Solartwin Solar DIY Kit

Having installed solar twin systems for solar twin I would not recommend becomming an installer as they are very poor at paying for your work.

I installed the solartwin hot water kit myself (I am a telephone engineer) in April 2010 (1.5 years ago). The kit Cost £1995 from solartwin. I also had to fit a standard hot water tank as we used to have one but took it out when we got a combi boiler the combi packed up so i though id go solar. It has worked very well and is very satisfying to get free hot water. The gas bill for may, June and July has averaged about £2.99 half of that is standing charge and the other half is for the cooker hob. Max temp in tank achieved 82c so recommend a SOLAR mixing valve, oh and thick 15mm pipe insulation these were not part of the kit. It survived -17c in the very cold 2011 start of year. All though the pipes to the panel froze(no leeks), this was solved by lining the roof with bubbly foil stuff keeping the loft +4c. The controller and immersion switch I mounted next to the door to the bathroom. If the water is too cold I either wait till its warm or put the immersion on for 5 mins. I equalized water pressure to shower mixer tap to make temp easy to adjust by taking a cold feed from the header tank. I Highly recommend it, Love it!

Solartwin, what can I say but, fantastic.

We had our system fitted 2 years ago. The fitters were very professional, polite, clean and tidy. As promised, the system was fitted in just a day, with very little upheaval. After the first year, we had a saving of £279, (36%), on our gas bill, and £45, (7%), on our electric bill ( I guess this is because the boiler and pump aren't running as much). This year we had a saving of £258, (33%), on gas, and £40, (6.5%), on the electric. Because the Solartwin system is self contained, there are no maintenance costs (unlike most other systems), and is not affected by power cuts. We have been so pleased with Solartwin, and the way they have always been so friendly and helpful, we are now considering their Photo-Voltaic system, to reduce our electricity usage.

In case anyone may be thinking that I must work for Solartwin, after such a glowing review, then I can tell you that this is not the case. I work for Tesco, and have done for the past 15 years.

Well done Solartwin, and keep up your good work.

Mr. C.T., Sandhurst, Berks

I have been running 2 solartwin hot water pannels for 4 years now. They provide almost all our hot water needs for the summer months, a significant amount of hot water through spring and autumn and not surprisingly given our latitude(north Scotland) no hot water through the winter. I had initial problems with the installation and over the years minor problems with the pipe work. However, the reason I am writing this review is that the after sales of this company has been really good, even now 4 years after purchase they have been helpful beyond the call of duty. Most products will give you problems of some kind. Most companies will not give an impresive after sales back up.

We had a solar hot water system installed in our new build home 4 years ago as part of our green energy solutions. It has been wonderfully good at providing us with around 75 percent of our hot water from April to September at a guess. We do not have an electric immersion heater and we use a wood burning stove with a boiler to heat the central heating and hot water the rest of the year. Very economical

We've had our Solartwin solar panel for 9 years. It was installed by Solartwin rather than by us. It took less than a day. It has worked perfectly all through the 9 years. It's a very simple system and genuinely carbon free as the pump is powered by a PV panel. We seldom need to use our gas boiler from April to September and even in January we often get plenty of hot water. Although there are no controls, other than the pump reacting to the amount of sunlight, we've not had problems with overheating & it's presumably survived being frozen although we haven't been aware when that has happened. I have no hesitation in recommending the system.

Had my solar heating system for just over 2 years now, and we love it. We love the fact that we get FREE hot water for our baths. A nice soak in the bath amazing, but add to the fact at times it costs us ZERO pence to have one.

What attracted us to the Solartwin system was the fact that it is not plugged into the mains like other systems. This is due to a cool little PV panel that powers the pump. As a family we are very conscious of our huge carbon footprint (our cooking, our heating, our travelling) and the idea of zero carbon hot water really appealed to us.

I was quite nervous about getting them installed as its not something we have been bought before. But after having a chat with the (very helpful and knowledgeable) surveyor on the phone, my worries were put at ease. Once we decided to go for it, the guys at Solar Twin were more than helpful. They kept us fully up to speed on things like delivery, user guides, warrantees etc... It was very exciting when it arrived, my brother-in-law and I installed it one weekend and it was really simple.

And here is the best thing and most surprising. It doesn't have to be a mega hot sunny day to get FREE hot water. Even in January it generates enough to warm the water. A friend of ours didn't believe us, till we shown them. They were amazed. So to sum this review up, I would highly recommend the Solartwin system because of the cost, the customer support and most importantly....its zero carbon as its not plugged into mains in any way!