Wickes Solar Reviews 

I am writing this to warn consumers regarding the hazardous design, substandard installation practices, and compliance failures of Wickes Solar (Gas Fast Limited).
My property underwent an installation for an itemized Fox EPS Whole-Home Backup Gateway and battery array expansion. The subcontractor installation was a disaster from the start: it caused structural damage to our main meter housing, completely omitted a critical connecting cable run between the inverter and gateway, and miswired the main EPS box into the incorrect port, leading to a total system failure during a grid blackout.Worse still are the technical safety and certification failures. The company routed our entire household load (including a large solar array, a domestic heat pump, and four separate air conditioning units) through this single isolation loop while leaving the property connected to inadequate, thin 16 mm² meter tails on an 80 A cutout fuse.Despite their Operations Manager explicitly admitting the cable sizing error and ordering a 25 mm² replacement, their technical coordinators subsequently canceled the appointment and formally closed our internal complaint, refusing to carry out the safe rewiring.Following our escalation, the Head of Solar issued a revised Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC). Shockingly, this legal certificate formally declares that the property has 25 mm² supply conductors and a 100 A main fuse installed. This is entirely false. My property physically remains on the original 16 mm² wiring and an 80 A fuse. Falsifying statutory electrical compliance certificates to cover up design omissions is an egregious breach of trade conduct.As Wickes Solar has closed our internal complaint and refused to make this installation safe or compliant with UK Building Regulations, this entire case file—including their written admissions and the incorrect certificate—has been formally submitted for independent audits with the Green Homes Dispute Resolution Team (Ref: 26090202), the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), and NAPIT (Case Reference: CP-8630-26). Avoid this company if you value technical compliance and household safety.

Ok the install electrics were tidy however the bird proofing wasn’t up to standard. Charlotte Clark of the team though came to the rescue with a redesign at no costs albiet it took 3 visits which actually showed how much the company bothered to put it tight. They do need to be a bit sharper answering the help desk phone but in this day of horrible AI support you do talk to a human and usually a cheery one at that with no A1 butting in to answer.
I’m glad I chose the company as I have faith in the business based on good experiences. The technical guys too Adam & Jack have helped me too when I’ve been a bit thick using the app. I’ve a good set up of panels & batteries and a third party installed switch for power outages supplied by eco-ess which Solarfast Wickes were happy to honour their warranties with. Grown up and sensible stuff. Fingers crossed for my bird proofing now however I know if I still have issues this firm will be there for me.

Solarfast Solar panel system installation - first year
I had Solarfast (SF) install a 14 panel, 2 battery system April 2025. House orientation North South. 7 panels on the East side and 7 on the West.
The sales team were very informative and knowledgeable about all their products and options. As they were part of the WIckes Group I decided to go with them , as they were liable to be in the marketplace for longer term than a local firm might be. Hence, I would get good product support.
SF organised a local scaffolding firm to erect scaffold prior to the installation day. The installation team arrived at 8am on the day, 2 lovely men, one an Electrician and the other a Roofer. They were all done by 2pm and I was up and running. I had chosen to have the installation done prior to obtaining a G99 certificate which allowed me get the installation date earlier, and so benefit from the solar generation whilst the paperwork with UK Power Networks, went through. Subsequently, three months later, the installation was registered and I chose to use Octopus Energy to sell my excess electricity to using their Outgoing Octopus, flat rate option, which is currently 12p/kWh.
This only really provides income from March to October down here on the SE coast, but I do manage to draw off the solar/battery side of the system in the Autumn/Winter time, so I make a saving by not drawing from my Electricity Supplier.
My stats are this: Two people in a five bedroom house
12 months export generation: 3067kWh = £376
12 months Electricity supplied from grid: 1213kWh
No electricity purchased from March - September

Solarfast, if only I could go back in time and choose another, more reputable installer. They're fast for a reason: poor workmanship and quality. Customer service is only good when it comes to selling and making them money. I would not choose them again. Avoid.

Avoid at all costs! Social media is right!
I had multiple issues through the order and had cancellations, ignored calls and emails etc. Now its finally in and i have an issue i am again getting ignored and the usual snotty replies. Raised an issue with the install 12 days ago, when i followed this up to see when it would get looked at i just got an emails saying we already told you, you will get a call when we can!
Wish i had never set eyes on Wickes Solar, they are cowboys with zero care for customers. I work in retail and wouldnt dream of behaving like these lot do.

I inherited my system from previous owners so had a few problems getting everything set up as the previous owners had no smart meter fitted but from there on Charlie was every helpful and responsive to any queries would definitely recommend them to anybody considering having solar panels

Well what can I say so far so bad. I had my system put in in July 2025 and all was working well then I made the biggest mistake of my life. I ordered a extra battery and a car charger. Now you think it would be simple but ohh boy how wrong you would be. They fitted the add ons nearly two weeks ago since then I have no live monitoring and the car charger does not work. So they have spent over 10 hours on four different occasions trying to rectify it. I am still waiting for the system they promise to work in the way it was explained to me. I do not hold out much hope as they do not know what they are doing from what I have seen so far. If I could give them a minus star rating I would. Will update when I hear something.

Great customer interaction, as expected from a household name. Felt reassured and confident in accepting our contract instantly. The installation had issues that could not be avoided but the reaction from all the Wickes representatives was A1. Would and have recommended Wickes Solar.

Great all round service, communication and workmanship was excellent. Definitely recommend

Had solar panels fitted late last year, and this last month opted to add another battery to our system. From start to finish the service has been great. We went for the sigenergy system and so far it’s been faultless. The app is easy to use, I love nothing more than opening it up to see I’m saving money. All of the staff, from start to finish have been fantastic. I would like to make an extra mention to Ellie, who answered so many question for us without complaint. And the install team on the day (well both days) were absolutely brilliant. I would 100% recommend this company to all my friends and family.

I have been very happy with the installation and the results from the equipment. This summer the results of the export to the grid have exceeded my expectation and I am completely confident in recommending this Company for future projects

Overall quite good, but not exceptional.

After the installation we were left for weeks with scaffolding. At the time of writing, the scaffold is still in place with Wickes seemingly unable to get it removed.

The company rely heavily on sub contractors and don't seem to manage them properly.

The work was completed in a tidy and and courteous way.

After dealing with octopus energy and what seemed to be thier determination to not fit a solar energy system at my address wikes where a breath of fresh air. Tyler whappington came out to do our quote and very quickly helped put together a design and within 4 weeks I am now sat here writing this review with a fully fitted solar system (panels/battery/inverter) all working perfectly. The only downside was the scaffolding they only fitted it to one side of the house to start so when the guys came to fit the system they could not finish it witch meant having to rebook and as we where on holiday I had to have a family member be here and take up their time. And also on the install day I had to help delivery driver unload because of miscommunication with fitters and delivery driver meaning driver arrived to early. Despite this though all through the problem I spoke to Tyler and received great customer service untill the problem was resolved and the system was fitted. The guys that came to fit the system where great got the job done quickly and tidily and left everything spotless.

Not sure what was going on with the scaffolding company though they came and only fitted scaffolding to the front then where supposed to come back the next day first thing but didn't turn up till late afternoon after the fitters left then proceeded to try to take down the scaffolding on the front luckily I was in to stop them and have them put up the scaffolding on the rear.

The whole installation was orchestrated to perfection.
We sell our excess back. Best money saving venture ever.

Just wanted to warn of anyone thinking of using Wickes Solar (Gas Fast). They claim to act like a large national business but they are basically using the household name of Wickes then subcontract to various small contractors.

- System was wrongly designed
- Install dates cancelled under 24hrs notice
- I had to unload the delivery myself (20x panels, 3x batteries and inverter)
- Zero communication on process
- No one answers phones
- Email replies take weeks
- Rubbish left after install

Worst customer experience I've had with anything in my life.

Was told on 4 August via text that I’d hear from Wickes about a quote within 48 hours…but it’s now 9 August and not a peep.

It is without hesitation that I would recommend "Solarfast"! We've had our solar panels and batteries just over a year now and they have lived up to all our expectations. All our dealings with the company have been pleasant experiences, from sales, installation and aftersales help. Just this last week: we had a new "wifi " hub and so the system needed to be reset. I'm still waiting for Duracell to get back to me! But one phone call with Charlie Barker sorted the problem! Charlie talked me though the process with great patience and between us we resolved the issue. I really can't recommend SolarFast highly enough, indeed we are moving to Yorkshire in the next month or so and our first addition to our new home will be a SolarFast system.

the installation was done in a day. The panels and battery are not only saving me money, I am also making money by selling my excess energy. Great system.

I had batteries and an inverter installed by Solarfast upon the recommendation of a family member. The installation went smoothly and I was happily enjoying use of the kit over the past couple of years. Then came a fault, this has been probably the most traumatic experience I have had dealing with what I thought was a professional outfit. I have spent close to 4 weeks calling daily and one failed promise after another to resolve this matter. Finally I was told engineers would come and swap out the batteries as it seemed they were faulty. This appointment happened yesterday (3rd August). The engineers arrived and started their diagnostics and plugged in a device, updated the software on the batteries and left, despite being told they will change the batteries. I was told the problem was fixed.... that was not the case, the inverter shows that the batteries are at 82% and the display on the batteries shows around 20%!. Looking at the consumption for the day, there is now way the batteries could be at 82% with the solar production and usage.

When I quizzed the engineers during their visit, it became apparent that they did not even have the batteries to change. So I feel lied to and let down. All I can say about these guys is the pre sales is great, when it comes to aftersales support they are horrendous.

I am now considering taking this matter formally forward if this matter is not resolved to my satisfaction.

I was having technical issues with the Lux Cloud app which provides info on powering import/export from solar panels. The staff online were extremely helpful and solved my issue by providing troubleshooting guides from which I was able to solve the problem quickly.