Before you even think about buying solar, get your head straight. 90% of salespeople are full of it.

Their job is not to save you money it’s to get your signature.

Rules:

• Get 12 months of usage data. kWh/month, peak loads.
• Decide your goal: cut imports, EV miles, winter backup, or just “feel green.”
• Work out roof space, shading, breaker limits, DNO caps.
• Choose tariff strategy first off-peak rates vs export rates make or break ROI.
• Shift loads before you buy panels. Washing, drying, EV charging schedule them where power is cheap or free.
• Size panels and inverters to your site, not the salesman’s commission sheet.
• Batteries last. Only if maths makes sense.
• Demand real warranties, compliance docs, and UK support.
• Instrument and log everything no blind installs.

• “Zero bills” promises
• Tablet full of videos and fake graphs connecting to “our servers”, ignore, it’s theatre
• Finance-first pitch with no numbers
• Mystery-brand kit with no datasheets
• No DNO paperwork, no shade analysis
• “Today only” discounts

Questions to fire back:

• Who makes the hardware and how long have they been around?
• Where is their server located UK, EU, China?
• How often does your online monitoring go down? (if they say never they are lying).
• What data are you collecting from my home?
• What’s the real usable kWh of the battery?
• Real ROI calculation?
• Battery degradation rate per year?