How much for SolarPV?

Doc_N

Enviko wrote: »

Helo, we offer........

No Spam, thanks.

BomberHQ

I recently had around ten quotes, ranging from national companies to local plumbers-turned-PV installers.

The price range for an approx. 4kWp system was £12.7k - £17.5k.

My advice would be to shop around and speak to as many suppliers as you can stand; you will be surprised how quickly you become expert enough to sniff out the professionals.

In my experience the bigger the company, the less interest they have in your specific requirements and the higher the risk that a sub-contractor will be paid a pittance for the install.

Tesco for instance, only wanted to sell us their standard system. We asked for as close to 4kWp as possible and were quoted 2.9kWp with no alternative offered, even when we 'phoned and asked. They couldnt/wouldnt tell us who their installer would be either.

On the positive side, at least half the companies who visited took great pains to establish our need for a balance of aesthetics vs investment return vs initial cost vs system performance. The one we chose gave references which we have checked and have had very informative chats with the other householders.

In the end we chose a relatively small company who have quoted for the following equipment (which is at the high quality end):
- 18 Sanyo HIT panels, model HIP-215NKHE5 = 3.87kWp.
- SMA Inverter, model SB 4000TL-20 configured in two 9-panel strings.
- Sunny Beam Bluetooth wireless display.
We are paying around £13,500 inclusive of install, registration, etc.

Our install is due to take place in February, so will be happy to report after that. Feel free to ask for specifics via PM, as it probably isnt fair to name specific companies here.

Kevin.

PurpleJay wrote: »

We had a quote yesterday for 12 panels 2.2kw which came in after much haggling and bull at £15,500! His first price was £17,500. This was from Anglian. The chap was very pleasant and the first hour of his visit was fine, but then once we got down to the prices, it was a bit full on and in the end we had to stonewall him because he was still arguing and wouldn't take no for an answer. They also try to push a finance deal which allegedly gets you an extra thousand off but the interest rate is about 18.5% and you are tied in for a year after which you can just pay it off. We said from the start we were absolutely not interested in this but he kept on, you know how it is!. Anyone had any experience of Anglian doing solar panels. Their price seemed excessive to us - oh and that price was for yesterday only and at managers discretion if he wanted to still offer it over the weekend and then the price goes up by a few grand on Monday when the sale ends - blahdy blah. Once they start with all that, I loose interest very quickly!

PurpleJay wrote: »

Have just emailed Ecofirst who NPower is connected to so that they can come round. I would expect them to be quite a bit cheaper based on the info they have already sent (not an actual quote though).

Anyone got any recent quotes they can share? Anyone actually gone ahead and what was your experience?

We are interested in the investment of buying the panels as well as saving on bills so aren't bothered about the free schemes at the moment.

Thanks.

Cardew

BomberHQ wrote: »

I recently had around ten quotes, ranging from national companies to local plumbers-turned-PV installers.

The price range for an approx. 4kWp system was £12.7k - £17.5k.

My advice would be to shop around and speak to as many suppliers as you can stand; you will be surprised how quickly you become expert enough to sniff out the professionals.

In my experience the bigger the company, the less interest they have in your specific requirements and the higher the risk that a sub-contractor will be paid a pittance for the install.

Tesco for instance, only wanted to sell us their standard system. We asked for as close to 4kWp as possible and were quoted 2.9kWp with no alternative offered, even when we 'phoned and asked. They couldnt/wouldnt tell us who their installer would be either.

On the positive side, at least half the companies who visited took great pains to establish our need for a balance of aesthetics vs investment return vs initial cost vs system performance. The one we chose gave references which we have checked and have had very informative chats with the other householders.

In the end we chose a relatively small company who have quoted for the following equipment (which is at the high quality end):
- 18 Sanyo HIT panels, model HIP-215NKHE5 = 3.87kWp.
- SMA Inverter, model SB 4000TL-20 configured in two 9-panel strings.
- Sunny Beam Bluetooth wireless display.
We are paying around £13,500 inclusive of install, registration, etc.

Our install is due to take place in February, so will be happy to report after that. Feel free to ask for specifics via PM, as it probably isnt fair to name specific companies here.

Kevin.

Nice post!

£3.5k per kWp for good quality equipment means prices are reducing.

Did they all give you an estimate of generated output? and were they close to each other?

What do you mean by 'balance of aesthetics vs investment return vs initial cost vs system performance'?

zeupater

Enviko wrote: »

Just trying to be helpful, we offer a very good service at competitive prices.:)

Hi All

Quotations from their website ....

'£4,000-£8,000/kWp for a 1kW roof mounted system (the Energy Saving Trust show the average installed cost to be £5,000)'

and ....

'There are economies of scale to be had, both in size of solar pv system and number of systems bought. For example, E****o have provided a 10% reduction for a 5kW system and a 20% reduction for a 50kW system (from the 1kWp system price). '

My guess is that the prices would be excl VAT ..... so the discounted price to the consumer would be in the range of £15k to £30k for a 4kWp system .... that's quite a tight band of prices then ..... :rotfl:....... competitive ?, not even at the lowest price mentioned ....

Z

patman99

What you are forgetting is that whilst you are looking at prices from wholesalers, the major installers will buy direct from the maker so get the panels at probably £1,500 - £2,500 p/KW.
I reckon there could be quite an earning to be made by just going-round certifying self-installed systems. Charge £100 per MCS certification without having to do the donkey-work of the actual installation.

zeupater

patman99 wrote: »

What you are forgetting is that whilst you are looking at prices from wholesalers, the major installers will buy direct from the maker so get the panels at probably £1,500 - £2,500 p/KW.
I reckon there could be quite an earning to be made by just going-round certifying self-installed systems. Charge £100 per MCS certification without having to do the donkey-work of the actual installation.

Hi patman99

£1.50/Wp to £2.50/Wp would be a typical range of the prices paid from wholesalers for single pallet quantities .... multi pallets would attract further discounts, and as you say, the larger companies will buy direct from the manufacturers at levels considerably below £1.50 ..........

I'll now wait for the impoverished installer base to dispute this post and claim that financing, overheads and other costs eat up the difference, especially so in the UK ...... :rotfl:

HTH
Z

jerryd

I have a quote of £13.5k for a 3.9 kWp system. Based on Sunnyboy inverter and Yingli panels.

jerryd

My best prices so far are:
£10,200 for a 2.82 kW Sharp system with Fronius inverter.
£13.450 for a 3.9 kW Yingli system with Sunny Boy inverter.

(Tesco aren't the cheapest !!)

Someone asked if they had been given an estimate of output. I think all installers do this. One of the better quotes I have had so far quoted SAP (government stipulated method) and a rather swanky computer generated output. I have spoken to a few friends and certainly during 2010 the SAP estimates were generally exceed by everyone. If you want to make your own comparison google "europa PVGIS" (sorry as a new user I can't post links.

I agree about the costs. To me it seems some people are making quite good money whilst others are just taking the p****. £17.5k for 4 kWp smells like a fleecing to me. I tend to agree that a 4 kWp system probably costs around £8/9 k in materials. I think the inverter is about £1500, the panels are around $2.5/3 per W bought in bulk, then you have the rack system, generation meter and switches etc. which might be about another £1000. Total for materials about £8250 based on Yingli panels or £9500 based on Sharp. You cans see some US pricing just google "Affordable Solar is based in Albuquerque"

On top of that there is some scaffolding, labour, insurances, marketing, 5% VAT and of course profit ????? I'd like to think I could weedle my best 4kWp price down to £12k but I think that's unlikely. Cardew's price of £13.5 k for the almost 4 KW Sanyo system looks very good.

You may also need Building control approval (I do). The cost of this is noted and included in one of my better quotes. You may be able to save a little money by applying for Building Control approval in advance rather than using a Building Control Notice which costs slightly more. Speak to your local Building Control department.

Gizmosmum_2

You may also need Building control approval (I do). The cost of this is noted and included in one of my better quotes. You may be able to save a little money by applying for Building Control approval in advance rather than using a Building Control Notice which costs slightly more. Speak to your local Building Control department.[/QUOTE]

Building Control are notified as part of the competent persons scheme through trade bodies - you shouldn't be paying any extra for that.

diable

Don't bother I'd say.