Solar Panel Quote advice

2e1fmo · 10 April 2017 at 9:01PM

Hello

Hoping you can help with some advice please.

I have never considered solar panels before today and have spent 4 hours this afternoon talking to a very friendly and polite chap from Wise Green Energy ltd based in Norwich. He made it all very clear and understanding which was great and almost has us sold but we can't quite make the decision to go for it or not.

After reading lots of posts on here, I think the price quoted sounds way too high and was wondering if you agree.

Our house is East/West at 30 degree pitch, with no shading factor. Total output from SEM chart is 3414.

For 16 250w panels (4kWp) we have been quoted £8,095 which includes vat. This also includes something we can have added to our combi boiler to save on gas usage and led lights. I get the impression we should be paying around the £5k mark?

The only way we can afford his quote is by a loan, which over 10 years is going to cost us £85 per month - this is the main factor that is putting us off. We could afford it, just, but it is a big out going for us when we have spent two years trying to reduce our monthly outgoings. I can see the long term savings but all I can focus on is that and not breaking even until that is paid off.

After all the calculations he reckoned we would have a benefit of £521 per year or £43 a month, which then makes the loan £42 a month, in year one, then £37 for year 2, then £34 in year 3, going down to 34p per month in year 10.

We are also not sure how long we will stay at our property, i think we will be here for at least 4-5 years minimum but can't say for sure after that. He says we can move it with us (for a re-install fee of a grand or so) or sell it to the new owners, but i'm not sure if this extra step would put anybody off buying our house (in terms of getting there heads around it).

We have to let him know tomorrow, but we can't just decide if it is right for us or not. My brain is telling me I can get it cheaper elsewhere and to wait/look around. But i'm also unsure about if it's even a good idea when we have planned in a move sometime in the future.

Any opinions greatly received, thank you.

Daniel.

rugbyleaguesmate · 10 April 2017 at 9:11PM

Hi Daniel i'm sure Mart will be along soon but I would like to suggest you should be nearer to 5k for that size install. Have you looked at the Faq on this page it should help with your questions.

Ian

2e1fmo · 10 April 2017 at 9:14PM

Thanks Ian, yeah I did have a read through that before my post, some useful info but I was still undecided on what to do

Exiled_Tyke · 10 April 2017 at 10:25PM

price does seem high. Aren't there better output panels than 250w available at reasonable prices now. Also why limit to 4Kw output in the present FIT regime? My limited experience is that I've never seen an add-on (other than immersun or equivilant) which is worthwhile. Also LEDs can be bought cheaply enough at a DIY store. Nobody needs to pay an intermediary (and their premium) to install LEDs lights!

Crowmann · 11 April 2017 at 7:18AM

No offence meant but its hard to take your post seriously.

You accept the price is too high - £3k too much
You do not want the outlay monthly and can barely afford - on the back of some 'at best' sales pitch numbers and finally you may not live in the house long term.

Is this attention seeking in this post or ...... a bit special?

Martyn1981 · 11 April 2017 at 7:54AM

2e1fmo wrote: »

Hello

Hoping you can help with some advice please.

Any opinions greatly received, thank you.

Daniel.

Hiya Daniel. In short none of this seems to add up. Certainly worth you thinking about PV, but you've listed a lot of negatives (short on cash, possible move etc). You need a better price and no loan (or super cheap loan - 0% balance transfer etc).

First off before boring ideas and suggestions - you can't move the system, that's not true. Or to be precise, you can't move the FiT. If you move the PV system then it will attract no subsidy, and you'll almost certainly be unable to get any export payments. However you can of course try to get a higher price for the house sale based on the value of the PV system / annual earnings, but impossible to know what (if any) value the buyer will place on it.

3,414kWh seems very good, possibly too good for an E, W or E/W 4kWp install. Have you checked PVGIS (see section 5 of the FAQs). I don't know your location, but tried Norwich and got approx 3,100kWh.

As ET says, why stop at 4kWp, if E/W then you have two rooves, and can use 285Wp (or so) panels, so better aiming for 5-6kWp, which will cost more, but be proportionally cheaper.

Price wise £8k is way too much, rugbyleaguesmate went shopping for bigger systems and was closer to £1k/kWp, so perhaps 6kWp at £6k is a target.

Working backwards from your quoted income figure of £520 and 3,414kWh would mean leccy savings of £300 - no chance! For a 4kWp system expect around £120 (£80 to £160), I save about £170pa with my systems.

[Edit - Just re-read the thread and ET's comment. Possibly the leccy savings figure includes savings from the LED's. This is a 'dirty trick', nothing to do with the PV, and as ET says you can get some LED's for yourself, lots of deals around £2 each (5 x 8 or 9W (60W equivalent) for about £10), and you can take them with you if you move ;-) M.]

Don't be put off with all the negatives on here so far, that's typically how it goes, we rip the bad advice/info to bits, then try to help you get something better.

All the best, Mart.

2e1fmo · 11 April 2017 at 10:15AM

Hi Mart

Thank you for your helpful answer! much appreciated.

I suppose I was really after some confirmation of my fears and negative thoughts. I really like the idea of Solar, generating my own energy and reducing my carbon footprint but it's such a shame the costs are so high.

I was not told I couldn't take FiT with me after moving, which was a bit naughty of him. And I wouldn't like to risk putting of potential buyers.

To clarify the £520 I mentioned, sorry i didnt make this more clear the electricity savings part was £217 at 50%. FiT was £127 and export £76. Plus savings on gas thanks to something he was going to fit on my combi boiler.

I think for me the time is not right and thank you for confirming some of my fears - hopefully this post may assist others considering solar.

Martyn1981 · 11 April 2017 at 11:55AM

Hiya Daniel, thanks for coming back, it helps us all to get some feedback on thoughts and advice.

I think you're right to wait, prices are tough, 5yrs before move is too soon, E/W is great, but will mean lower earnings. So too many cons, and not enough pro's this time round.

Thanks for mentioning the carbon footprint, I think it's a big additional issue, and this board does say 'green' in the title, but I tend to focus on the economic side since this is an MSE site ...... but try to slip some preaching in occasionally!

pinnks · 11 April 2017 at 7:59PM

I would be intrigued to know what the gizmo is for the combi boiler.

I assume by combi boiler you mean no hot water tank or immersion heater, i.e. hot water supplied by the boiler when you turn on the tap. I am not aware of anything that would sit alongside PV to save you gas in the summer if you have a combi as you have nowhere to store that PV energy, i.e. no hot water tank or thermal store.

I guess he could have been suggesting that you install a tank and immersion plus a diversion device to power the immersion with excess solar generation (search for iboost or immerSUN on here to read up on them) but that would add at least a grand, maybe two to the install cost for tank, pipework, diverter etc and take decades to repay at the rate of perhaps £100 max per year. I have the immerSUN and save between £80 and £100 per year on my gas bill by heating my immersion tank with PV.

Maybe that's where the £8k comes from? :huh:

jimjames · 11 April 2017 at 9:12PM

Price is definitely too high but if you're having to borrow to fund it then I'd say that rules it out anyway

zeupater · 12 April 2017 at 5:25PM

pinnks wrote: »

I would be intrigued to know what the gizmo is for the combi boiler.

I assume by combi boiler you mean no hot water tank or immersion heater, i.e. hot water supplied by the boiler when you turn on the tap. I am not aware of anything that would sit alongside PV to save you gas in the summer if you have a combi as you have nowhere to store that PV energy, i.e. no hot water tank or thermal store.

I guess he could have been suggesting that you install a tank and immersion plus a diversion device to power the immersion with excess solar generation (search for iboost or immerSUN on here to read up on them) but that would add at least a grand, maybe two to the install cost for tank, pipework, diverter etc and take decades to repay at the rate of perhaps £100 max per year. I have the immerSUN and save between £80 and £100 per year on my gas bill by heating my immersion tank with PV.

Maybe that's where the £8k comes from? :huh:

Hi

It's possibly (bordering on probably) an upgrade to the control system, maybe a wireless remote room thermostat which is simply being packaged alongside the LED lightbulbs into an overall energy saving solution in order improve savings and justify the substantially higher price of the pv system..

Someone recently sold a GCH boiler package on a door-to-door basis to someone we know ... it included a control package with all of the bells & whistles which even a pretty mediocre salesman would find to be his(/her) bank balance's best friend.

HTH
Z

Solar Panel Quote advice

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