FiT application: Impressed with EDF

[and]

Had my 3.92kW system commissioned last Thursday.

Spoke to EDF on the phone last Weds, they then emailed me the application form.

Was advised to fill the form out completely and correctly or it will risk to be rejected and delayed!

Duly filled in the application form in rough on Friday once I had received my final invoice and MCS cert (by email) and then re-phoned EDF and went through every section of the form in detail with a very helpful person to make sure it was all correct.

Was advised to send the form back via registered post (or whatever it is these days) and was told that the forms get looked at fairly promptly, date stamped if all is correct, rejected if incorrect.

Just to be extra sure about my application arriving and not containing errors, I drove down to EDF at Exeter this morning from Bristol to hand in my form in person.

A helpful EDF person checked all the details of my application – all good except one detail on the MCS cert: the installer had put 3.95kW instead of 3.92kW.

He said they would contact the installer and get him to amend the MCS cert and get him to send them a corrected version, but that was a minor detail and all was ok with my application. He duly printed me out my receipt with date stamp and reference number.

I got home to find an updated MCS cert emailed to me, I phoned EDF and they confirmed that they had a copy of this corrected MCS cert and reconfirmed that my application is fine: FiT will be payable as of today, 7 Nov from yesterday’s Gen Meter reading of 10kWh.

They said expect to wait a while though to have all this processed.

Really impressed by the helpfulness of the EDF Green Energy Team, the quickness in which they answered the phone and friendliness this morning at their office.

Really hassle-free!

 

[SolarCity]

Useful feedback. We tend to ask urge our customers to use Eon but it's interesting to hear that EDF are pulling their weight also.

 

[langstroth2]

3 weeks and counting with EON. Have to say though I've been able to get thru to them quickly, first to confirm receipt of application, second to enquire on progress (not a lot..). They have been friendly and helpful - rang me back as promised.
Just rather snowed with paperwork I think.

 

[SRE]

We have our Fit with EDF, great on the phone, rubbish at making payment. I'm still waiting for mine for a reading on 24th September, they did the same with the first payment and I don't recommend them to any of our customers.

 

[and]

I don't anticipate a payment anytime soon from EDF, they did say "several weeks" ... just happy to have had my application officially accepted!

 

[TedM]

Any FiTs supplier should be good at registering new customers as it means £60 straight in their back pocket (£95 for the small companies).

 

[furrypants]

Where you not able to email all the documents through? I spoke with EDF last week (install date 19-11-11) and asked a few questions. I was told that i could email everything to them and if there was an error on the form it would not matter, they would take the email date and amend later. Think i'll ring up and go through every section like yourself.

Cheers for the info.

 

[SRE]

Any FiTs supplier should be good at registering new customers as it means £60 straight in their back pocket (£95 for the small companies).

Shame some aren't very good at parting with it afterwards. It annoys me every time EDF do it. I'm due £600 this time and the next reading is almost due in. British Gas and Eon regularly pay within 2 -3 weeks.

 

[and]

I didn't know about the email option! Didn't think to ask! Certainly useful to go through every detail with them on the phone to be sure.

Well the £60 they get might well explain their helpful attitude!

If I haven't heard anything by the New Year about payments, I'll chase it up!

 

[gwynnej3]

Where you not able to email all the documents through? I spoke with EDF last week (install date 19-11-11) and asked a few questions. I was told that i could.

I too spoke with EDF last week to obtain a FIT form from them - they are my energy supplier at present. I was told I could scan everything and email it to them. Alternative is to post the document pack - recorded delivery recommended. The lady I spoke to was indeed very helpful.

 

[powervan]

£600 quid now thats cooking on GAS ooops pv u must of got ur house spot on lol!!

 

[SRE]

Believe it or not we're right on the England/Scotland border, orientation 51 degrees East, pitch 30 degrees. Sharp 180's with SB400tl it's way exceeded what we anticipated. 3573 in a full year. Imagine what it would have been with better panels ....

 

[danesol]

Shame some aren't very good at parting with it afterwards. It annoys me every time EDF do it. I'm due £600 this time and the next reading is almost due in. British Gas and Eon regularly pay within 2 -3 weeks.

I think those who have Solar PV installations already should be thankful that they are in "the system" - at least they will get the generous FiTs payment - better to have to wait than get none at all !!

It would appear there are many suppliers who make you wait 60-90days for your payment with others paying you very quickly, however like I said does it really matter as long as you get it ??

 

[geebee]

i also sent my aplication by registerd post and phoned up a couple of days later and they said they have recieved it and will get paid from the date recieved

 

[gricks]

.. by registerd post...they said they have received it and will get paid from the date recieved

Energy Saving Trust: Fact Sheet on the proposed changes to Solar PV Feed-in-Tariff rates Last updated 31 October 2011. "The eligibility date is the date from which an installation becomes eligible for FITs payments. For the vast majority of PV installations (all that have a declared net capacity of 50kW or less), this will be the date your FIT licensee (FIT energy supplier) receives a valid application for FITs."

Royal Mail Track and Trace tells one when it was received and gives a time-stamp. It is not so much knowing if the application was received but whether it was accepted as a VALID application.
On 25Nov2011 the EDF phone kept repeating regularly every half minute approx "Your call has now moved further forward in the Q. Pls hold a little longer and you will be connected to an adviser".
The first initial check, we understand, is that your FITs start generation meter reading was taken on the day the application was signed and sent to EDF.
It is rumoured the British Gas FIT Application form is only 2 pages long against EDFs verbose seven pages.

 

[SRE]

Yep basically the same info tho, just spread out a bit more.

Just got my Fit payment from EDF exactly 2 months after I sent it in. My customers who I suggested went with Eon have all had theirs within 3 weeks.

 

[furrypants]

Update on my EDF fit application
Install date 19 nov
Application sent via email 21 nov
Letter acknowledging the application 26 nov
Application correct and approved 02 Dec

Big sigh of relief

 

[powervan]

ITS ONLY MONEY wait till a few start getting refused due to silly paperwork errors !!

 

[furrypants]

I did actually leave my account number off the application but they must have sorted that out themself from the address. Was expecting a phone call to ask for it. Never had a letter that is going to be worth so much money!

 

[stavtoon]

my panels went up today installer says loads of time for fit.

 

[SolarCity]

I think WE and not ME is a much better base for a good relationship.

I've no doubt your installer is just as keen as you to get the install in - try and understand just how hard it is for him at the moment.

 

[stavtoon]

I think my anger should be with authorities who have created this situation and your right he will be keen.

 

[gricks]

25Nov2011 Domestic FIT application sent via Royal Mail received at EDF.
01Dec2011 Letter received giving Customer ID saying we [EDF] will now check through your application to make sure everything is correct before adding your details to OFGEM. Providing your application is complete processing can take up to six weeks. I would like to reassure you that the time taken to process your application will have no affect on the payment you receive as your first payment will be based on the reading you provided in your application. If there are any problems with your application we will be in touch in the next two weeks to let you know if there is any further information we need you to provide.
[Aside: We're not too concerned about when payments start as the 25 yrs is fixed but we are concerned about the eligibility date being before 11Dec2011]
03Dec2011 Second letter received from EDF confirming they have received 'completed FIT application'. Says its been through initial check and it confirms we have provided basic required info to form eligibility at 43.3p/kWh. If on final check we find any discrepancy or irregularity this may affect your eligibility date. The onus of submitting a fully eligible application still remains the responsibility of the generator. Our next step will be to make final checks on application, register with OFGEM etc.
[So we are in limbo now and can't do anything more except wait or apply to help out in Exeter with the processing.]

 

[furrypants]

Interesting letter i got dated 2 dec says:

Your application has been thoroughly checked and i can confirm that you have met all neccessary requirements to form eligibility for the scheme. I would also like to reassure you that you have qualified for the higher 43.3p tariff, and that you don not need to do anything else at this time.

Our next step is to register your system fully with with OFGEM etc. FIt contract will be sent at a later date and does not need to be completed by 11/12/11.

I would give them a ring. As i've previously mentioned I stupidly forgot my account number but that hasn't been a problem, installer filled out all the "complicated" stuff for me.

 

[stavtoon]

My installer sent yesterday should have been received today so its fingers crossed.Would be quite interesting if i missed out on the higher rate due to my installer messing the forms up,wonder how i would stand then.

 

[and]

The wording on the original letter I had from EDF is ambiguous, saying that they will take the FiT from my initial reading onwards but doesn't specificially mention the date:

"I would like to reassure you that the time taken to process your application will have no affect on the payment you receive as your first payment will be based on the reading you provided in your application."

I phoned EDF earlier on (was on hold for 30mins) and the EDF person said that they had had a lot of enquires saying about this ambiguous part of the letter.

Anyway, she confiremed verbally my eligibility date is indeed 7 Nov; I asked if she could confirm this in an email and she sent the following straight away:

"Further to our telephone conversation I can confirm that your eligibility date has been set as 7/11/2011.


The application now needs to be accredited with OFGEM after which we will send you a copy of our Statement of Terms to sign and complete."

 

[SRE]

My installer sent yesterday should have been received today so its fingers crossed.Would be quite interesting if i missed out on the higher rate due to my installer messing the forms up,wonder how i would stand then.

If you were that concerned you should have checked them and sent them yourself Why are people always looking for someone to land the blame on before something even happens? It's your responsibility to make sure your fit application gets where it needs to.

It would be nice for once to hear how pleased you were to have help from your installer completing the forms and how impressed you were that he/she even posted them for you.

Thank goodness all of our customers have been genuinely delighted with the effort we've put in and have really appreciated the 4am finishes to get everything in place so they can take advantage of the solar gold rush.

 

[gricks]

"solar gold rush" The government would have it that way with their 5% to 9% plus rates of return. The equivalent compound interest rate is in reality quite low. Do the sum (((Total Income over 25 years/Total Outgoings)^0.04)-1)*100 %/year then check the answer with a compound interest calculator like Compound Interest Calculator
Plus you need to keep going for the whole 25 years and not have breakdowns.

 

[SRE]

"solar gold rush" The government would have it that way with their 5% to 9% plus rates of return. The equivalent compound interest rate is in reality quite low. Do the sum (((Total Income over 25 years/Total Outgoings)^0.04)-1)*100 %/year then check the answer with a compound interest calculator like Compound Interest Calculator
Plus you need to keep going for the whole 25 years and not have breakdowns.

"Solar gold rush" - refers to the aceptance that most informed installers and customers have that this is the best fit price available and that installations are at the lowest they have ever been, therefore it is about the best time to invest in solar yet. Do the maths ;-)

I didn't suggest that the investment was better or worse than anything else - after all I'm not an indpenedent financial adviser

 

[langstroth2]

"Solar Gold Rush" - it's not a bad return though.

System say cost 12,000.
Assume we stuck £12,100 in a savings account instead of paying for a shiny new solar array. With compound interest, lets say 4% AER, after 25 yrs we have ~£31,990 in our saving pot.

Or instead we stuck a shiny 4Kw array on our roof prior to Monday for £12,000 . This generates 3650KwH / year = £1580 / year. Add £23 for 3p for 50% export. £1603 / year in income (ignore any 'leccy savings or increase in FiT rate). We're good and stick our payments into a savings account, lets say paying 4% AER. After 25yrs we have ~68,200-£1,000 for the replacement inverter we had to pay for. We have £67,200 in the pot. Some £35,000 more than above.

OK in the second example for the first ~10yrs our original 12,000 was locked way on the roof and couldn't be withdrawn if needed. But then watching money accumulate in a savings account isn't quite as much fun as watching the KwH accumulate :smile5:

 

[gricks]

The langstroth2 cunning plan to re-invest solar proceeds increase %/yr returns (see more sums in Solar Feed In Tariff 2011: Solar Bank system) but still less than returns stated by some politicians who are not suggesting re-investment and don't show their maths.
If returns are advertised as gold a rush will follow, EDF etc will struggle to cope, the government will panic and close down the scheme with subsequent loss of jobs.
Whatever - must agree it's still fun watching the Landis and Gyr blinking red light.

 

[darrens1973]

we have gone with British Gas, only 2 pages to fill in, very helpful at every step of the way, and all 4 of our own installs can be sent on one cheque and means we can send all 4 readings in one e-mail.