Solar Quotes

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  • mac2008
    mac2008 Posts: 266 Forumite
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    theboylard wrote: »
    Tell them you want a discount, and they can lose the voltage optimiser too!

    Yup, definitely not convinced by voltage optimization in domestic properties!
    My PV system: South West England, 10x 250Wp Trina Solar panels, Fronius Inverter, South facing roof, 35° pitch with no shading.
  • mavii
    mavii Posts: 23 Forumite
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    Hi all,

    Thanks for your comments and thoughts. I've had a chance to talk to both installers again.

    Quote 2 - SolarBarn - £8.4k - Said price was driven by quality of the install. Cheaper components would drop by c£600 max. He does give a very good impression that they would do a good job and says they would take 2-3 days to complete.

    Questions:
    1. SolarBarn guys say that they will grind down the bottom of the roof tiles so they fit flush with brackets underneath them. This sounds great, but is it really necessary?

    2. SolaryBarn again said that they would try not to site the inverter in the loft as it's hotter/dustier. This again sounds great, but is it really that important?

    In terms of the projected outputs they have said:

    Quote 1 - Solar Essence -
    Annual Output - 3,861 (assumed 2% shading impact with no visit).
    FIT - 555
    Savings - 270
    Export - 92
    Total annual income - 917
    Payback - 6.4 years

    Quote 2 - SolarBarn -
    Annual Output - 3,550 (assumed 6% shading impact after visit).
    FIT - 511
    Savings - 249
    Export - 85
    Total annual income - 844
    Payback - 10.0 years

    So I seem to be left with a choice:
    A - take the cheaper install, it will payback quicker than other system even if annual output was only 2,500. Probably means if I had to replace dodgy inverter during 20 year life it would still be better value for money.

    B - take the more trustworth installers who will do a very good job and install good kit. Just don't know if this is overkill.

    To be honest I'm torn... have more faith in SolarBarn but the numbers say SolarEssence what do people think? What have you chosen in this situation?

    Thanks
    Iain
  • tunnel
    tunnel Posts: 2,588 Forumite
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    edited 12 July 2014 at 12:40PM
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    Hi,


    I'd ask the cheaper installer if you could upgrade the inverter to an SMA sunnyboy(they will know what it is even if you don't)duel string so you can have the bottom row separate to the top


    As for price, 2nd installer is lifting your leg, I've just had an install done for my parents at £5700 on an east/west split, guys did an excellent job and up and running in a day, that price would have been cheaper had they gone for cheaper panels, they went for Canadian solar black on black with a sunnyboy.


    Don't be pressured by how good a job they'll do, I'd want it gold bl**dy plated for that price!!!


    Might add that your savings are a bit optimistic too
    2 kWp SEbE , 2kWp SSW & 2.5kWp NWbW.....in sunny North Derbyshire17.7kWh Givenergy battery added(for the power hungry kids)
  • zeupater
    zeupater Posts: 5,355 Forumite
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    edited 12 July 2014 at 7:43PM
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    mavii wrote: »
    .... what do people think? ....
    ... as above comments ...

    In reality neither quote seems to be using 'top notch' products for which you would expect to see premium price quotations.

    Regarding grinding the back of the tiles to a create a channel for the brackets to sit in, I'd expect any decent installer to do that anyway, not doing so would both look poor and leave a gap for water ingress when it's a little windy and raining .... so ask the cheaper installer whether they propose to do it too.

    Have either mentioned the mounting system ... what make is it? ... aluminium or SS ? ... how's it to be fixed ? ... what's the roofing work guaranty ? ... is there an example of one of their installs local to yourself ? ... how/where do they propose to run the DC cables ............ there's loads of question which you could prime yourself with so that anyone quoting would be wary of providing too much bull ....

    Something along the lines of "Assume I know nothing, but trust that I may not .. ;)" is a pretty good opening line when entering into discussion with potential suppliers ... it tends to keep them a little more honest.

    HTH
    Z
    "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit. " ...... Aristotle
    B)
  • theboylard
    theboylard Posts: 1,207 Forumite
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    edited 12 July 2014 at 7:59PM
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    Agree with tunnel re the sunnyboy as it is a very well known and trusted brand.
    But the Goodwe inverter does offer dual mppt (if its the Goodwe 4kW GW3600D-UK) and built in wireless monitoring makes added to it's fair price, makes this an interesting proposition?
    4kWp, SSE, SolarEdge P300 optimisers & SE3500 Inverter, in occasionally sunny Corby, Northants.
    Now with added Sunsynk 5kw hybrid ecco inverter & 15kWh Fogstar batteries. Oh Octopus Energy too.
  • mavii
    mavii Posts: 23 Forumite
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    Thanks everyone. Will sleep on it I think...

    Inverter is GW 3600-UK with wireless monitoring.
  • tunnel
    tunnel Posts: 2,588 Forumite
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    mavii wrote: »
    Thanks everyone. Will sleep on it I think...

    Inverter is GW 3600-UK with wireless monitoring.


    And SMA have Bluetooth...same difference...sleep tight
    2 kWp SEbE , 2kWp SSW & 2.5kWp NWbW.....in sunny North Derbyshire17.7kWh Givenergy battery added(for the power hungry kids)
  • theboylard
    theboylard Posts: 1,207 Forumite
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    mavii wrote: »
    Thanks everyone. Will sleep on it I think...

    Inverter is GW 3600-UK with wireless monitoring.

    FYI there are 2 GW 3600 UK spec inverters from Goodwe - D and S variants.
    The S is single MPPT, the D is Dual : the D would be the better option as you could then split your array into 2 strings as mentioned earlier.

    You can also extend your warranty up to 25 years, no idea on costs though.
    4kWp, SSE, SolarEdge P300 optimisers & SE3500 Inverter, in occasionally sunny Corby, Northants.
    Now with added Sunsynk 5kw hybrid ecco inverter & 15kWh Fogstar batteries. Oh Octopus Energy too.
  • mavii
    mavii Posts: 23 Forumite
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    Thanks for everyone's thoughts. I've decided to try and get a few more quotes in - the expensive quote seems way too high and I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with the other one.

    Will come back when I have more to run past people.

    Thanks again for you help.
  • tunnel
    tunnel Posts: 2,588 Forumite
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    Hi Mavii,


    Good idea to get more quotes


    Take a look on here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5016484


    You'll understand why the good folk on here are saying the 2nd quote is too much, if you could get somewhere near the op's quote you'd be on the right track
    2 kWp SEbE , 2kWp SSW & 2.5kWp NWbW.....in sunny North Derbyshire17.7kWh Givenergy battery added(for the power hungry kids)
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