Generic Question about Solar Panel Instalation Companies

Hey guys, Just wanting some opinion here. We are looking to install Solar panels. So far we have seen a few companies but now we are trying to decide between Harrisons Energy or Sky Solar. Have any of you guys dealt with either companies or know anything about them? Please let us know.

Comments

  • +2

    We had Harrison's involved in a heating fit out for our house - it was the worst experience and I would not trust them with any job as large as solar panels. All work is carried out by individual franchises, and they in turn out source it.

    In our case the basic installation job was extremely poor and following up with Harrison's was impossible. The franchise owner ignored messages and head office fobbed it off to them directly.

    Stick with someone who does installations internally so at least you quality standards.

  • +1

    I know they are not in your top 2 list - but we had ours installed by SolarKing and they were amazing. Great service (before and after the sale), and the way they completed the install, you wouldn't know that it was installed after the house was built. All cables run internally and clean. So yeah, I would recommend going with someone who have Solar as their bread/butter rather than just another cash cow bolt on product.

    • Just curious, does NZ get enough Sun for solar to become cost effective? I mean you don't just have the cost of the installation, but also the costs of periodic battery replacement.

      • We get plenty of sun :) Specially during summer time

      • We get lots of sun. In the peak of summer, we roll very close to $0 power bills. In the past where the buy back rate was approx twice as much as it currently is, we frequently were running credits each summer month.
        We don't have batteries so any excess is pushed back to the grid for the paltry buy back rate. Re that - I recently switched to P2Power who give you an initial buy back (caped) rate at twice the normal…which is great over the winter months, when your export is significantly down….their other rates are comparable to the other larger companies, so no massive saving there, but nice to support the smaller players with some interesting initiatives around power supply.

        IMO - I don't think there is a massive argument around the "investment" of solar, as it doesn't really stack up as something that will give you great returns. Certainly not over the short term and certainly with the current buy back rates. But I still don't regret spending the cash initially, as its a feel good factor around literally using free power when you can. Maximise your usage during the sunny day time periods and it does make a difference.

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