Solar quote - too good to be true?

wobblegobble

Have had a quote from a local company for a 3.99kw system for £9999 installed (fully inclusive). This is significantly less than what other companies are charging and I struggling to see where the catch is. I live in the East Midlands.

It is for 21 ET 190 panels with a 25 year performance guarentee and an Aurora Power one inverter which is supposedly the best on the market (with a 25 year extended warranty)

I know ET are new to the market and are trying to gain market share hence the low price (explanation given by solar company) but still this quote is several thousand £ cheaper than anybody else. The company does not use subcontractors and have provided customer testimonials etc. Although ET are new another solar company have also quoted me for them and the panels seem to be ok quality wise.

Am I missing anything? Only possible catch I can see is that the company might not be around in 5 years time if anything goes wrong but that would apply to most companies anyway.

TrickyDicky101

Make sure whatever warranties the company offers over its installation (not the manufacturer warranties on the panels/inverter) are insurer-backed so you know you are covered even if the specific installer goes out of business.

Quote sounds very cheap - I am having quotes done at the mo and that is lower thanall 3 quotes I have and for a bigger system! Good luck!!

thenudeone

If it's very small company with no head office or overheads and prepared to accept low margins it's probably a genuine price. £12k is the going rate for a 4kW system so it's not a massive percentage drop from that.

ladylouise62

From what I remember hearing the normal prices charged are OTT, so this lot may just be more reasonable in their mark-up. I know it's rare, but there could be some people left in the world who don't want to rip you off

alanfp

I'd agree that I haven't heard any price being quoted any lower than that, but it's not unreasonable. A friend of mine got 8 quotes, and ended up paying the sort of figure you're talking about.

Mrs_Stimmo

We have had 3 quotes for a similar size system and a local company came out at £9840 - we have researched them, met them and had excellent communication throughout the entire process.

mardycow

that sounds very reasonable the latest quote i.ve had for 20 suntech 200 with sunny boy inverter is £13.820 for 4KW. i am in east mids too - which company was your quote with?

wiimad

Ive just signed up to a company in Nottingham.Its a 4KW system using 16 x samsung 247w panels, a sunnyboy 4000TL and sunny beam all for £10,300. That includes a 10 year warrenty on the inverter and 5 years on the whole system. I could of gone for the suntech panels same setup for £9,700

Prices are falling me thinks :j

mardycow

wiimad wrote: »

Ive just signed up to a company in Nottingham.Its a 4KW system using 16 x samsung 247w panels, a sunnyboy 4000TL and sunny beam all for £10,300. That includes a 10 year warrenty on the inverter and 5 years on the whole system. I could of gone for the suntech panels same setup for £9,700

Prices are falling me thinks :j

Well i only had this quote on thursday from spirit solar, will you share the name of the company you have gone with?

ladylouise62

I just read an article in the guardian which says that Chinese production has brought down the costs, with prices down a third this year and possibly going down another 15% this last quarter.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/02/low-cost-solar-panels-fuel-uk-boom

wobblegobble

wiimad wrote: »

Ive just signed up to a company in Nottingham.Its a 4KW system using 16 x samsung 247w panels, a sunnyboy 4000TL and sunny beam all for £10,300. That includes a 10 year warrenty on the inverter and 5 years on the whole system. I could of gone for the suntech panels same setup for £9,700

Prices are falling me thinks :j

Would you mind sharing the name of the company who quoted you that price? Would be good to have another company to compare my original quote to.