The Patels

The Patels had quotes from several companies. We were the only one that came out and looked at the roof before pricing the job.

That survey mattered. A previous extension had closed off the loft, so there was no way to see the roof structure from inside. They were straight with us that they did not know what condition it was in, and we were straight with them that we could not tell without scaffolding and lifting tiles.

Once the scaffolding went up and the tiles came off, the roof turned out to be in worse shape than anyone wanted. It needed replacing before panels could go anywhere near it.

Rather than leave them waiting, we split the job. We finished the electrical work and commissioned the Sigenergy battery on that first visit, so the house could start charging overnight on a cheap tariff straight away. Then we arranged the roof replacement through a roofing firm we work with regularly, managed it from our end, and came back to fit the panels once the new roof was on.

It took longer than planned. It also means the array is sitting on a sound roof rather than bolted to one on its way out, which is the version we would want on our own house.

The finished system is 16 AIKO all black panels at 7.84 kWp, running into a 6 kW Sigenergy SigenStor hybrid inverter with 8.76 kWh of battery storage. It is forecast to generate 7,440 kWh a year and to be worth around £1,846 in the first year once savings and export income are counted, with payback at about six years.