Current PV panel prices

keith_r59

yeplume wrote: »

But only for new installations.

Existing installation FITs are linked to the Retail Prices Index. So if the RPI is negative then the FIT will be reduced.

mark55man

[FONT=Tahoma,Bold][FONT=Tahoma,Bold]Any comments?. Looks good, but a little expensive - However I really liked the technician who came along [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Tahoma,Bold][FONT=Tahoma,Bold]Project: 3.7 kWp - Solar PV System £12990[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma,Bold][FONT=Tahoma,Bold]Details of Proposed System for the Roof:[/FONT][/FONT]
The roof is East/West facing with minimal shading.

Using Upsolar Mono 185 Watt panels and a Fronius 3.5 kW

The system will consist of 2 separate systems (one on 12 east roof, one on 8 on west facing roof)

The total estimated generated income and savings : [FONT=Tahoma,Bold][FONT=Tahoma,Bold]£35K.[/FONT][/FONT]
This figure equates to an average of [FONT=Tahoma,Bold][FONT=Tahoma,Bold]£1400 ([/FONT][/FONT]2700KWh) per annum.

jetski690

mark88man wrote: »

[FONT=Tahoma,Bold][FONT=Tahoma,Bold]Any comments?. Looks good, but a little expensive - However I really liked the technician who came along [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Tahoma,Bold][FONT=Tahoma,Bold]Project: 3.7 kWp - Solar PV System £12990[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma,Bold][FONT=Tahoma,Bold]Details of Proposed System for the Roof:[/FONT][/FONT]
The roof is East/West facing with minimal shading.

Using Upsolar Mono 185 Watt panels and a Fronius 3.5 kW

The system will consist of 2 separate systems (one on 12 east roof, one on 8 on west facing roof)

The total estimated generated income and savings : [FONT=Tahoma,Bold][FONT=Tahoma,Bold]£35K.[/FONT][/FONT]
This figure equates to an average of [FONT=Tahoma,Bold][FONT=Tahoma,Bold]£1400 ([/FONT][/FONT]2700KWh) per annum.

I have a similar set up with 8 on the south and 12 on the west roof, I would be very sceptical putting panels on an east facing roof though and did they say with your minimal shading that when one panel does go in the shade it knocks down the rest in the array, I also think £1400 might be a bit on ambitious side.

Paul1_2

Hi all,

Would appreciate some advice as buying panels seems to be as easy as knitting mist!

I am in the Northeast and so far have tried 3 local companies and Tesco (for a laugh). Of the local companies only one turned up, though the guy does seem knowledgeable and has answered a lot of questions from us as time has gone on. He didn't sell at all!

Tesco turned up early and we were not impressed. It took 3 weeks to get a quote, they haven't quoted for what we wanted and although the quote they have sent is cheaper it uses smaller polycristaline panels. Best of all Tesco also sent me another customers quote with mine (so much for data protection).

Right back to the guy I have, the quote is for a 3.92 kw system with 16 Sharp 245 mono panels, an SMA 3300 inverter and sunny beam for £12,600 fitted. Does this seem a reasonable price?

My roof is south facing and 30 degrees, slight shading from trees on 2 panels from very late evening. Output 2885 per year is forecast, with an estimated income of £1611.25. I know this will be less as the quote assumed using 100% of the electic used and that isn't practical! Estimating 50% would suggest £1452.

Any thoughts or observations would be really useful as the more I read the more confused I become.:eek:

Casper55

Paul1 wrote: »

Hi all,

Would appreciate some advice as buying panels seems to be as easy as knitting mist!

I am in the Northeast and so far have tried 3 local companies and Tesco (for a laugh). Of the local companies only one turned up, though the guy does seem knowledgeable and has answered a lot of questions from us as time has gone on. He didn't sell at all!

Tesco turned up early and we were not impressed. It took 3 weeks to get a quote, they haven't quoted for what we wanted and although the quote they have sent is cheaper it uses smaller polycristaline panels. Best of all Tesco also sent me another customers quote with mine (so much for data protection).

Right back to the guy I have, the quote is for a 3.92 kw system with 16 Sharp 245 mono panels, an SMA 3300 inverter and sunny beam for £12,600 fitted. Does this seem a reasonable price?

My roof is south facing and 30 degrees, slight shading from trees on 2 panels from very late evening. Output 2885 per year is forecast, with an estimated income of £1611.25. I know this will be less as the quote assumed using 100% of the electic used and that isn't practical! Estimating 50% would suggest £1452.

Any thoughts or observations would be really useful as the more I read the more confused I become.:eek:

I too live in the Northeast. Try George Cummings who recently fitted a 3.7Kw system for £11,110 + £200 for 20 year guarentee on Fronius inverter. Nice to go with a local firm. The guy even took me to see one fitted and to the factory before I decided to go with them.Sytem appears to be operating as per PVGIS estimation.
Best Regards casper

Paul1_2

Casper55 wrote: »

I too live in the Northeast. Try George Cummings who recently fitted a 3.7Kw system for £11,110 + £200 for 20 year guarentee on Fronius inverter. Nice to go with a local firm. The guy even took me to see one fitted and to the factory before I decided to go with them.Sytem appears to be operating as per PVGIS estimation.
Best Regards casper

Thanks Casper, I'm in Cleveland and will give them a call. The costs seem to vary like the wind. :cool:

mark55man

jetski690 wrote: »

I have a similar set up with 8 on the south and 12 on the west roof, I would be very sceptical putting panels on an east facing roof though and did they say with your minimal shading that when one panel does go in the shade it knocks down the rest in the array, I also think £1400 might be a bit on ambitious side.

Thanks Jetski

The east side is completely unshaded. The west side is sahded by neighbours trees for a couple of hours before sunset (not in winter as trees have no leaves hurrah)

zeupater

Paul1 wrote: »

Hi all,

Would appreciate some advice as buying panels seems to be as easy as knitting mist!

I am in the Northeast and so far have tried 3 local companies and Tesco (for a laugh). Of the local companies only one turned up, though the guy does seem knowledgeable and has answered a lot of questions from us as time has gone on. He didn't sell at all!

Tesco turned up early and we were not impressed. It took 3 weeks to get a quote, they haven't quoted for what we wanted and although the quote they have sent is cheaper it uses smaller polycristaline panels. Best of all Tesco also sent me another customers quote with mine (so much for data protection).

Right back to the guy I have, the quote is for a 3.92 kw system with 16 Sharp 245 mono panels, an SMA 3300 inverter and sunny beam for £12,600 fitted. Does this seem a reasonable price?

My roof is south facing and 30 degrees, slight shading from trees on 2 panels from very late evening. Output 2885 per year is forecast, with an estimated income of £1611.25. I know this will be less as the quote assumed using 100% of the electic used and that isn't practical! Estimating 50% would suggest £1452.

Any thoughts or observations would be really useful as the more I read the more confused I become.:eek:

Hi

I'd look at talking them into a SB4000TL inverter and use the dual MPPTs to split the two strings to minimise the effect of your shading .... I think that a SB3300 will be undersized for 3.92kWp of Sharp panels and is less efficient than an inverterless model anyway .... depending on the complexity of your scaffolding, I would have thought that they could also move the price down by around £500.

Also, you do not mention the mounting system ... this is very important and most forget to check ..... look out in particular for Schueco or SEN as these seem to be the best systems I saw when looking ...

Whatever your installers tell you about electricity savings, unless you have atypical energy usage, calculate your total ROI/income/savings from the system using £100 as the current value of generated electricity being self consumed ... this will be in the right ball-park and will save you from being dissappointed ....

HTH
Z

Paul1_2

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

I'd look at talking them into a SB4000TL inverter and use the dual MPPTs to split the two strings to minimise the effect of your shading .... I think that a SB3300 will be undersized for 3.92kWp of Sharp panels and is less efficient than an inverterless model anyway .... depending on the complexity of your scaffolding, I would have thought that they could also move the price down by around £500.

Also, you do not mention the mounting system ... this is very important and most forget to check ..... look out in particular for Schueco or SEN as these seem to be the best systems I saw when looking ...

Whatever your installers tell you about electricity savings, unless you have atypical energy usage, calculate your total ROI/income/savings from the system using £100 as the current value of generated electricity being self consumed ... this will be in the right ball-park and will save you from being dissappointed ....

HTH
Z

Thanks for the response. The guy said "The Sunny Boy 3300 is able to handle the full output from a 3.92kWp system, though for the majority of time the panels are not operating at their maximum, this would only occur on very sunny days. Therefore the everyday output is linked in nicely with the rating of the SB3300 inverter" I have to say reading this didn't seem right to me.

No mention of the type of mounting frame on the quote either and as far as scaffolding goes it's a bungalow, so hardly complex (though no expert:D). Maybe back to the drawing board!

zeupater

Paul1 wrote: »

Thanks for the response. The guy said "The Sunny Boy 3300 is able to handle the full output from a 3.92kWp system, though for the majority of time the panels are not operating at their maximum, this would only occur on very sunny days. Therefore the everyday output is linked in nicely with the rating of the SB3300 inverter" I have to say reading this didn't seem right to me.

No mention of the type of mounting frame on the quote either and as far as scaffolding goes it's a bungalow, so hardly complex (though no expert:D). Maybe back to the drawing board!

Hi

Enough to say that there is a perceived price point for these systems ... people read on forums, in newspapers and from other sources that the price for a system is £X, so that becomes their pricepoint ..... specifing cheaper inverters and other components simply improves the margins for the installer whilst meeting their customers' price expectation ....

Today is a very rare day this August, the sun is shining and the strong breeze is keeping the panels cool ..... the inverter is nowhere near maxed out, so it's not being stressed, but a SB3300 would currently be clipping generation and working as hard as possible .... over a year there might not be a massive difference in generation, but there will be one. There is also the likelyhood/possibility that, being less stressed, the larger inverter will last longer before requiring replacement ....

Installers should really love a bungalow, scaffolding will be far cheaper and access easier, so maybe a reason to negotiate the price down even further !!

HTH
Z