In 2013, I had 16 solar panels installed on my roof. The installer set up a FIT contract for payment of excess energy sent to the grid. The assembly has worked correctly over the period.

In 2025, I decided to upgrade the panels for the following reasons:

1. The output had declined by about one third due to aging.

2 I have purchased an electric car and want a system which will charge the car. The present system is inadequte for that purpse.

3 I postulate that inflation is likely to increase in the coming years and that will offset the pay back time for the installation.

I contacted Ese Solar on the basis that they advertise that they have 10 offices around the UK and are a leading installer of solar panels. In their advertising , they give 12 favourable Trustpilot ratings.

The plan was to create two circuits.

Circuit 1
This is the original circuit. The only change would be to connect 9 new solar panels to the existing circuit.

Circuit 2
This is a new circuit produced by Ese Solar comprising of 7 new solar panels, an inverter and a 5kwh battery. This would be eligible for a new contract with Octopus with excess energy earning 0.15p per Kwh.

WHAT ACTUALLY OCCURRED
Ese Solar did not create a new payment scheme with Octopus for the second circuit.

Circuit 1

Unfortunately, the output was wired so that in bright sunlight, up to 5.5 Kwh was passed through an Immersun Diverter rated at 3.2 Kwh. This caused the Diverter to give a message of overload.

CIRCUIT 2
This circuit has been beset with problems.

A National Grid letter states this this circuit requires submission of a G99 certificate to obtain planning permission.

Octopus state that payment for excess energy can only be made after submission of a G99 certificate and a MSC certificate.

Ese Solar revealed after the installation that they are not a certified solar panel installer and so are unable to provide the two certificates.

Ese Solar sent me a link to Octopus to set up a payment contract. This is a two stage process. A fee is required to obtain the G99 certicate. The second stage is the production of a MSC certificate.

The MSC certificate is for the installer to guarantee that the circuit meets certain installation standards. The second circuit requires a MSC certificate for the new circuit. This circuit did not exist in 2013 when the msc certificate was issued and was therefore ineligible to certify that circuit 2 met the installation standards. Octopus refused to create a contract and therefore all the power sent to the grid from this circuit has had no financial reward.

The battery system should provides the full power when the solar panels are inactive. At times that occurs but on other times the battery remains idle.

An additional problem is that an emergency switch is provided to turn off the solar panel outputs for maintenance etc. When this switch was turned off, the circuit constructed by Ese Soar loses the programed data for the inverter . The result is that power cannot be used for household appliances. Ese Solar technician addressed the problem in Ocrober 2025 and declared that he had resolved the problem.

On 5.3.26, I had cause to switch off the panels using the emerency switch. When the power was restored, the inverter from circuit 2 again has lost its programmed data. Ese Solar were informed and sent a ticket acknowledging receipt of the request to have the inverter reprogrammed. I was informed by Infinity Innovations that this reprogramming requires an an engineer and it is not a procedure that I can undertake.

In October 2025, Ese Solar were asked to either address the above problems or remove the installation.

They have not addressed the problems.

In December 2025, the credit card company suggested that I seek to have the installation assigned to a credited installer. I was unable to find an installer who would take this assignment.

I have informed Ese Solar that the system that they introduced is being discarded as waste as its performance is unacceptable. They have not responded whether they would like to collect the waste. The new installation is due to be installed in 4 weeks.

I paid for the installation via credit card and am in discussion with the credit card company concerned with re-embursment of the financial outlay for this installation.

I have arranged a meeting with my M.P to try to have government make it mandatory for solar panel installers to be regulated to avoid this type of experience.