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Inside Out: con artists take shine out of solar power
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Climate change is one of the reasons for the increasing popularity of solar
power. But tonight Inside Out on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE South West investigates one company that is taking the shine out of the technology.
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Terry McCormack, sales rep for Solar Technik, based in Bournemouth, is secretly
filmed making misleading claims and telling lies to try and sell a solar system
to an undercover journalist, posing as an environmentally-friendly widow.
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Solar Energy expert Nick Backhouse surveys the 'widow's house' before the Solar
Technik salesman arrives.
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He judges that the house is not appropriate for solar
panels because the boiler is not compatible and the south facing roof is too
small.
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To help sell his solar system, McCormack claims that his own domestic solar
system gives him nearly 100% of his hot water requirements, something which the
programme's expert says is impossible.
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Furthermore the programme discovers that
the salesman does not even own a solar powered system!
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McCormack also claims that Solar Technik customers could save up to 57% of their
total energy bill; the Energy Saving Trust reckons the true figure should be
around 17%.
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Dorset Trading Standards manager, Ivan Hancock, says anybody claiming that
their solar system would save more than 30% of their total energy bill may be in
breach of the Trade Descriptions Act, which is a criminal offence.
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Despite the house not being suitable for solar panels Mr McCormack quotes our
undercover journalist Β£12,800 for the system.
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The Energy Saving Trust says a
system should cost between Β£2,500 and Β£4,000.
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Newquay resident, Lyn Morgan, was targeted by the company.
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She says: "Solar
Technik definitively told us that we could save 60% (of our total energy bill).
They quoted us Β£13,550, the only good thing is that it was including VAT!"
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In a statement Solar Technik tells Inside Out:
"Solar Technik is a young UK company in a growing market with a large sales and
installation workforce. It currently installs hundreds of domestic solar energy
heating systems a year based on a very high quality German solar collector
technology which was originally developed on a Daimler Benz project. Our
installations have proven to be very reliable and there are hundreds of satisfied
customers enjoying savings on their fuel bills that Inside Out has chosen not to
include on its programme.
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"Solar Technik takes its responsibilities towards its customers seriously but
inevitably things to not always go according to plan. Such occurrences are rare.
To deal with them, Solar Technik has a strict code of conduct governing the
behaviour of its sales team and where its internal code is broken, disciplinary
action is taken.
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"We understand Inside Out features one of our current salesman who may have broken
our internal code of conduct. This is regrettable and is not a reflection of
Solar Technik's policy or the service we provide."
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Inside Out is on Monday 9 October 2006 at 7.30pm on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE South West.
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JR
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