Sean

Sep 17, 2023

A Shock of Electricians

It's only been about 10 days since our install but we've been very impressed with the whole process. We have considered getting solar panels installed for a couple of years and finally bit the bullet. After spending a couple of months researching and getting proposals from a number of companies we settled on Infinity Energy Solutions who, while not the cheapest by any means, stood out with their comprehensive proposal, warranties and prompt responses to all the queries we had. After settling on a date we made the required deposits (25% at the start and another payment two weeks before the install). The scaffolders turned up two days before the install and were done in a couple of hours. On the day of the install we opened the door around 8am to no less than four electricians (or sparkys as they introduced themselves - see the title). There were supposed to be two panel installers as well but one of them had called in sick, though this did not seem to make any difference as the lone installer just got on with his task. The electricians briefly confirmed with us where we wanted the wiring to run and we then got out of their way and pretty much left them to it. At about 1pm I popped out to the shed. The panel installer had already finished his work. Our neighbour caught me while I was in the garden and asked me to say thanks to the installer who had removed some slate that had gotten stuck in their guttering (cheeky of them to ask but nice of the installer to do it nonetheless). Around 2pm we were advised that the electrics needed to be turned off so everything could be wired in to the mains. This took the best part of an hour and afterwards, while the others started cleaning up, one of the electricians showed us what had been done and gave us a brief overview of where buttons were on the batteries and what they were for as well as showing us the new panel under the stairs. They also got us to install the solar monitoring app and connected the system to our wi-fi. And that was that - we were solar powered and reaping the benefits of the big yellow ball in the sky (when it wasn't being hidden by those horrid clouds)! The scaffolders returned four days after the install and were gone again in an hour. It has to be said that is one of the most professional jobs I have personally seen. The team were all very polite and I cannot fault their workmanship. Other than the obvious new batteries, and wiring in our conservatory and at the top of the stairs (which all looks very tidy), you almost wouldn't notice they've been at all. The wiring from the conservatory to the electrics under the stairs are very well hidden away and the team actually found a better solution to the original idea when going from the dining room through the hall to the panels under the stairs so there's actually nothing visible at all in the hallway on the ground floor, and only a small hole in the dining room wall. If I had to make one complaint it would be that it took two and a half months from accepting the proposal to the final install so we lost a lot of the summer, but as that was the lead time we were given it's not really a complaint, just a shame we didn't decide earlier.