Solar industry cleanup news 1 March 2011:

Since the hot water system solar consumer has comprehensively been let down for years by the Renewable Industry’s “REAL Consumer Code” on matters of what seems almost like rampant performance overclaiming, Solar Twin Ltd have today asked the Advertising Standards Authority to confirm that all these solar water heating websites (below) are offering PV pumped solar water heating systems such as Solartwin.

The point is that the solar hot water provided by solar water heating systems is not free if it has to be delivered by a solar water heating system which is pumped using mains electricity.

The Energy Saving Trust reported that these “parastiics” cost £7 per annum. And that was a decade ago. What will the pump of a solar water heating system cost to run at today’s electricity prices?

Free hot water? No way! Or do we have to assume that all these suppliers offer solar electric pumping as standard, just like Solartwin?

Who will be the first to send us a solicitor’s letters telling us to shut up?

And how many letters will arrive before they even amend their sites?

• tescohomeefficiency
• wickes
• everest
• kingspansolar
• aga-web
• ariston
• builditshop
• solarfusion
• ssge
• evergreen-solutions
• enactenergy
• rayotec
• solarenergysolution
• solarkent
• britisheco
• sunuser
• solarcentresuk
• energygrants
• solar-inccouk
• ecocentre
• viscount-insulation
• solarcompanyuk
• yorkshiresolar
• hbssolarwarm
• joliet-europe
• eliteheatingservices
• solarworxs
• ghesolar
• cutyourcarbon
• oso-hotwater
• enactenergy
• lincssolarltd
• solarpower
• thegreeneralternative
• 1stlightenergy
• heatingcentral
• solarsaver
• amsmayfair
• hot-water-cylinders
• christieandross
• elfsecsolar
• evoenergy
• hsolarhotwater
• ecsolar
• gosolarnow
• deltarefrigeration
• solarpowerful
• arrowheating
• invisibleheating
• crownsolaruk
• solaruk
• eagarenewables
• southernsolar

Quite a list! Over 50 sites.

Why did we send in this list today on 1 March? Because the ASA are now looking at websites for the first time ever and because the REAL Code ignored our requests. We have also informed ASA of questionable solar water heating claims in other areas such as “free energy” and “virtually zero carbon” which is a claim which the Solar Trade Association now make, having apparently been knocked back from “zero carbon” (without the “virtually”.).

It would be nice to get a win for the solar consumer after all these years of informational fog.

Regards, Barry.

Solar Twin Ltd – trying to clean up the solar water heating industry. You heard it first from us!