Solar Panel Guide Discussion

zeupater

martin_aimless wrote: »

Hyundai 250w panels - are they any good?

One supplier recommends for relative value and better quality than the Sharps that Tesco and others are offering as standard.

What's a reasonable price for a 4kw system?

thanks

Hi

Sharp are made in the UK, Hyundai are not ....

Apart from that, you need to be comparing panels with a similar specification, monocrystalline or polycrystalline on a like for like basis .... I'd get some quotes in before making a judgement on the value for money on the panels, is this value for money in the form of a saving for the customer or increased margin for the installer, I'd hazard a guess that for anyone pushing one make it's the latter

Regarding price, I don't know how competitive the market is in your area and whether there are any specific issues with your install, but look at paying somewhere around/just over £3/Wp fully installed at the moment for a decent specification system ...

HTH
Z

John_Pierpoint

Is it good to see a few Euro of farming subsidies being reinvested in farming sunlight?
(Figures from https://www.farmsubsidy.org)


Matching Recipients

NameAmount (All years)BAWTRY FARMS LIMITED€579,669.71

mo786uk

If you buy the panels - What happens, if after 10 years the panels break and the person who sold them to you has gone bust. What if you need to spend another 5k replacing them? Wouldnt that kill any savings you would have made?

Edit - I have just read the main article and it seems to just brush the question off - saying it will be easy to find someone to fix it!

keith_r59

mo786uk wrote: »

If you buy the panels - What happens, if after 10 years the panels break and the person who sold them to you has gone bust. What if you need to spend another 5k replacing them? Wouldnt that kill any savings you would have made?

Edit - I have just read the main article and it seems to just brush the question off - saying it will be easy to find someone to fix it!

You will still have the manufacturer's guarantee to fall back on but terms and conditions will vary from supplier to supplier so it is best to check before purchasing.

The guarantee is generally split into two parts - a) product and b) power output. The product guarantee covers manufacturing defect and is unlikely to be for more that 5 or 10 years. The power output guarantee covers the power output degradation over time and generally lasts for 25 years. In both parts it is usually the customer who pays for the removal, return and re-installation of the faulty panel or panels.

But then what is the probability that your panels will fail?

John_Pierpoint

The 1987 "hurricane", the one that turned Sevenoaks into Oneoak, is not yet 25 year ago.

keith_r59

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

The 1987 "hurricane", the one that turned Sevenoaks into Oneoak, is not yet 25 year ago.

The Great Storm of 1987 was the worst storm to hit Britain since the Great Storm of 1703 and was classified as a rare event.

What is the probability that we will have another Great Storm in the next 25 years and even if we do what is the probability that it will cause your solar panels to fail?

I think you are clutching at wind blown straws.

digitaltoast

keith_r59 wrote: »

The Great Storm of 1987 was the worst storm to hit Britain since the Great Storm of 1703 and was classified as a rare event.

What is the probability that we will have another Great Storm in the next 25 years

Well, looking at recent "rare event" weather phenomena with records for highs/lows/floods/hurricanes being set around the world almost every week it seem, I'd imagine it's highly likely.

keith_r59 wrote: »

and even if we do what is the probability that it will cause your solar panels to fail?

Wind won't. But a large branch/corrugated roof/cow being blown onto them might!

I think that was the point? Insurance isn't about preparing for knowns, it's about preparing for unknowns.

As Rumsfeld once said:

There are known knowns; there are things we know we know.
We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know.

keith_r59

digitaltoast wrote: »

Well, looking at recent "rare event" weather phenomena with records for highs/lows/floods/hurricanes being set around the world almost every week it seem, I'd imagine it's highly likely.Wind won't. But a large branch/corrugated roof/cow being blown onto them might!

A cow being blown onto my roof and breaking my solar panels. :rotfl:Are you for real or is this a wind up? I think I would have better odds at winning the lottery.

I suppose it beats the "feral youths may throw bricks at your solar panels" suggestion which was posted a couple of months ago. I split my sides on that one also.

I can't wait for the next fanciful reason not to install Solar PV. Keep them coming as it brightens up my day.

John_Pierpoint

Should we put up a special prize for the poster with the first failed PV panels installation.?

I struggled into central London on the Friday following the night of the 1987 hurricane and saw houses with blown away roofs, not just the odd ripped off corrugated sheet.
There were also houses with trees laid across them. The biggest problem was actually the burst water mains - caused by the roots of the fallen trees dragging up the water pipes as the tree came down.

keith_r59

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Should we put up a special prize for the poster with the first failed PV panels installation.?

I struggled into central London on the Friday following the night of the 1987 hurricane and saw houses with blown away roofs, not just the odd ripped off corrugated sheet.
There were also houses with trees laid across them. The biggest problem was actually the burst water mains - caused by the roots of the fallen trees dragging up the water pipes as the tree came down.

I find it quite sad that there are a handful of posters on here who actually want people with solar PV systems to suffer financial loss because they don't agree with it?

Oh well, it takes all sorts I suppose. Have a nice day.