research before tying themselves into a free solar panel scheme.
It was announced yesterday (August 9th) that HomeSun would provide 100,000 homes with free solar panels over the next three years.

This could benefit many homeowners as panels can cost around £11,000.

In return, the company will receive money for the electricity produced by the panels through the feed-in tariff, while the homeowner will have free power.

Liz Laine, energy expert at Consumer Focus, advised customers to go into these deals with their eyes open as they can be tied to the company for as long as 25 years.

"These long-term contracts need to be considered carefully," she said. "Asking the right questions and getting legal advice could help customers avoid the potential pitfalls of these schemes."

However, along with Ms Laine, the Centre for Sustainable Energy stressed that many of these deals are "perfectly reasonable".

Installing solar panels is one of many ways to generate your own energy, with wind turbines as an alternative option.
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