Solar pv price for installation

smitchy73

With the pitch of the roof, and the direction of my roof they reckoned i'd be able to get about 90 - 95 % of the expected, although I expect this is because i'm planning on splitting it over the two sides of the roof, with about 1.85kwp on each slope(8 panels) obviously i'm not going to be overly excited, and I know that all of it depends on having the sunlight in the first place. I've also checked the Met Office's climate section and the area i'm in is in the top three for sun hours per day even in the winter months and summer.

But tbh they didnt actually quote it in hours, something for me to chase up and to ask anyone else that I have coming.

KG-THPP

If your in the western isles (then unless you can get a good local installer) I doubt anyone will be cheaper than that quote as the looks of things they are running rather close to the profit/loss line just now.

zeupater

KG-THPP wrote: »

If your in the western isles (then unless you can get a good local installer) I doubt anyone will be cheaper than that quote as the looks of things they are running rather close to the profit/loss line just now.

Hi

Marginal ?????

Please refer to .... http://www.solarserver.com/service/pvx-spot-market-price-index-solar-pv-modules.html .....

The latest published market prices for panels are ......

Technology/Source - Price/Wp (Euros)

Crystalline Europe - €1.94
Crystalline China - €1.57
Crystalline Japan - €1.92
Thin film CdS/CdTe - €1.59
Thin film a-Si/µ-Si - €1.38

Conversion rate is €1.2/£

Looks to me that if the installed prices stated are seen as marginal, then there is a robust argument to say that labour & overhead (both fixed & variable) costs are out of control in this sector .....

Regards ......

Cardew

KG-THPP wrote: »

If your in the western isles .

He is in Ayrshire(SW Scotland) not the Western Isles.

I would have thought that far North his 3.7kWp system will produce around 2800kWh to 3,000kWh a year.

ASG's 3.3kWp system - further South in Yorkshire and on a roof that is optimum - gets at least 2,800kWh.

Jon_Tiffany

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

Marginal ?????

Please refer to .... http://www.solarserver.com/service/pvx-spot-market-price-index-solar-pv-modules.html .....

The latest published market prices for panels are ......

Technology/Source - Price/Wp (Euros)

Crystalline Europe - €1.94
Crystalline China - €1.57
Crystalline Japan - €1.92
Thin film CdS/CdTe - €1.59
Thin film a-Si/µ-Si - €1.38

Conversion rate is €1.2/£

Looks to me that if the installed prices stated are seen as marginal, then there is a robust argument to say that labour & overhead (both fixed & variable) costs are out of control in this sector .....

Regards ......

That only covers the price of the panels, dont forget the following will also be required:

Generation meter
Inverter (sometimes two are needed)
Isolation switches
roof mounting rails and brackets
cabling
delivery charges

smitchy73

I've now also been to see an installation at one suppliers locally, and i'm still waiting on a concrete quote, but I know it should be around the £14k mark, I was talking to him yesterday afternoon after reading Cardew's message so knew to ask him about projected hours of production, obviously knowing that it all depends on Mr Sunshine coming out to make full benefit, the figures he has to give us are from (I think) SAP, and for this area it is allegedly 800w for every 1kwp panel so therefore about 80% production, however, with someone just further south in ayrshire who has it installed for about 5/6 years now, they average about 750w for each kwp panel, so about 75% production, so considering this and being on the west coast of scotland aint too bad at all.
At one point I was expecting about 50% of the production so was pleasantly surprised.
I've had one disappointing moment though, went to speak to our mortgage person at the bank, and because the value of the house is dropped and their lending rate based on ltv has also dropped so wont be able to add it to the mortgage, time to explore other avenues.
Although I think normal lending is going to be very hard through banks etc, I was just hearing on the news that the police have surrounded the Royal Bak of Scotlands hq in Edinburgh due to climate protestors setting up camp in a neighbouring field, as RBS is still investing money in alot of fossil fuel based companies, so if they're investing in that I personally dont think they're going to want to invest in green energy(if you can call it that), may have to wait till 2012 for the government's interest free loans.

noncom_2

smitchy73 wrote: »

for this area it is allegedly 800w for every 1kwp panel so therefore about 80% production

This isn't quite correct, and may mislead people into misunderstanding quoted panel efficiencies.

What I think you mean is that in that area the panels are producing 800kWh (ie 800 units in total over the course of the year) from a panel rated at 1kWp (ie a maximum instantaneous output of 1kW which if sustained for one hour would produce 1 unit of electricity).

They are not the same units, so you can't divide one by the other and call the result "% production" and the resulting figure would have no relation to the panels' quoted efficiency (which would be nearer 10-15%, and relates to how much of the light energy hitting the panel is turned into electricity).

Cardew

Smitchy

There is a great deal of confusion on the use of kWp, kW and kWh; they are all different and in the post above noncom has got it spot on.

The power output of solar panels depend upon a number of factors, mainly roof orientation and lattitude.

However the important measurement is the number of kWh(electricity units) the panels produce each year. Almost certainly the '750w' you quote is actually 750kWh per year for each 1kWp of panels. If that is so it means that your 3.7kWp system will produce 2,775kWh a year. If 800kWh/kWp per year then 2,960kWh per year.

It is important to appreciate that there can be local variations for houses in the same area. It only takes a house to have a hill behind(or in front) of them and lose a little sun in the morning/evening to vary output a few percent.

zeupater

Jon_Tiffany wrote: »

That only covers the price of the panels, dont forget the following will also be required:

Generation meter
Inverter (sometimes two are needed)
Isolation switches
roof mounting rails and brackets
cabling
delivery charges

Hi

Accepted, however the notes on the referenced site include the following .....

2) No prices for end customers listed. For an average turnkey solar PV power system, the price for crystalline modules must be multiplied by approx. 1.5 - 1.9, the price for thin film PV modules by 1.8 – 2.5.

I understand well that the installed costs for a pv system will include items other than the panels themselves, however, the panels will still form the substantial majority of the materials cost. Further details on the price movement of panels is available here .... http://www.pv-tech.org/editors_blog/_a/pv_module_costs_and_924_911_prices_what_is_really_happening

Also, despite the recent supply & demand issues with inverters, which would normally keep prices high, it seems that this is not the case. The following article suggests that whilst there was a supply issue, factory gate pricing has dropped by 30% ....... http://www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-news/current/kw33/another-pv-market-record-broken-inverter-shipments-hit-5-gw-in-q210-according-to-ims-research.html

Consideration should also be given to the exchange rate movement between Sterling and the Euro, it seems that an 8% gain in the strength of the pound this year hasn't been factored into this years' UK pricing yet, I do understand that large organisations buy currency forward to fix large contract exchange rates, but in the main, we're not talking about that type of long term supply contract.

I do find it most strange that, considering all of the information available on international price movements in the solar pv arena, UK pricing is basically static, maintaining levels mentioned in government & government agency publications released in 2009 as part of the run-up to introduction of the the FiT scheme, perhaps that's what happens when competition is restricted to within what is effectively a trade cartel.

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever why anyone should currently be paying over £3.50/Wp on a 4kWp installation and would expect the pricepoint for a system of that size to rapidly move towards a consumerised level of £9999, therefore £2.50/Wp, which would be more inline with what is available elsewhere in northern Europe.

Regards

smitchy73

Cardew wrote: »

Smitchy

There is a great deal of confusion on the use of kWp, kW and kWh; they are all different and in the post above noncom has got it spot on.

The power output of solar panels depend upon a number of factors, mainly roof orientation and lattitude.

However the important measurement is the number of kWh(electricity units) the panels produce each year. Almost certainly the '750w' you quote is actually 750kWh per year for each 1kWp of panels. If that is so it means that your 3.7kWp system will produce 2,775kWh a year. If 800kWh/kWp per year then 2,960kWh per year.

It is important to appreciate that there can be local variations for houses in the same area. It only takes a house to have a hill behind(or in front) of them and lose a little sun in the morning/evening to vary output a few percent.

To you Cardew and noncom, yes you are correct my non expertise getting in the way.

Those figures seem quite good to me if thats what got generated.

Someone else today for a quote too, but going to email my MP and see what she can find out in regards to the governments grants etc!