Solar pv price for installation

ninjaryder

Hi all

Have now got 4 quotes for 8 x 183w pv panels (1.46kw) and they have ranged from £9980 down to £7075 inc.I can't wait to invest my money in these but does anyone have any more advice for me?
Thanks

Mcfi5dhc

What makes are the panels?
Some are better than others

What type of panels?
Ditto

Where were the panels made (e.g. Germany, China etc)
If you are paying top prices, you may as well buy top quality

How come 183watts - usually ends in a 0 or a 5?
No advice on this, I've just never seen 183's

What type of invertor? And do they guarantee you'll have an invertor straight away?
No point having a crap one, and their is a worldwide shortage at the moment

Are the installers MCS? (critical)
If they are, great. If not, say goodbye to all profits forever

I'm just being nosey with the rest of the questions, but you'll get soem good responses on here depending on your answers.

Do you need planning permission (only really if you are in a listed property, but always worth checking)?

What direction is the roof?

How much is the estimated production from each of the installers?

What type of meter do you have (spinning wheel, or digital)?

Good luck

PS I paid £7950 for 8x180W Sharp mono PV installation 2 years ago

noncom_2

Advice: if you can afford more money, and have more roofspace, go for a much bigger installation. For about 15k you could get around 4kW installed (which even compared to the best price you quoted would be 25% more bang for your buck). As discussed across many threads recently, the payback for these systems is not nearly so much a no-brainer as some would claim - once you take everything into account, it can be a decent investment, but very long term and subject to many assumptions about inflation, tax, repair bills etc. Make sure you go for the absolute best deal you can get in terms of kW per £ if you want it primarily as an investment, which usually means the biggest you can afford (up to 4kW at which point the FIT reduces).

ninjaryder

Cool thanks for your help i am going for the Sunmodule plus 220 panels which seem to product the best results and will now get as many as i can i think and can afford.
Can i ask what differance does the meter make as i have 2 both digital one for normal and one for night storage,my roof is due south facing so ideal.

Thanks

noncom_2

Wooaaah there!

It sounds like you are planning to buy and install these yourself.....

If you want to qualify for the Feed In Tariff (assuming you live in the UK, that is) - which is the ONLY way that solar panels will be cost effective at today's prices - then you must get it installed (and probably supplied) by an MCS accredited installer. Otherwise you simply won't get any payment for the electricity you produce - the savings on your electricity bill alone will never justify the cost if you self-install.

Apologies if I'm wrong, but you really want to make sure you qualify for FITs.

The issue with the meter is that if you have an "old-style" analogue one, when you are exporting to the Grid it may spin backwards. So in addition to the 3p per unit of electricity that your FIT provider will estimate you to be exporting (the usual estimate is 50% of what you generate), the fact that your meter is running backwards will also reduce your electricity bill by the amount you pay to buy in each unit. Unfortunately it sounds like you have a newer digital one which is less likely to run backwards.

ninjaryder

I will be geing a mcs installer to fit all the panels infact to do everything..i still dont see how the meter is going to make a differance? digital ones wont go back i still get payed the fit plus i will have an export meter aswell so the electric company will pay based on this reading surely?

noncom_2

If you have a Generation meter AND an export meter then, as you say, the 41.3p per unit Generation tariff and the 3p export tariff will both be metered and paid accurately.

For most people, it seems the FIT provider (the electricity provider) is not supplying an export meter. So the consumer will be paid the 41.3p per unit Generation tariff as measured by the Generation meter. The electricity company will then estimate that half of this amount is exported and pay an additional 3p per unit on that half.

Where the meter comes into it (the normal domestic consumption meter, not the newly fitted Generation meter) is that if it is an old type, when you are exporting the meter may (mistakenly) run backwards. So when you pay your bill, effectively the number of units you've used in the house will be reduced by the number you've genuinely exported, therefore you will effectively be "paid" your import price per unit for your exports on top of the 3p tariff!

I wonder how long it will take the energy co.s to figure this out and insist on a new meter if you are a generator......

Cardew

ninjaryder wrote: »

I will be geing a mcs installer to fit all the panels infact to do everything..i still dont see how the meter is going to make a differance? digital ones wont go back i still get payed the fit plus i will have an export meter aswell so the electric company will pay based on this reading surely?

Correct, you will get the FIT for all electricity you generate.

Not all MCS fitted solar PV systems include an export meter(which is different from a meter that proves the total amount of electricity the panels generate)

In this case it is assumed that you will be exporting 50% of the total electricity generated. e.g. if the panels generate 1,500kWh pa you will get paid for 750kWh @ 3p. That arrangement could work to your advantage or disadvantage - but @3p/kWh it is not a lot of money either way.

ninjaryder

Cool i have just negotiated a price of £8500inc for 9x220w 1.98kw
sunmodule plus panels with inverter etc and export meter.
thess panel i see produce 10%=15% more than other panels and the local company will provide a lap top program to display output etc daily weekly etc so all should be good i reckon!

noncom_2

Hmmm.... the Power Rating of a panel is surely based on the wattage produced under a standard amount of light. I guess the "curve" of power-to-light will vary from panel to panel, but I'd be a little bit surprised if a 210W panel from one manufacturer produced significantly more power overall in real world conditions than any other 210W panel.

I would assume (but am very happy to be corrected) that the biggest difference would be that a more efficient 210W panel would just be smaller than a less efficient one (and therefore you can potentially fit more on the roof, but may not give you more electricity per pound spent as they tend to be pricier).

Or am I misunderstanding something again?

Cardew

noncom wrote: »

Hmmm.... the Power Rating of a panel is surely based on the wattage produced under a standard amount of light. I guess the "curve" of power-to-light will vary from panel to panel, but I'd be a little bit surprised if a 210W panel from one manufacturer produced significantly more power overall in real world conditions than any other 210W panel.

I would assume (but am very happy to be corrected) that the biggest difference would be that a more efficient 210W panel would just be smaller than a less efficient one (and therefore you can potentially fit more on the roof, but may not give you more electricity per pound spent as they tend to be pricier).

Or am I misunderstanding something again?

There are basically 3 different types of Panel that differ in price and efficiency. See:

http://www.solar-facts.com/panels/panel-types.php

Obviously should specify monocrystalline if possible. Perhaps this explains why some people are getting much cheaper quotes - they use cheaper panels?

After all the majority of people won't know the difference.