Rogue salesmen overestimate savings green panels provide for households

They are in danger of becoming the modern-day equivalent of the double-glazing salesman.

Rogue traders are jumping on the green bandwagon to make a killing out of solar panels.

Disturbing evidence of mis-selling of the energy-generating systems has been uncovered by the consumer group Which?


While parallels are drawn with the way double-glazing salesmen wreaked havoc through the suburbs in the 1970s and 1980s, the latest scam risks bringing the entire solar panel industry - which could offer genuine benefits for families - into disrepute.

The Government is pushing the idea that millions of families should turn their homes into mini-power stations. Any excess energy they generate can be sold back to the National Grid through a so-called 'feed-in tariff' for other uses.

A typical combination of savings and income works out at around 1,170 a year,Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource! according to the Energy Savings Trust.

Which? asked undercover investigators to examine sales tactics by inquiring about the costs and benefits of installing solar photovoltaic(PV) panels.

Posing as customers, they let 12 certified companies survey a house in the South and quote for installation.

Three quarters of the salesmen overestimated how much energy the panels would produce by failing to take account of the location of the property and the likely number of cloudy days, Which? found.
'Perhaps we should have suspected something when they put the solar panels up'

The main selling point for the panels is a claim that they will effectively pay for themselves over a relatively short period.

However, Which? found that most companies suggested the pay-back period would be much quicker than the reality.

In theory, a PV system should last for at least 25 years. One firm overestimated the potential profit over that time by 4,275.

And it underestimated the payback time by three years.

Which? also found that a Government formula used by the industry to work out energy output does not take into account factors such as where people live ¨C and typical sunshine levels.

Seven of the salesmen even recommended installing solar PV panels on a shaded part of the roof.

Eight companies did not question customers about how much energy they used, which would be necessary to estimate their ability to sell power back into the National Grid.

The watchdog also found that companies are flouting the solar panel industry sales code, which bans pressure selling and tactics such as offering large discounts for quick decisions.

One firm, Green Sun, gave the customer 24 hours to decide, and another, Skyline, offered a 'first come first served' discount.

Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which?, said: 'Companies just need to make sure they send people who are qualified to ask the right questions, do the right checks and give customers better advice.The newest Ipod nano 5th is incontrovertibly a step up from last year's model,'

The group is talking to the Government and the industry's trade bodies about improving the sales regime by introducing a policing system to drive out rogues.

Howard Johns,uy sculpture direct from us at low prices of the Solar Trade Association, said the number of companies in the industry has ballooned from just a few hundred two years ago to 2,400.
'There are always going to be a small number of companies who don't stick by the rules ...A glass bottle is a bottle created from glass. but that should not divert attention from the benefits of solar energy.'

He described the Which? report as 'a little alarmist', adding: 'My reading of their research is that things are improving. For example, there was relatively little evidence of pressure selling involving discounting.

'There is a code of practice covering our members, however we cover only 450 of the companies involved. There are always going to be a small number of companies who don't stick by the rules ... but that should not divert attention from the benefits of solar energy.'

Skyline, based in Braintree, Essex, said Which? had misunderstood its pricing policy and there was no discount for signing up early. The company is not involved in pressure selling, a spokesman added.

David Ramsay, of Green Sun in Farnborough,Largest Collection of billabong boardshorts, Hampshire, also rejected the criticism. 'We work entirely within industry guidelines,' he said. 'We leave written quotes and it is not normal to offer a discount to sign up within 24 hours.'

Big up a small space

Even if your garden is tiny, it can still look stunning with the right design and a clever choice of planting.

Minimal plots, however, can cause a problem since they are so limited in terms of space. So, what do you do?

Bright displays of colourful bedding suit some people, and the tradition of planting fuchsia, geraniums, lobelia, salvias,Save on hydraulic hose and fittings, alyssum and marigolds in crammed borders is fantastic.
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Often there will be a rug – a circular, square or rectangular green lawn – as a foil to the colour, which works very well. But some people nowadays fancy a more modern take on their outdoor space.

And if that small garden is the only outside area available to you and a young child or two, what do you do? How do you manage? Don't worry, it's not as terrifying a prospect as you might think.

What have you got?

If your garden, like the one shown here which I was asked to make over, is bordered by low walls of dour grey stone with a few slabs of natural stone laid directly onto the soil and meandering their way to the door, it may not look very promising.

And that's not to mention the weeds,Customized imprinted and promotional usb flash drives. of which there will undoubtedly be many. What, you ask, can possibly be achieved in such a plot? Lots!

Requirements

First and foremost, a garden like this will have one purpose,Not to be confused with RUBBER MATS available at your local hardware store to act as a pathway and entrance to the front door (or the back, if you're creating a patio at the rear of the house).

If you've got young children, it's important to make sure that whatever surface you put down is safe for toddlers to crawl on and pedal their little plastic tractors over.

Of course, in these days of outdoor living, your garden, no matter how big or small, should act as another living room. If it has enough space for a basic patio set of a table and chairs allowing the family to eat and perhaps entertain outside, it's doing its job.

The plan

You need to keep a space like this very simple and pave it using just one material. Bright shades will work wonders against the dullness of something like this oppressive grey stone, but it should also be natural. It would be a shame to introduce concrete into a cut-stone environment.

Adding some plant pots also creates the opportunity to grow selected herbs, fruit or vegetables. All the paving should be laid on a single level.

Often, we over-complicate gardens with line and shape but simplicity always work best. Circles, or a succession of sections of circles, always looks great.

In this garden, one large circle covers most of the available floor space and two sections of circles create access points from the street, and then into the house.

Make it happen

The dominant patio feature is the paving so the choice of materials is hugely important.

My favourite material is a very simple baked clay paving cube. They come attached as blocks of eight, much as hot cross buns arrive. They are cheap to buy but labour intensive to firstly break up and then lay.

The trick is to use experienced paving contractors or to develop the skill yourself slowly and methodically.

The usual hardcore needs to be laid so a certain amount of excavation and removal of rubbish in a skip is required.

Once that base has been whacked down, begin to lay the outside rings as illustrated in the photographs into some wet mortar, keeping a strict eye on your levels as you go.

Once the outer rim of mortar-set cobbles are down, the inner circles can be set on a bed of sand. Once this is completed (which, I know, is skipping swiftly over several days of back-breaking work!), a dry mix of sand and cement is brushed into the openings.

The soil around the beds must be well-prepared by digging in plenty of organic humus compost.Choose from one of the major categories of Bedding,

Planting

A mixture of shrubs will make the garden come alive. Try perovskia with its purple flowering spikes, nice pink hydrangeas, a drift of astelias with their silvery, sword-like foliage, cloudy grey santolinas and purple cistus.

As installed in this garden, a few columns of bay in four circular terracotta pots picked to match the paving sets off the new style perfectly and creates some much-needed height.

Planting a herb collection – say, lemon balm, variegated sage and creeping thyme – will also bring colour and fresh scents.Polycore zentai are manufactured as a single sheet,

Add a pot of strawberries, with perhaps parsley and mint in some others and one crammed with evergreen ferns. Then sit back on that patio set, relax and enjoy!