Solar Panel Guide Discussion

mickyduck

Blossom2528 wrote: »

So is it still worth investing now, or should we wait a little longer to see what happens with prices? Only wondering generally at the moment. I guess that's not much to go on.

I would wait prices are falling (lots of posts) 6 months should see a correction in the market... BUT with all things you need to make your own decisions based on your own circumstances.

John_Pierpoint

Legally speaking the Feed in Tariff (FiT) is still a matter of conjecture, especially as Friends of the Earth and a couple of installation organisations have got the precipitate halving of the rate ruled as unlawful. Legally speaking the period of "consultation" has only just ended and the official government decision cannot be made until some time in January.

I would expect the legal decision eventually to be along the lines of the government announcement, but anyone registering an installation at the moment could be facing extra unknown risks. Expect the installer's paperwork to be valueless if/when the installation company goes bust.

Blossom2528

mickyduck wrote: »

I would wait prices are falling (lots of posts) 6 months should see a correction in the market... BUT with all things you need to make your own decisions based on your own circumstances.

Thank you Micky. This may sound strange but we'd actually prefer a lower price and lower return, simply because we couldn't afford the prices when we looked before. It all seems to be getting a little fairer now, we just want to reduce our bills.

mickyduck

Blossom2528 wrote: »

Thank you Micky. This may sound strange but we'd actually prefer a lower price and lower return, simply because we couldn't afford the prices when we looked before. It all seems to be getting a little fairer now, we just want to reduce our bills.

Hi I would have waited as well if I had known that the market was going to fall this rapidly. The high FIT was keeping the market high, if the systems fall by 40 % (or more, my installer has dropped his prices by 30% already) the new FIT will still give a good return.

theonlytazman

furndire wrote: »

You don't generate very much at this time of year. Sometimes nothing - I am further north than you.
If you have a look on this site at system No 4 details (its the nearest to you) you will get an idea of what some others are getting.
In my first year of having panels June 2010- June 2011, I got around £1400 back in FiT payments on 3.98 kw system.
As to the ethics of having had different inverters and panels there will be someone on shortly to comment, but look on the bright side, at least you got your system installed to get the full fit payment.
No doubt the installers were desparate to get your panels up & running before the cut off date of 12/12
A lot depends on what size system you have, & what they have actually stated you should get.

I am finding your post quite difficult to read, can you split it up into paragraphs a bit - no offence meant.

thanks for that didn't realise i'd be getting feedback that quickly (better than my other haunt (can i say it hu**)), the original post was supposed to look like this

"
Sorry 1st time poster (regular newsletter reader though) have had some panels fitted to our house plus my cousin got his done too & my friend. I recommended them all to the same company & negotiated a price to get the work done together to keep costs down for all of us. We are based in Slough (yes that neck of the woods) in berkshire (SE region)

We were promised SMA inverters, Luxor 250w panels what we were fitted were 245w Suntech's & either Kaco or SMA inverters. Install completion was just before the 11th dec 2011 deadline

Panels fitted & locations etc...

Hse 1: Split roof. Kaco inverter. 10 panels South 6 panels west
Hse 2: SMA inverter. 9 panels South
Hse 3: SMA inverter. 7 panels west

Hse 1 is averaging about 1kwh a day at the moment (current reading 34.38kwh)
Hse 2 is averaging about 1khw a day at the moment (current reading 5.69kwh only switched on 22/12/11 - as the solar power company switched off after install as hadn't paid all monies yet)
Hse 3 is averaging less than 0.5khw a day at the moment (current reading 1.9kwh only switched on 22/12/11 - as the solar power company switched off after install as hadn't paid all monies yet)

The solar power company are saying this is normal and in-fact we're generating WAY more than we should be at this time of year these figures will quadruple if not more over spring/summer and we should all be getting the 1000's of KWH's we were promised.

Hse 1 - they stated we should be getting 5kwh based upon the numbers generated so-far
Hse 2 - again they feel should be getting over 3kwh
Hse 3 - they feel should be over 1.5kwh each year

What i'd like to know is this normal getting 1 kwh per day over this period. And is it even feasible we will get what we were all promised in terms of numbers. Also what recourse do we have after paying them the final installment

Sorry to throw this out there but i don't know where else to turn. I need some guidance & help as i feel that the company we've used has cost us all a lot of money & we won't even be able to pay back our loans with the monies we'd all be getting via the FIT's.

Final payment must be made this week so if anyone has any advice please please let me know, thanks again for you time!
"
But for whatever reason got posted as a compressed body of txt (probably as i clicked on quick post?)

theonlytazman

Blossom2528 wrote: »

Thank you Micky. This may sound strange but we'd actually prefer a lower price and lower return, simply because we couldn't afford the prices when we looked before. It all seems to be getting a little fairer now, we just want to reduce our bills.

Blossom the main reason we decided to go ahead with it was that the extra mtge (the banks keep a set amount as a guaranteed loan available to you if you need it at the same mtge rate you're on at the moment) we took on would be more than covered by the fit payments we were promised. with the drop by 50% of the fit & only a paltry drop of 20%+ in the panel prices (ie back to where they were BEFORE the gov't brought in the 11/dec/11 deadline - as i was looking at getting panels a while ago but thought i'd wait till Jan 2012 to get them done) i feel the current situation is worse than it was before.

I went online worked out what the loan would cost me then worked out how much i was expecting to get via FIT and as long as the balance was in my favour i felt it was worth pursuing.

I've also viewed online news that the current 21p fit payment may be reduced even further in 2012 due to the money pot dwindling away.

theonlytazman

Just some more facts about the cowboy outfit we'd all used:

Apart from the fact they didn't install the panels/inverters as promised they:

Messed up the mcs certs by swapping all our meter s/n's (so the wrong s/n's were on the mcs certs) we're now all being hounded by our energy providers requesting why the meter s/n's we'd provided aren't agreeing with the actual mcs cert
The mcs certs showing the original panels but not the actual one's fitted

My other concern was that Hse no 2 with only 9 panels S is generating as much if not more than Hse no 1 with 10 panels S & 6 panels W - is this even possible. Even though we're a stones throw away from 1 another with NO shadow on either property?

KevinG

theonlytazman wrote: »

My other concern was that Hse no 2 with only 9 panels S is generating as much if not more than Hse no 1 with 10 panels S & 6 panels W - is this even possible. Even though we're a stones throw away from 1 another with NO shadow on either property?

Well it is rather critical just how the arrangement with 6 panels facing west and 10 panels facing south has been set up. I am no expert, but if your "cowboys" have done it on the cheap it is perfectly possible that the output from it will be lower than the house with 9 panels facing south.

theonlytazman

KevinG wrote: »

Well it is rather critical just how the arrangement with 6 panels facing west and 10 panels facing south has been set up. I am no expert, but if your "cowboys" have done it on the cheap it is perfectly possible that the output from it will be lower than the house with 9 panels facing south.

They promised us that a dual feed inverter (ie 1 from the S & 1 from the W) would be better than single feed. They therefore recommended the SMA as that is dual-feed. But then they put in a Kaco instead - which i can't tell is dual feed or not. But going by the readings we're getting compared to my friends i seem to be on a par with them with more panels.

Is there any re-course for me? can i go back to Real or MCS or even the c/c company I'd used? Just feel very angry about all of this, due to the gov't reducing the deadline I was forced into making a snap decision, now it seems it was the worst thing to do.

Dave_Fowler

theonlytazman wrote: »

They promised us that a dual feed inverter (ie 1 from the S & 1 from the W) would be better than single feed. They therefore recommended the SMA as that is dual-feed. But then they put in a Kaco instead - which i can't tell is dual feed or not. But going by the readings we're getting compared to my friends i seem to be on a par with them with more panels.

Is there any re-course for me? can i go back to Real or MCS or even the c/c company I'd used? Just feel very angry about all of this, due to the gov't reducing the deadline I was forced into making a snap decision, now it seems it was the worst thing to do.

I think the critical thing here is the inverter. If the Kaco inverter is not a dual MPP tracking inverter and the South and West strings have just been connected in parallel then the panels with the lower output will effectively short out the panels with the greater output. It is essential that if two strings are used on a single MPP inverter that the two strings must be matched - not only in the number of panels but also in the orientation and azimuth.

Check which model of inverter you have got and ensure it is a dual MPP.

Dave F