PV Solar Power

[NugentS]

Guys,

I am looking at getting a PV Solar Installation to take advantage of the Gubermint Feed in Tariffs as that seems to make the concept financially viable.
My budget is 10K with 20% overspend allowed (aka 12K)
I will be getting four quotes

For comparison purposes I am looking at:
Rated Power of Installation (I don't really care how many panels are used - its only the total power that's generated that matters)
Warranty on Panels
Panel Degradation (mostly the same except one manufacturer)
Warranty on Inverter (I understand that these are almost certain to fail during the 25 year period)
Workmanship Warranty
Panel Quality (Subjective, Mono/Poly/Hybrid{expensive}, Manufacture location, owning company, panel efficiency etc)

Does anyone have any comments on the above? Any advice to offer? Tales of horror or delight?

Regards

Sean

[Thread also in Finance]

[NugentS]

Hmm useful

Sean

[NugentS]

bigburd said:

Got a 3.6KWP system being installed in 2wks by

15 x Moserbaer Panels
Fronius inverter
£9500

check this facebook site
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Solar-PV-Project-at...


From my experience
Avoid PV Solar UK, Tescos and the national uPVC (get on the Solar band wagon)companies
Read the articles on www.which.co.uk about pressure sales
Only go with companies who are prepared to meet at times suitable to you (ie don’t take “we can only book am or pm appointments)
Get at least three quotes
DO NOT do the Rent a Roof (it is tied to your mortgage!!)


The most professional quotes I had were
JHS from nr Banbury **
SolarTec **
SolarPartners

• (but will only survey after initial quote if you are seriously interested)

My decision was between SolarTec and SolarPartners –

AVOID
PV Solar UK, they do not offer choices and their brochure is borderline illegal with hardsell wording
Sharp Panels seem to have a bad reputation for quality
People trying to sell Aurora One inverters (italian made – erm Alfa Romeo electrix) on lower start up voltage – the key to a good design is matching inverter to correct solar panels string

Best Value Panels
Hyundai
Suntech
MoserBaer

Best Invertors
Sunny Boy or Fronius


Most Efficient Panels
Sanyo but 2-3x more expensive


ALWAYS Pay at least some of the deposit on your credit card, if any part of the supply chain goes bust and you have an issue you can pursue the Credit Card company under Section 75 of Consumer Credit Act.


My quotes varied from £9500 to £14995

Edited by bigburd on Sunday 18th September 23:23

That is unbelievably cheap with a £/W value of 2.64 - cheapest I have managed so far is 3.09 (highest is 4.18)
Very marginally under average Watt/sqm (144.4913 vs average of 145.7267) compared to all the various panels I have been quoted (range is 140.0936 to 154.6040. The highest number BTW was a poly - which seems strange.)
Poly Panels not mono

Whereabouts are you and whose the supplier?

BTW the facebook site you reference has a sunnyboy installed not a Fronius so I don't understand the relevance to the proposed install

Regards

Sean

Incidently I also got a quote from PVSolar and are not currently on my list of possible supplier. I had a harder sell from Renewable Resources - the saleman must have been a doubleglazing salesman in a previous life/job

[NugentS]

The only reason I am doing this is the FIT - otherwise it would make no sense at all. Solar PV is a silly idea until we can get a decent efficiency - at which point it might make sense.

I have done my bit for the planet - no kids!!!

:-)

Sean

[NugentS]

I have just signed up.

Price = 13K
Sanyo HIT 250's * 16 = 4 Kw because less efficient panels won't fit on my roof - so I have paid extra for the Sanyo's

I am also an above average electrickery user and am trying to mitigate some of my bills. I have a south facing roof with no shade based near London
I estimate I will be paid / cost offset approx £1500 pa. This is made up of FITS payments @ 43p per unit plus less use of grid and selling some back to grid however the major part is FITS - the rest is just bonus.

13K / 1500 = 8.666 years to get my initial money back

FITS is guaranteed for 25 years and increases with RPI. As long as you install before April then you will get the 43p. Install after April - its probably going down
Price of electricity is going up rapidly
Price of gas is also going up quite rapidly

Its a long term investment - but it does seem worth it

Sean

N.B. Figures are approximate - mileage may vary (to be a PH slant on things)

[NugentS]

caziques said:

This. What is considered "average" in the UK? and is electricity being wasted?

Usually better to cut out waste rather than generate more.

I work from home on multiple computers
I have a vmware lab at home running multiple hosts and multiple NAS - 24*7
Lightbulbs are almost all low power
My office hits 30 degrees so I have air on

Etc

Sean

[NugentS]

even better

Sean

[NugentS]

solarpartner may be installing my parents system

Sean

[NugentS]

Also the numbers they use are wrong (now). They suggest up to 20K for a 4kW install. Its more like 10K now. The examples they used to calculate was 13K for a 2.8kW system which may have been correct a year ago - but isn't now.

Sean

[NugentS]

OK,

In my case.
No mortgage - already paid that off
Not married - no wife to invest in
I have spare cash
And I am putting up Sanyo panels at 13,250 whilst some others seem to have done a bit better than me getting up to a grand less than that

And in particular - I have a airconditioner that I use during the day to keep my home office cool - I want to be able to run that effectively FOC

Sean

[NugentS]

Yeah - will make for interesting times in the solar industry I feel.

Mine are being installed tomorrow - so am in time to keep the decent rate.

Sean

[NugentS]

eh?

I signed on 28th September 2011
Installation on 3rd November

Sean

[NugentS]

Isn't the drop dead date the 8th?

Sean

[NugentS]

In the UK I get the impression there are few people who go for off-grid living like what you are suggesting. Some links to boards that MIGHT be of use to you are:
http://www.navitron.org.uk/forum/index.php/board,7...
http://forum.housingenergyadvisor.com/

From what I read you have to get the solar panels / inverter / battery's right or you end up wrecking batteries far faster than is financially sensible. I also get the impression that many off-grid people also use wind power as a more 24 hour means of topping up batteries as well as solar power during the day. Water can also work if you have the right facilities.

Those forums do have some people who are off-grid and who are likely to know better places to look for advice.

Good luck

Sean