I wonder what ever happened to the people who trained to be HIPS inspectors, yes I know it was way over a year ago that it was abolished, but at the time there was the "buzz" of people who were "going to jack in their job to become a HIPS Inspector" any one here know any one who was one, or was going to be one? I can't help think that solar panel installing companies will go the same way.
You still need the Energy Performance Cert to sell the place, or so building regs just told me. I made an e mail enquiry about one, matey phoned me back instantly, think they are desparate for the work, not much selling at the moment. A lot of the solar pv fitters have gone under since the government dropped the feed in tarif.
Whilst I feel sorry for the HIPs people who were falsely encouraged by the govt. I'm none too sympathetic for all the new solar PV companies that sprung up and fuelled the gold rush. It was pretty obvious the govt had got its sums wrong and the subsidies were far too generous, I wish I had the spare cash to have had PV fitted to my roof before Dec 12th. I think the high subsidy (Feed In Tariff) was allowing PV installers to keep their prices hiked up. Since the halving of the tariff, PV installation costs have plunged to reflect the lower manufacturing costs, so in the long run it will be a good thing.
Too right John, it was cheaper for me to fit my own solar water system than it would have been to pay a registered installer & claim the grant money back. What difference does it make if I had the ticket or not, is it different sunlight if you are registered?
Sorry to say this, but the solar stuff is about ELECTRIC solar panels, not solar water heating. I still say its all a load of ..........(insert adjective of your choice here) Electric solar panes are expensive, First one up on google its 210 watt. Can't do much with that. You can't even run a lamp. Think about it, when do you need lights on, when its dark, what do solar panels need to work....... Figure the rest for your self.
They were giving grants for solar water too. My solar electric is 18 watt, that runs caravan striplights fine.
one of my clients jumped on the bandwagon with solar/pv installations several months ago he made thousands of pounds profit in the past 6 months .... he has several crews of staff ....all working as subcontractors (mainly eastern europeans) his biggest installation was 40 solar/pv panels installed on a farm barn roof not sure how much he made in total, but from what he told me, he was charging approx £10k per installation, of which he made approx £2-£3k profit after paying wages, materials and overheads such as scaffolding and tax etc they were averaging 3 installations per day on the smaller installations and his crews were working 6 days per week ... so based on that, he was making approx £6k profit per day, 6 days a week on the days I worked at his home, his staff were queing up with their vans to load the panels, and there were several courier vans delivering panels daily from what he said to me a week ago, there may be an extension date to have these installed and claim back? a good guy who was struggling a few months back .... it's good to see people do well, and I take my hat off to him
As for when the sun has gone down, Tripple insulated tank, will keep water hot for 2 days. And the Solar pv... Batteries.
They can be got for much cheaper than that watergarden: MCS Approved Complete PV Kits (Navitron is about the best independent site I've found for information). The idea is not to be self sufficient, rather you get paid to export the excess electric you generate during the day. Even if we switched on all the lights in our house I doubt it would come to 210 watts now we've got energy efficient fittings just about everywhere.
My next door neighbour trained to be a HIPS person. He's from one of the eastern european countries and apparently they had to foot the bill themselves for the training - didn't like to pry but it sounded like it was a course that they had to invest in themself before they could reap the benefits of the job. The company he was with/using apparently went bankrupt.
Let us hope that there are no longer any HIPS inspectors on the prowl at this difficult time of year. Having eaten my bodyweight in Christmas cake, I fear mine won't pass inspection until I've done several weeks on subsistence rations.
When we refer to HIPS people, are we on about Home Information Packs like when you buy or sell a house?
The Solar panels, etc was a dream for people with LOTS of cash to invest A guy was interviewed on the radio, he had his new company installing the system He bought the panels in China for £8k and installed them at £22k His clients were happy, having a mortgage/loan on £22k with free electricity for life and £600 a year from the Gov, he was more than happy with the PROFIT He also mentioned, they did Free installations for people, where he paid for and installed the panels, they got free electricity and he got the £600py from the Gov Now his outlay was £8k for the panels, and two men x two days labour costs Where can you get interest rates like that on £10k savings No wonder he was miffed that it has been put on hold Zigs, has accumulated HOT WATER which is stored, possibly electric during the day,and maybe with limited battery storage for electricty at night, maybe night storage heaters heated during the day and slow release at dusk The pay back scheme is paid for by users who do not have enough money upfront to install Jack McHammocklashing
