(Anouther Thread of) Solar Panel Install Questions

cdunne · 6 November 2015 at 2:25PM

I previously posted this under Energy (#69475764) and got advised to post here. My poll is possibly a little biased on that post.

Given the proposed changes to the FIT for the end of the year I decided to see if I could get panels installed before the deadline.

I picked multiple companies from http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/ and asked them to quote.

The first company that came was https://www.cdelec.co.uk / https://www.completegreensolutions.co.uk their quote was much cheaper than the other's I had and they quoted the highest power generation too (£5,650.00 for 16 x Rec 250W Solar PV Panels(made by REC group, Solar Edge Inverter and Power Optimizer, they state a payback period '<8 years').

One thing that worries me is that my houses roofs look like slate but apparently they are imitation slates and will need expensive mounting according to the company who gave the closest examination (and highest quote) I worded my concern to the sales person and got the response 'We have included within the quote the correct mounting brackets for your installation.'

The highest quote company also itemised a structural report. They claimed it would be included if required and when I question this I got the response 'the structural reports are a caution but very rarely required on standard domestic housing, and this will be double checked by our engineer on site survey.' so it does not sound like they plan to do one.

Also worries are the warantees, they seem to quote warantees for the parts themselves (ranging from 10 to 12 years and the panels have a 25 year 'performance guarantee') but this will not cover the labor to refit them. I've asked how the performance guarantee and is it based on the figures they quote'd but am not sure. With regard to their claim of payback period I guess I'll have no come back here but I'm thinking if it's within 10 years they should be worth-wile.

Given the current change in FIT how many of these companies will still be around in even 10 years.

With regard to the FIT itself my electricity supplier (EON) state they currently have about a 8 week weight on FIT applications. The suppler assures me that 'The Feed in Tariff rate you receive is determined by the date of the install on your paperwork, therefore if the paperwork is not processed with EON until after Christmas (unlikely) the FIT payments will be backdated to the date of commissioning. Is this true?

One other fundamental issue for me does the FIT count as taxable income? If it's tax free this makes a big difference, the rep has suggested it is (as has a response to my other thread) but not directly answered my statement that I assume it is before I go ahead.

tunnel · 6 November 2015 at 2:50PM

Why not post your location(roughly to nearest town) and see if some of the guys and gals on here can give you some recommendations.

I notice too that you are being quoted for solaredge? Do you have issues with shading on your roof? That's any shading as even the smallest of shade can cause big problems. If there is no shade then scrap solaredge and get a standard string install, that should shave a few quid off your install cost.

Your contract should run from when the FiT payer receives the application, assuming that's before the new year you'll be safe.

Finally, The FiT is NON TAXABLE, assuming it's on your own home and not on multiple installations.

EricMears · 6 November 2015 at 6:31PM

With the best will in the world, I'm not going to cast a vote - nor I see has anyone else done so yet.

Nobody except you can possibly be in a position to weigh up all the factors and work out the best course of action for you.

I would of course second Tunnel's suggestion of posting your location in this thread so that anyone living near you can share their local knowledge with you. I'd also suggest that you knock on a few doors (underneath solar panels of course) and ask householders who fitted theirs and whether they're happy with that company.

cdunne · 7 November 2015 at 12:34AM

Thank you, guess the poll wasn't the best idea in the world in hindsight. The issue that's brought one solar edge is that there is one South Facing roof (but limited area due to dormer windows) but there is also east and west facing roofs. Would one option to be don't bother with solar edge and east and west to separate inverters? I'm in Leicestershire (Burbage).

tunnel · 7 November 2015 at 10:18AM

Care to expand on what panels are going where?
Can you place all the 16 panels on the south roof or do you need to use the E/W aspects too?
If you can get all the panels on the south roof then solaredge or micro inverters would suffice, you couldn't use a string inverter if you have dormers as any shadow cast on one panel will bring the full string down to its level whereas SE or micros allow each panel to work independent of each other.
Just give a little bit more info as to how some of the quotes are drawn up(layout)

cdunne · 8 November 2015 at 12:45AM

Thank you for the response. The available area on the South roof is limited and the quote is for 4 x 250 Watt panels South and then 6 on both the East and West roofs (I assume from summing up their quotation).

Martyn1981 · 8 November 2015 at 9:35AM

cdunne wrote: »

Thank you for the response. The available area on the South roof is limited and the quote is for 4 x 250 Watt panels South and then 6 on both the East and West roofs (I assume from summing up their quotation).

Hiya. In that case you'd definitely need SolarEdge. Although it sounds a bit messy, and will generate a bit less than all south, having generation from 3 different aspects will mean a nice flatter generation curve throughout the day.

Mart.

cdunne · 9 November 2015 at 9:08PM

https://goo.gl/80G3X5

Is their plan of my roof with A proposed 4 x 250 Watt and B & C both 6 x 250 watt to get the 4kW. All of the other companies who've quoted haven't bothered with A.

mikechodgson · 11 November 2015 at 10:17AM

Are you just going for the FiT or are you going to self-consume?

Martyn1981 · 11 November 2015 at 1:10PM

cdunne wrote: »

https://goo.gl/80G3X5

Is their plan of my roof with A proposed 4 x 250 Watt and B & C both 6 x 250 watt to get the 4kW. All of the other companies who've quoted haven't bothered with A.

Looking at the plan, and this is purely a guess on my part, but the A panels are spread out, so it'll mean more work installing them. The easiest install is long lengths of rails, you'll have the opposite, lots of little bits. That might be why the installers aren't keen on A?

You could look at 285Wp panels on B & C that would take you to 3.42kWp at roughly the same price per Wp. You can go to higher powered (high efficiency panels) such as 325, 330 etc Wp. But these will cost more per Wp.

If B&C don't have any shading then just using those rooves would allow you to use a simpler inverter, which would be a little cheaper than a SolarEdge inverter + power optimsers.

Mart.

cdunne · 3 December 2015 at 3:36PM

An update, the company I mentioned are busy installing them now. (4kW system with Solar Edge).

New question, I have a combi-boiler so it's not easy gaining from the power when they're operating. I suspect the additional cost of installing a hot water tank in parallel with the existing boiler will outweigh the benefits (also is this even possible?

My dish washer does seem to have a timer so putting this on in the middle of the day does look possible

My washing machine (hotpoint wdl540) does not appear to have a delay timer (but Google finds pages that suggests it has) also it requires you to press the power button when it is first turned on so I don't think it'll work with a timer.

I have a hot tub in the garden (gained with the house, it has not been running yet, one of the pumps doesn't work so I'm currently draining it for the winter). Trying to interface with its heating system s probably difficult so I'm thinking of fitting an immersion heater (with a form of waterpoof cap or other cheap water heater that is rated for outdoor use) into it and using an Iboost type controller to control this (and set the temperature on the main hot tub to lower than this so this provides the main heating load). Does this sound feasible? I realise there are safety issues using an immersion heater in this way, I'd need to ensure it was isolated before the tub was used and it dpoesn't heat water so it's too hot. But it was the cheapest way I could think to do it. Any other ideas?

Are Iboost the best value controllers on the market? What else is there, I've found Optiplug by Wattson which also look possible but I suspect these are an on off control but if I understand correctly Iboost controls the voltage to the heater so it only uses the power that corresponds to the PV generation?

Am I right to be thinking along these lines? Is it worth trying to maximize the solar power generated (using means that will cost money unlike running the dish washer in the daytime which i't obviously worth doing).

(Anouther Thread of) Solar Panel Install Questions

Should I proceed with the www.cdelec.co.uk install? 0 votes

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