How much for SolarPV?

Solargain

diable wrote: »

Don't bother I'd say.

That's fine until you want to sell your house - then, believe me, it will cause problems.

Building Regulations approval requirements for solar installations aren't terribly clear, so I checked with the local authority. The response was:

Work to the fixed electrical system of a dwelling is notifiable under current Building Regulations, and there are two ways meeting your legal obligations. Your contractor can certify the work and register it with us, or you can make an application direct to us yourself. The contractor must be registered on a ‘Competent Persons Scheme’ and the relevant part of the regulations is ‘Part P – Design and Installation of Electrical Installations’.

Tesco did all the necessary and issued a 'Building Regulations 'Part P' Compliance Certificate' - no charge, of course.

FrugalJim_2

I was told by an installer that if you live in a conservation area or listed building you may need planning permission for panels. The part P regulations apply to any kind of electrical installation, new sockets, fuseboards etc not just solar.

The best quote I managed to get was 13k for a 3,95 system.

Doc_N

FrugalJim wrote: »

I was told by an installer that if you live in a conservation area or listed building you may need planning permission for panels.

Absolutely right. You will.

Gizmosmum_2

Doc_N wrote: »

Absolutely right. You will.

If you live in a conservation area but install the panels on a roof that isn't seen on the highway then you don't need planning permission it comes under permitted development. National parks don't always need building regs either. Seems listed buildings are the most problematic.

BomberHQ

Cardew wrote: »

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'?

Every quote we had followed the (regulator?) guidelines and gave estimated outputs; some in more detail than others. I downloaded the 'SunnyDesign' software from the SMA website, which is great at checking the calculations.

The balance I was talking about was minimising the number of panels to achieve the desired 4kWp, but not pay over the odds for extremely dense or efficient modules. Although I am not too bothered by appearence, mono- and poly- silicon panels do look quite different.

Filling the roof with 240Wp panels at a higher initial cost would probably give the best return on investement over 20-25 years, but take longer to reach the 'break even' point. Im still nervous that the Government will eventually stick two fingers up at the FIT, so reaching the break even point in 8-9 years was quite important.

One bonus with the Sanyos is that they generate much more power when hot than other panels; however this is probably more beneficial in the Med' than on the South Coast! Finally, inverter efficiency and careful cabling can make a few percentage points difference in generated power, which all helps over the long term.

Kevin.

scaleyback_2

Very new to all this and trying to glean as much info as poss from this site and the net in general before commiting, so apologies for the long post.

Just got an itemised quote from a relatively small local firm who were the only ones to actually do a site visit. The quote they gave is for a 3.36kWp system using 14 x Sanyo HIT240HDEA4 modules (£580 each ex Vat) and a Sunny Boy 3000HF inverter ( £1410) at a total installed price exc VAT of £12626 which seems fair.

The system will be made up of 10 panels along the top of the main roof line and 2 lots of 2 underneath with a gap between the bottom pairs to accomodate a change in roof angle in the lower middle( Porch).

The system will be on a bungalow with the main roof line running E/W giving a roof elevation facing almost due south. There are also 2 short extensions at each end of the main building ( with lower roof lines) making an elongated U shape to the building. The extensions run north south (towards the South from the main building) and will cause temporary partial shading early in the morning to the east end of the array and late afternoon on the west end ( slightly more shading on the east as there is a small chimney on the east wing). Not sure if there is any inverter type/string config I can look into to minimise the effect of the temporary partial shading given the limited number of panels in my system.


They company propose a Sunny Boy 3000 HF inverter which seems near the limit on capacity and is less efficient than a TL version so I might ask for a transformerless option given the price quoted of £1410 for the 3000HF seems close to the best I can see for a 4000TL ( might be overkill though ) .

I also need to ask what mounting system they use as although the guy said they screwed the fixings to the rafters he did not specify the make of the fixings and received wisdom suggests I should go for Schuco or K2.

I also am not sure if a small ventilation gap between modules is a good idea to try to keep the temp down, if so i wil have to ensure they agree to do that ( I have a dark grey tiled roof - marley edgemeres) .

Any comments, advice or recommendations would be most welcome

thanks
Colin

Gizmosmum_2

Welcome to forum - you're sure to find loads of useful information here, I certainly have! Here's my advice for what it's worth ...

Wait for a couple of months, there's some new Sanyo's due to come out with 19% panel efficiency. At this point I'd expect the HIT 240's to drop significantly in price, most peeps will be going for the higher efficiency.

Have a look at the Enecysy micro inverters, they're more expensive but have a 20 year warranty and shading only reduced output of the panel shaded not the whole string.

On price - unusual to get 3.36kwp Sanyo for that price so I'd suggest you work with your installer to get the products you want rather than looking for another installer.

HTH

scaleyback_2

Anyone had any experience with micro inverters e.g. Enecsys of Cambridge.
They look like a good solution to partial shading as well as having a 20 yrs warranty as standard but although there is oodles of marketing information and data sheets etc I can't find any prices or if there is a charge for the web monitoring access. I have dropped them a mail to try to get some more info.

Colin

Gizmosmum_2

scaleyback wrote: »

Anyone had any experience with micro inverters e.g. Enecsys of Cambridge.
They look like a good solution to partial shading as well as having a 20 yrs warranty as standard but although there is oodles of marketing information and data sheets etc I can't find any prices or if there is a charge for the web monitoring access. I have dropped them a mail to try to get some more info.

Colin

I believe they cost about the same as a normal inverter with an extended warranty. Eg SMA Sunnyboy 3000 + 20 year warranty = x and the cost of the micro inverters are the same. Whether you can get an installer to do it for a similar price is a different issue.

daytona600_2

micro inverters are much more expensive than one bigger string inverter , micro inverters are easier to install and expand in the future
good for tricky shaded roofs and don,t need dc cabling/switches
monitoring is expensive and extra , built into larger string inverters
via bluetooth
see www.suntrol-portal.com

micro inverters new to market , no long term reliablity as such at present
string inverters are very well proven over decades and are made in vast numbers by the big german suppliers like sma , you can get 20 years warranty as well , they also have much higher effciencies
if correct high effciency modules are selected and used in correct strings and with multiple mppt trackers with correct design and installation


iod

scaleyback wrote: »

Anyone had any experience with micro inverters e.g. Enecsys of Cambridge.
They look like a good solution to partial shading as well as having a 20 yrs warranty as standard but although there is oodles of marketing information and data sheets etc I can't find any prices or if there is a charge for the web monitoring access. I have dropped them a mail to try to get some more info.

Colin