Current PV panel prices

N9eav

thenudeone wrote: »

My 3.995kW system installed 5 weeks ago was only £12,250, and I think Tesco's are now even cheaper, so £8k+VAT = £9.6k for a 2.2kW system seems over-priced to me.

Just got my deposit back from Solartricity as I felt they were too expensive and had talked me in to signing...
Glad I did. Tesco system with discount looks like being £4000 less. 2.3kw for £8k. Seems more like it... and 20,000 club card points...

BornAtTheRightTime

I have just paid my 25% deposit with Tesco this morning for a 4kW system £11,599 plus £100 to install the inverter in the garage. So far I have been impressed. The 3rd party contractor was the most knowledgeable representative of the 5 companies I had in to quote and Tesco's customer service team have have called when they said they would, answered my queries and and gone so far as to help educate my local planning office (Maldon - who initially wanted us to apply for planning permission to test whether solar panels came under Permitted Development in our area... and no, it's not a conservation area or listed building).

23k Clubcard points used on triple rewards is nearly another £1000 saved on ferries and channel tunnel crossings too.

zorber

BornAtTheRightTime wrote: »

I have just paid my 25% deposit with Tesco this morning for a 4kW system £11,599 plus £100 to install the inverter in the garage. So far I have been impressed. The 3rd party contractor was the most knowledgeable representative of the 5 companies I had in to quote and Tesco's customer service team have have called when they said they would, answered my queries and and gone so far as to help educate my local planning office (Maldon - who initially wanted us to apply for planning permission to test whether solar panels came under Permitted Development in our area... and no, it's not a conservation area or listed building).

23k Clubcard points used on triple rewards is nearly another £1000 saved on ferries and channel tunnel crossings too.

23k of clubcard points are only worth £690 in deals dont kid your self.

Interested in your tescos quote, did the try and charge you for extras ?? extra scafoldind, extra £160 for earthing the system with your house?

I found tescos to be quoting the mid-point in my quotes good prices but not quite as good as some of the others (mainly due to these extras)

BornAtTheRightTime

zorber wrote: »

23k of clubcard points are only worth £690 in deals dont kid your self.

Sorry slight acalculia rather than self-delusion. The 2 and 3 keep swapping places.

zorber wrote: »

Interested in your tescos quote, did the try and charge you for extras ?? extra scafoldind, extra £160 for earthing the system with your house?

No. Perhaps you were unlucky with the 3rd party contractor. Or perhaps I have been lucky with mine.

nealh

I have now evaluated 4 residential locations for Solar PV in England and I pass on my experience. If you are looking for a financial return you MUST take into account the precise 'aspect' of the roof', it's location and the technical characteristics of the array/inverter being proposed. The BRE SAP data that most good firms present is NOT sufficient. You should start with Google Earth using your post code to yet a rough idea on aspect.I then suggest you register and use 'compare my solar' or a similar site to get more INITIAL detail on the potential for your site. This is fiddly (but OK if you have used MS office type computer graphics) and only suitable for angled roofs but in a few minutes it gives you more data than most 'quotes'! Finally there are 2 software products out there which enable a projection of the revenue that will come from your system. They use LOCAL weather data and the current technical data from manufacturers (including the year on year system 'decay'). They are PVSol and PVSyst. Amazingly not many firms, including the 'installer of the year' evoenergy offer this. One that does is Greenheart energy, but they only cover the SE and only offer (top rated) Schott panels. A good location/array will give you an 11% return per year averaged over 25 years, including replacement inverter costs. (Others can be MUCH less). Remember the installation cost is basically the same for a small system as a just under 4Kw system so bigger systems offer a bigger return. Again anything which makes your location an 'easy' install should lower the price. Finally, England is NOT as good a location for Solar as Germany except in the Southern half and especially the ideal spot 'South of the North of the M25!' There are a LOT of dodgy firms out there, beware.

Gizmosmum_2

You have to pay for PVsol & PVsyst, or evaluate their system using random european destinations that bear no relation to the UK, neither are an option for householders. Better to have a look at PVGIS which is free, based on 20 years of data and specific post codes.

Don't discount the North - I know our Southern friends think they have the best conditions but we often have clearer air which helps a little and after 10 months if I'd paid the 12k average for a 4kwp system I'd be getting a 11% return after 10 months with a pretty bog standard Sharp and SMA 4000Tl installation.

Schott are good panels but not quite top rated you'll find quite a few panels rated higher depending on which tests you look at - beware of what the installer tells you - he/she doesn't always have the time to follow the up to date information.

SAP MUST be quoted on all quotes not just by good compnies, if someone isn't quoting SAP they are breaching their accreditation criteria. On the down side SAP is a load of rubbish anyway providing nothing more than a very generalised estimate of what may be produced.

Compare My Solar is a sales site that at the kindest is "naive" the information is dubious at best.

The best advice for getting solar pv is - read up as much as you can from independent sites (You Gen, Energy Saving Trust, etc) - not sales sites, go the MCS list http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/mcs-consumer/installer-search.php select solar photovoltaics and add your postcode and contact your local installers. They understand your area, roof types, houses etc and usually do the work themselves rather than subcontracting out to other installers. Talk to a few on the phone to get a feel for them and get 3 local quotes. I'd never recommend using sales sites - they want you sale not to give you advice.

nealh

Thanks for the tip re identifying local suppliers via the MCS site. I will do that. I thnik there are now 2500 'accredited' suppliers so very few are expereinced. I am looking at this from the financial return perspective ie the 'opportunity cost'. You cannot evaluate a 25 year investment on one years results! That is YOU selling! My contact at Sanyo Europe recommended the 2 software programmes as the only way to really evaluate between systems and plenty of suppliers will quote using them. Yes the software will have cost them over £600 but they all intend to be in business long enough to get the money back!
Thanks once again for your help

nealh

I have just had a 15 minute phone advice session from this site, following me imputing my details on their calculation platform . They really know their stuff, its free to people and it is way ahead of any other 'sales quote gathering site'.

kfsimpson

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but have searched the forums and couldn't find an answer.
Is the position still that there is no income tax liability on FITs payments for private households? I have found a govt statement to this effect from 2009, but wondered whether the Tories have changed this. Anyone currently receiving FITs able to help?

Just been given a guide price of £12500 for a 3.5-4 Kw Sanyo system, he'll write with the detailed quote. No hard sell, in and out inside 30 mins. Seems reasonable, waiting for the next two companies to visit.
Thanks.

nealh

Yes tax free (unless they change their mind anytime over the next 25 years!). Remember Sanyo offer a 'step' guarantee, not graded.