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If I were to look at fitting solar panels to my roof for the purpose of generating electricity would I be better to purchase the stuff myself and use local tradesmen to fit it or get one of the professional firms in?
Are you after claiming FITs? If you are then you need an MCS installer. If you can get them to agree to fir your stuff then there shoudl not be a problem (assuming you only buy panels that are MCS approved). Best thing is to ask around as I suspect most are a bit quiet at the moment. There is a route that self installers can use, but I think it is very tortuous, best to get a few sales people around and see what they are offering. Check them out on here: https://www.duedil.com/ http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/toolsToHelp/WCInfo.shtml and http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/recent/10/corp-insolvency
If you buy it yourself you'll pay 20% VAT, supplied and fitted it's 5% VAT. That often makes the price differential between self install and tradesman install minimal.
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