Solar Power Help Please

Yut_Man

how confident are you in the installers. You need a absolute guarantee on there fitting date. If you dont hit the december date the system will probably never pay for itself. The price seems about right. I would stipulate if possible that if panels not fitted by set date then you get deposit back. There will be a lot of people trying to get there systems done in next week or so and for that type of money you need somesort of safeguard. It took me over 2 month to get the system fitted with cancelled installation dates. but some seem to manage a few weeks. As to the time for the electric company to register im not sur eyet. im at that stage now.

BornAtTheRightTime

You should make approx 1810kWh pa using PV GIS calculator.

£784 FIT payment at 43.3p per unit
£ 28 Export tariff at 3.1p for 50% of the units
£ 54 Electricity savings, assumed 25% used at typical 12p per kWh
____
£ 866 pa

Registration depends entirely on when you get your application including MCS certificate to your chosen FIT supplier. You can request the application form in advance however you must allow time for postal delivery back to them (2 days?). Ask your prospective installers how and how quickly they will provide the MCS certificate. It is given once installation is complete, however some companies can print it there and then, some will email it over within a few days and some post it back to you after days or even weeks.

Yut_Man

Ive just used the link I gave you above and it shows £907 / year with payback in 8 years. However if you miss the december date then it becomes £500 / year and it will take 12 years.

hmm that figure surprised me. Dont forget that the invertor fitted will not last forever and will need replacing, between 10 - 20 years. they seem to cost in the £1000 region.

NewStudent

They said I now have seven days to cancel (even though I haven't signed anything) and after that they can install it in a few days, so well within the time limits. They do not want any upfront money at all, just the lot on completion. Also the panels have a 12 year guarantee. The company seems reliable too me and they are local as well. These are the people http://www.stewartsplumbing.co.uk/ Thanks for everyones help.

Yut_Man

Sounds good. no money until completion. they seem like the sort of firm that will be here to stay if solar goes pants. What you can do to speed things up, contact your electric company and get hold of a application form for the FIT. Or look if it can be done online. itll shave a few days of things. please keep us informed how it goes.

munchkin88

As they are covered by the REAL code then you would have to pay a 25% deposit, 35% deposit once you have an installation date or within 21 days of the installation date and then the 40% remainder upon completion. All upon completion is very odd. There are no MCS details on their website either. What are the measurements of your roof? Just the length and height to ridge. With 16sqm you could be looking at around a 3kWp system (if using Sharp 250 panels in a standard 2x5P design and this is just a roughly guesstimating).

Some installers are managing to take deposits and complete the install within a couple weeks before the cut off for the FiT, but alot of installers i have spoken to yesterday and today are trying to book everyone in ASAP so it going to get busy.

NewStudent

The quote came through this evening at £7200. For that I will get 9x Sharp 250 PV Panels and 1xSunnyboy 2100 TL Inverter sited internally in the roof space. All associated wiring and controls will also be provided. A Sunny Beam monitor can be supplied for an extra £210. A standard maintenance contract which involves a site visit will cost an extra £120 and is renewed anually. All panels and the inverter have a five year guarantee.

The installation will be 2.25 Kw.
Net present value is £17,545 and payback period is 8.3 years. Electricity production costs are 0.17£/kWh.

Opinions please. Thanks x

aggypanthus

someone near me has been offered free installation by scottish gas, it seems to be genuine offer.

NewStudent

aggypanthus wrote: »

someone near me has been offered free installation by scottish gas, it seems to be genuine offer.

I don't know much about solar power, but as far as I know it is much more profitable to buy the panels outright (if you can afford them) than to have them fitted and supplied free.

aggypanthus

NewStudent wrote: »

I don't know much about solar power, but as far as I know it is much more profitable to buy the panels outright (if you can afford them) than to have them fitted and supplied free.

Can you expalin that more fully please?