The government has closed a solar panel company due to fraudulent sales practices aimed at retirees.
London-based Trident West Industries Ltd was closed down at the High Court in London last week after 80 complaints were made to Trading Standards and Action Fraud. Sales staff made cold calls and unsolicited home visits to retirees who already had solar installations, persuading them to purchase new parts or maintenance and fraudulently promising refunds on government subsidies.
The complaints also concerned Star Solar Ltd, which was headed by Terry Smith, who was also a director of Trident West Industries, but which went into voluntary liquidation in April.
Investigators from the government’s Insolvency Service found that more than £3.1 million was paid into the two companies’ bank accounts between May 2023 and January 2025. In the same period the agency paid just £7,010 to nine complainants, despite the combined value of the complaints and judgments against the companies being more than £413,000. The average age of the complainants was 76 years.
Smith told investigators that he founded Star Solar, but that Trident West was set up by someone else, whom he declined to name. Smith said he had no control over the companies’ bank accounts, had no knowledge of their assets and liabilities and could not account for payments of more than £1 million to various individuals and companies.
“These companies appeared to deliberately exploit vulnerable consumers through cold calling and door-to-door sales, making false promises of government refunds to secure payments for products and services that were often not delivered,” said Mark George, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service.
“Customers handed over their money believing they would receive solar equipment and maintenance plans and were repeatedly told that government subsidies would reimburse their payments. The promised goods and services were not delivered, and when customers tried to get their money back, the companies simply became unresponsive.”
The agency said that in one case a defrauded customer paid £3,420 for an inverter that never arrived, and when they canceled the order they were sold a maintenance plan for a further £1,883 with the promise that the remaining balance would be refunded. No money was refunded.
Trident West failed to file accounts in April this year – the same month Star Solar entered voluntary administration – in breach of the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
Read more about historical controversies and cases of fraud in the UK solar sector here.
