PV Solar Uk Ltd / Free Electricity 4U Ltd

[Gizmosmum]

Originally Posted by blackpoolsam

I paid £15500 for it, but I'm in a bungalow so there was no scaffolding.

The roof on my house dips in the middle and the lads really took their time to ensure that the panels were all sitting perfectly level. They said that any unevenness would really show when the light was reflecting off them.

I'd be a bit concerned about not having scaffolding on a bungalow - I'd like to have seen the risk assessment that said that hoisting 20kg panels onto the roof without scaffolding wasn't a health safety issue.

Just a quick query - as the roof dips did your installation company include the cost of a structural survey or did you sort that out yourself?

[bugle1]

Originally Posted by blackpoolsam

Of course the trouble with anonymous forums is that people like to say things that they wouldn't dare say to your face. I'm not a salesman for RED, just a very satisfied customer. I'm not a liar and I don't live in Blackpool.

My system was commissioned on 23 November but too late for anything to be generated that day. OK, so that was actually 9 days as I had read the 55kw on the meter on 2 December - my mistake.

The SAP calculation suggests 3000kw per year, but the figure from the Eversol solar PV software that he also gave me says if would be more like 2890kw. Divided by 52, that actually does give 55kw per week. Granted that doesn't take into account the shorter days in winter.

I telephoned RED this morning when I saw the reply to my post - Stuart said he was pleasantly surprised by the output, but that but we've had a nice sunny couple of weeks (with no snow on the panels), so it's probably as good as I could expect at this time of year.

He also said he'd have a look at the forum and give me a figure for a 3.9kw system in Gibraltar and see how it stacks up against 10kw per day.

if you don't want to be called a liar then you should make sure you get your facts correct before posting as the seven days as now turned into 9 days ,blackpool has the same latitude as preston and preston must have been the only place in the uk with no snow on the roofs ,gizmosmum is producing a realistic 4 kw per day at the moment and mine is producing about 2kw per day ,so 8kw per day is a bit unbeleivable

[bugle1]

Originally Posted by stureid

Hi

I have to be careful here as I don't want to breach the forum rules re advertising. I don't have the data for Gibraltar (non-UK data is sparse on my software), but I've produced the inverter manufacturers' software report for Lanzarote, and for Preston where the actual system in question is.

Unfortunately as a user with few posts, I can't link to them, but they are available if you go to my website:
www redrenewables co uk/misc/lanzarote.pdf
www redrenewables co uk/misc/preston.pdf

You'll have to but the dots in, hopefully that'll work.

Lanzarote - 5771kWh p.a. = mean average 15.8kWh per day
Preston - 2878kWh p.a. = mean average 7.9kWh per day

55kWh over nine days is good but the weather has been kind(ish) in Preston and the roof is 40deg so snow tends to run off (unfortunately I have a customer in Colne with a 30deg roof who hasn't had anything over the last few days because the snow's been bad over there).

google search pv estimation and click on the first result and you can get a est for anywhere in europe

[Gizmosmum]

Originally Posted by bugle1

google search pv estimation and click on the first result and you can get a est for anywhere in europe

http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/pvest.php# Here you go - it provides monthly estimates for anywhere in the world. Average for mine is 3.3 kwh per day for November and 1.8kwh per day for December.

It's easy to get confused with all the figures floating around ....

[bugle1]

Originally Posted by Gizmosmum

Here you go - it provides monthly estimates for anywhere in the world. Average for mine is 3.3 kwh per day for November and 1.8kwh per day for December.

It's easy to get confused with all the figures floating around ....

thanks for that ,i couldn't post the link as i am a newbie ,just shows 55kwh for a week in december is a bit much ,perhaps he is a fisherman

[Equaliser123]

Originally Posted by daytona600

£15.5k for a system , and they supplied a unknown
chinese inverter , you can get a 100% european system
you where overcharged

You keep saying people have been overcharged but don't actually provide any indication as to what would be a reasonable cost.

You said that paying £9.9k for a 3.29kwp system was too expensive yet the other 6 quotes I have received are all much, much more expensive.

[stureid]

The Eversolar isn't unknown - it's available from several of my wholesalers. It is a Chinese built device, but to a German specification.

The Eversolar has a startup voltage of 125V, as opposed to the 250V on an SMA Sunnyboy 3800, for example. This means it will give a longer output period each day, and on a dull day may be the difference between getting something and getting nothing.

It has the same guarantee length as all the others, too, at five years, which they will extend to 10 years for £300 - much less than SMA want for the same thing.

[Gizmosmum]

I'd love to know how much carbon it takes to ship over Chinese inverters and panels. I'm not convinced it makes carbon saving sense regardless of the quality.

[bugle1]

Originally Posted by stureid

The Eversolar isn't unknown - it's available from several of my wholesalers. It is a Chinese built device, but to a German specification.

The Eversolar has a startup voltage of 125V, as opposed to the 250V on an SMA Sunnyboy 3800, for example. This means it will give a longer output period each day, and on a dull day may be the difference between getting something and getting nothing.

It has the same guarantee length as all the others, too, at five years, which they will extend to 10 years for £300 - much less than SMA want for the same thing.

the aurora also has a start up of 125v and having it installed with pvsolar uk comes with a 10 year insurance backed warranty on all parts of the installation

[stureid]

My point was that Eversolar are happy to extend their warranty for just £300 which should be indicative of their confidence in the product.

A point on the warranty insurance - what you are getting is an insurance against the company in question going bust, whereupon the insurance company will honour the installer's warranty. This means that the installer's warranty must specifically cover the parts and labour for the full ten years if you are to hope for a free repair if the inverter packs in.

You would have to check the installer's warranty terms and conditions to ensure that they are covering the parts beyond their five year guarantee, and not just offering the ten years on their labour.

[lowbrim]

Unless you have a decent sized roof facing due South (exactly) and no obstructions in front of it you are wasting your money. This is the criteria that all the free offers are on and they know exactly what they are doing.

[Equaliser123]

Originally Posted by lowbrim

Unless you have a decent sized roof facing due South (exactly) and no obstructions in front of it you are wasting your money. This is the criteria that all the free offers are on and they know exactly what they are doing.

Rubbish. 45 degrees each way of South is also sufficient albeit the yields are lower.

[MrMoore]

There is a company around that fits panels for free to business roofs and pays up to £7,000 a year for the privilage. They are called reflexenergy. Hope this helps

[MrMoore]

Originally Posted by stureid

My point was that Eversolar are happy to extend their warranty for just £300 which should be indicative of their confidence in the product.

A point on the warranty insurance - what you are getting is an insurance against the company in question going bust, whereupon the insurance company will honour the installer's warranty. This means that the installer's warranty must specifically cover the parts and labour for the full ten years if you are to hope for a free repair if the inverter packs in.

You would have to check the installer's warranty terms and conditions to ensure that they are covering the parts beyond their five year guarantee, and not just offering the ten years on their labour.

This is one of the most sensible and informative statements I have seen. It is a valid point that that an installers labour warranty must match the manufacturers guarantee, whether it's inverters with an extrnded guarantee of 10 years or panels.

[MrMoore]

Originally Posted by Equaliser123

Rubbish. 45 degrees each way of South is also sufficient albeit the yields are lower.

I don't think its rubbish as I have all on getting some output on cloudy days much above 200 watts from a perfect south facing 4KWp system. If 45 degrees of south is fine then why don't the free ones accept nothing but bang on south?

[MrMoore]

Originally Posted by stureid

The Eversolar isn't unknown - it's available from several of my wholesalers. It is a Chinese built device, but to a German specification.

The Eversolar has a startup voltage of 125V, as opposed to the 250V on an SMA Sunnyboy 3800, for example. This means it will give a longer output period each day, and on a dull day may be the difference between getting something and getting nothing.

It has the same guarantee length as all the others, too, at five years, which they will extend to 10 years for £300 - much less than SMA want for the same thing.

I notice from what you are saying that there are different voltages comming out of solar panels. I thought they were all fixed at around 24V DC, but obviously not. What sort of max voltages could I expect from 6 panels of 175Watts in parrallel or are they in series?

[Equaliser123]

Originally Posted by MrMoore

If 45 degrees of south is fine then why don't the free ones accept nothing but bang on south?

Because they can afford to be picky.

[Gortonborn]

...need maximum yield to pay for the investment they are making into your roof, thats why thay can afford to be picky, they have to maximise their commitment - remember - most of the Free Providers are funded by VC/High Finance and the Project needs to be ,Bankable' EG proved to be worthwhile in the medium to long term...

Free Panels are a good thing IF you cannot afford to pay for your own - If you can afford it then avoid commission Only Salesmen - You will NOT get the right price (I used to work in Management for both these types of Businesses) - shop around - it can make a difference of uo to £2K for a 3KW system installed!

[markf1970]

Spudspud - Where do you get your information from about PC Solar UK ltd?
They have quoted me and appear to be very competetive, the warranty is all inclusive parts and labour and insurance backed for 10 years. The equipment they are going to use is all top quality European made.
Everything seems to be OK - Until I read your post, linking them to Aquashield

[SpudSpud]

Mark

I got got a quote off of them back about june, i phoned their office in hamilton for advice (they same one that AS is registered under) and was told that was who they were


Type 'pv solar aquashield' into google and look for 'cambuslang company set to expand' on page 2 under rutherglen informer

Took 2 minutes 'simples'

It says Aquashield was owned by a Doug Wilkie and Robert Skillen

Dont know anything about the equipment they use, they told me they were a fronious partner.

Good luck.