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Helen W
Active since Jun 2025
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3 reviews6 months ago
BLUE PLANET POWER GARDEN ROUTE - A MUST READ FOR ALL THEIR CLIENTS.
Blue Planet Power Garden Route. If you have used the services of Blue Planet Power in the Garden Route to install an inverter/battery/solar system or for carrying out any electrical work at your home, it will be in your interest to call in an independent electrician to check the work and verify the electrical compliance certificate issued by Blue Planet. The department of labour has deregistered the contractor (Blue Planet’s electrician and CEO) as an electrical contractor and is opening a case with SAPS for the contractor’s failure to comply with the contravention notice issue and recommend that they prosecute him. In 2019 I had two 5kva batteries and inverters installed by Blue Planet. In September 2021, they added sixteen solar panels to the system. In August 2023 Blue Planet rewired the inverter & batteries they installed as: • Speaker wire has been used to connect the Eskom/inverter indicator light directly into the DB board. • A 4mm 4 core surfix cable was used for the main feed to send/return electricity from the inverter to the DB board which is protected by a 50-amp breaker. The correct cable that should have been used was 6mm or 10mm x 4 core to accommodate the size of the inverters. • The electrical wiring which was been done impacted on the warranty on the inverter/battery system due to no AC surge protection being installed. During 2024/2025, I contacted Blue Planet regularly as I was receiving unusually high electricity consumption bills. In desperation, I called in an independent electrician who identified irregularities with the installation of the solar/inverter/battery system. The cost of the remedial work was over R40 000.00. I called in the department of labour who sent an inspector who confirmed that the electrical installation did not comply with the electrical installation regulations. They identified a total of at least forty-one non-complaint issues which related to the COC certificate, Installation, DC combiner box, Inverter, AC solar box, Main DB board, Solar Panel and Batteries. The entire installation was flawed. Blue Planet were given the opportunity to rectify the irregularities which they did not do resulting in the Department of labour deregistering the contractor as an electrical contractor.
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7 months ago
Blue Planet deregistered by Department of Labour as an electrical contractor.
Blue Planet Power Garden Route. If you have used the services of Blue Planet Power in the Garden Route to install an inverter/battery/solar system or for carrying out any electrical work at your home, it will be in your interest to call in an independent electrician to check the work and verify the electrical compliance certificate issued by Blue Planet. The department of labour has deregistered the contractor (Blue Planet’s electrician and CEO) as an electrical contractor and is opening a case with SAPS for the contractor’s failure to comply with the contravention notice issue and recommend that they prosecute him. In 2019 I had two 5kva batteries and inverters installed by Blue Planet. In September 2021, they added sixteen solar panels to the system. In August 2023 Blue Planet rewired the inverter & batteries they installed as: • Speaker wire has been used to connect the Eskom/inverter indicator light directly into the DB board. • A 4mm 4 core surfix cable was used for the main feed to send/return electricity from the inverter to the DB board which is protected by a 50-amp breaker. The correct cable that should have been used was 6mm or 10mm x 4 core to accommodate the size of the inverters. • The electrical wiring which was been done impacted on the warranty on the inverter/battery system due to no AC surge protection being installed. During 2024/2025, I contacted Blue Planet regularly as I was receiving unusually high electricity consumption bills. In desperation, I called in an independent electrician who identified irregularities with the installation of the solar/inverter/battery system. The cost of the remedial work was over R40 000.00. I called in the department of labour who sent an inspector who confirmed that the electrical installation did not comply with the electrical installation regulations. They identified a total of at least forty-one non-complaint issues which related to the COC certificate, Installation, DC combiner box, Inverter, AC solar box, Main DB board, Solar Panel and Batteries. The entire installation was flawed. Blue Planet were given the opportunity to rectify the irregularities which they did not do resulting in the Department of labour deregistering the contractor as an electrical contractor.
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10 months ago
WHY NOT TO USE BLUE PLANET POWER
If you have used the services of Blue Planet Power in the Garden Route to install an inverter/battery/solar system or for that matter carrying out any electrical work at your home, it will be in your interests to call in an independent electrician to check the wiring and verify the electrical compliance certificate issued by Blue Planet (if they in fact issued you with a COC and the ‘as installed wiring diagram’). Failure to do so is likely to result in huge costs for an Electrical Compliance Certificate should you come to sell your property. There is another small issue that should not be overlooked namely the installation being a potential fire hazard. In 2019 I had two 5kva batteries and inverters installed by Blue Planet. In September 2021, they added sixteen solar panels to the system. My experience with the company has been a nightmare. In August 2023 Blue Planet rewired the inverter & batteries they installed as: • Speaker wire has been used to connect the Eskom/inverter indicator light directly into the DB board. • A 4mm 4 core surfix cable was used for the main feed to send/return electricity from the inverter to the DB board which is protected by a 50-amp breaker. The correct cable that should have been used was 6mm or 10mm x 4 core to accommodate the size of the inverters. • The electrical wiring which was been done impacted on the warranty on the inverter/battery system due to no AC surge protection being installed. During 2024/2025, I contacted Blue Planet on a number of occasions as I was receiving extremely high electricity consumption accounts which ranged between R4500 and R7000 per month. As I live on my own in a modest three bedroomed home, have alternative power and the geyser is connected to a heat pump, I found the consumption costs to be excessive. After many unsuccessful attempts requesting assistance from Blue Planet, I called in an independent electrician who identified irregularities with the installation of the solar/inverter/battery system. The cost of the remedial work was tens of thousands of rands. I called in the department of labour who sent an inspector who identified the issues below. Blue Planet did deal with the remedial work required in the inspector’s report which took two full days to complete – this work was conducted on the 11th and 12th June 2025, but I have yet to receive the COC and as installed wiring diagram. When Blue Planet left site on the 12th June the inverters and batteries were not working. I called Aiden Bowley, from Blue Planet, on the 12th June after they had left site who confirmed that he was aware that the inverters and batteries were in working order when they arrived on site but not working when they left. He assured me that this would be dealt with the following morning. It is now two weeks since the installation was done and despite emails and what’s app messages being sent to Aiden Bowley, I still have a non-functioning system and no-one from Blue Planet has contacted me. The department of labour’s report confirmed that the electrical installation does not comply with the Electrical Installation Regulations as per the observation of the inspector with the following items being confirmed. a) CoC • The CoC is missing supplement number. • There are no additional DC tests done on the tests report. • Inadequate description of the installation; no mention of how many panels, size of installed battery and inverters. The CoC is missing supplement number. • There are no additional DC tests done on the tests report. • Inadequate description of the installation; how many panels, size of installed battery and inverters? • New CoC has to be issued at the completion of all remedial work. b) Installation Wireway • AC and DC and communication conductors are installed on the same wireway. • Too many conductors installed in the middle wireway, cable trunking is bulging – high risk of fire. • iii. Colour coding is incorrect for batter conductors. • iv. Earth conductors are twisted together. DC combiner box • Inadequate labelling of PV strings • Incorrect connection of surge arrestor • live phase wire connected to the same terminal of earth leakage. • incorrect connection of the disconnecting device; some have two lives and two neutral conductors, some have lived incoming conductors and exits with neutral conductors. • No fuses are installed. • No earthing provided from the main DB earth terminal. • Flexible DC conductor strands are not protected and terminated with bootlace ferrules. Invertor • No bonding done on the inverter. • DC and communication conductors installed in the same wireway trunking. • damaged DC conductor terminations to the inverter • Grid conductors are not protected with glands, which may result in conductors being damaged. • AC solar board • Inadequate labelling: on and off positions should be clearly indicated. • No surge arresters installed. • Main DB • Connector block is used in a DB. • Incorrect conductor joints and termination; earth terminals are twisted together. • Conductors are not mechanically protected when passing through building matter. • Inadequate labelling on the electric board installed above the main DB. Solar Panels • Exposed conductors not fixed and exposed to environmental elements. • Incorrect joints and terminations; some t-joints are insulated with electric tape. • Solar panels are not bonded to earth terminal. • Sections for conductors not in a wireway • Wireway conduits not secured to the roof structure, laying freely on the roof tiles. • Incorrect colour coding for some connections under the panels • Bonding not connected to the main DB earth terminal. • PV solar panels are not bonded. • batteries • no disconnection device installed. • ii. no fuses installed to protect the batteries. • iii. incorrect colour coding used – blue conductors used. • iv. incorrect battery conductor terminals used and insulated with an electric tape. • v. inadequate labelling of the batteries • vi. access to live parts without using a key or a tool. • vii. speaker wires used. The report also stated that these items do not constitute a list of all non-compliant items which may exist at the electrical installation. In November 2023, well after the installation was carried out, I received an email from Blue Planet regarding their maintenance contract. The cover letter stated that a nominal fee will be payable each month to cover regular maintenance and system checks. Without the maintenance contract Blue Planet may not be able to provide support to existing systems in the future. The ‘nominal fee’ is R600 per month including VAT payable by direct order – this equates to R7200 per annum or R72000 over the anticipated life span of the system (10 years). Hardly a nominal fee! On reading through the contract, maintenance visits will be scheduled every six months, as well as checking and configuring the system settings and checking if the monitoring is optimized and online Teck support 365 days a year. After making various enquiries it appears that the going rate of servicing a 10-panel solar system is R950 per visit while the cost of servicing 11-20 panel systems is R1400 per visit. Cleaning of panels is recommended every three to four months depending on how dirty the panels get and the call out fee includes the service of the inverter and batteries. No contacts are required, and Teck support is included. Blue Planet are not afraid of charging – it’s a pity that their service does not match their fees.
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