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Help with solar panel quote

2

Comments

  • EricMears
    EricMears Posts: 3,309 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 20 May 2012 at 3:24PM
    ctdctd wrote: »
    Not so for a normal residential customer - from the TPS site

    "
    Do you need to renew your registration with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS)?
    If you have registered a residential number or a number belonging to a sole trader or (except in Scotland) partnership, you do not need to renew."

    http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/tps/contactfaq.php



    Pleased to hear that - but that certainly wasn't the case a few years ago.

    postscript
    I've just attempted to (re)register with TPS only to be told that my line is already registered. I shall be rather firmer with unsolicited callers in future !
    NE Derbyshire.4kWp S Facing 17.5deg slope (dormer roof).24kWh of Pylontech batteries with Lux controller BEV : Hyundai Ioniq5
  • I would get a few quotes if you really want them. The saleman who called on you sounds similar to the Solar Energy team that went bust. Their charges were way above what should have been charged and they were a 'pressured sell'and we ended up having a claim against them (we actually got our money back via our credit card company, as we paid for part of them with the card).

    Never accept any 'we can only offer this now' sale. Local tradesman will probably give you a better deal and a more accurate idea of savings.
  • jimjames
    jimjames Posts: 18,723 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 20 May 2012 at 5:29PM
    If it is anything like one of the solar installers that quoted for our panels the payback would include inflation on electricity at 15% pa. Try plugging that into your spreadsheets and you'll see that if RPI inflation remains under 5% we'd all be paying our annual salary purely in electricity bills after 25 years - crazy assumptions!

    It is very easy to band numbers like that around as they are only estimates and by making them high the payback drops dramatically. Our system was installed in Nov 2011 at under £9k for 3kWp. Prices have dropped since then so you should get this a couple of thousand less.

    There are still lots of dodgy sales people out there for solar. Someone I know has just got into the sales side of it after a training course. When I heard the name of the company I didn't know whether to warn him or not as they seem to appear in all the scare stories and "promise" to pay back the cost after 5 years. In his training he was told that solar panels can work from street lights and with 6 inches of snow on them - yeah right!!
    Remember the saying: if it looks too good to be true it almost certainly is.
  • Hi, just had solarking uk round and gave me these figures using there connect eco system. Does this look realistic, does anyone have any dealing with them? Live in Devon, SW facing roof with no shade, below is an extract from the letter.

    'Size of System Proposed
    2Kw
    SAP figure given
    821
    Guaranteed Power Generation Figure
    1,642Kwh
    Monthly electricity bills
    Monthly gas bills
    £ 70.00
    £40.00
    Generation Income
    £ 344.82
    Projected fuel saving
    £ 239.07
    Export Tariff Income
    £ 36.95
    Total Year 1 Income
    £ 381.77

    Total Benefit

    £ 17,744.57
    Total return

    £ 620.84
    Year 1 return

    8%
    Break even

    Year 10

    Please remember that this income is GUARANTEED by SolarKing as we guarantee your power generation output figures.

    I confirm that the list price for your installation is £7,799.00


    believe this is discounted figure of £5799 for panels and £2000 for ECO connect.
  • Martyn1981
    Martyn1981 Posts: 15,404 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Wow, where shall I start.

    1642 @ 16p = £262.72. They are quoting the old tariff of 21p. Unless they are guaranteeing that figure, then they are either poorly informed, or trying to mislead.

    But interestingly are quoting the correct new 4.5p tariff for export, not the old 3.2p!

    Estimate of generation may be a fraction low, but fair.

    Fuel savings of £240, close to impossible. Suggest a safer guess of £100 (£70 to £150, but will depend on your consumption, and daytime use).

    So income + savings approx £262 + £37 + £100 = £400 approx.

    Price, £5.8k for 2kWp is high. I'd suggest aiming for around £4.5k, you might get £4k.

    Checked their site for info on ECO connect, it seems to be a monitoring system, plus warnings if performance low, plus a maintenance programme for £99pa from yr2 onwards.

    Can't see the point of it. You will have warranties of 5years or more on kit, and can monitor your system quite easily, some info here, section 6:

    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3872445

    If you want live monitoring of individual panels, then go for a SolarEdge system, that will maximise performance, and the inverter has a 12 year warranty as standard. I got a SE system 2kWp with black on black panels fitted in July for £4,250.

    Apart from that, it's great!

    Mart.

    PS Is your roof smallish, or did they suggest 2kWp. The bigger you go, the cheaper prices get proportionately. Perhaps £2.5k + £1k per each kWp. M.
    Mart. Cardiff. 8.72 kWp PV systems (2.12 SSW 4.6 ESE & 2.0 WNW). 20kWh battery storage. Two A2A units for cleaner heating. Two BEV's for cleaner driving.

    For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.
  • Hi
    I am seeking some guidance please.
    I don't usually entertain cold calls but on this occasion I had been thinking about it & wanted some clarification. Solarking UK where the company that took advantage of my uncertainty.
    Anyway the fella came round & threw a very convincing case with a warning that if I don't do it now then the tariffs are changing in April & I'll miss the boat.
    So how does Solarking's reputation stand up? Have any of you had dealings with them & are they reputable?
    And as for the quote they are suggesting for a roof is facing 10deg south of east (has a chimney stack on southern side). Solarking state they guarantee these figures:
    Size of System Proposed
    2.5 kw
    SAP figure given
    846
    Guaranteed Power Generation Figure
    2115 kwh
    Total Utility bills (monthly)
    £35
    FIT Generation Income (yearly)
    £315.14
    Projected fuel saving (yearly) @ 50% usage
    £169.20
    Export Tariff Income (yearly)
    £49.07
    Total Year 1 Income (yearly)
    £533.40

    Total 20 year Benefit
    £15660
    Total Feed In Tariff return
    £9779
    Total Electric Savings
    £5881
    Year 1 return on investment
    8.3%
    Breakeven point
    Year 10
    System cost is £6409
    Does this sound right?
    They are also offering a loan scheme backed by Barclays Partner Finance. As anyone come across that before? Any opinions much appreciated.
    RFS
  • Martyn1981
    Martyn1981 Posts: 15,404 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Hi
    I am seeking some guidance please.

    Does this sound right?

    RFS

    Hiya RFS. Running off, so quick pointers.

    846kWh/kWp is possible from a ESE system, but you'd need to be very south/SW of Britain. Chimney could be a problem, but my ESE (808kWh/kWp) get shading from the central chimney of our semi-detached (to the SSW), and doesn't do too badly.

    Leccy savings, I'd suggest £80 to £160. Perhaps £120, and aim for better. So there figure isn't impossible, but it is a high estimate.

    Price is way too much. Many on here have paid between £6 and £7k for 4kWp systems in the last year.

    But, the worst bit (in my eyes) is the tariff scaremongering. The drop in April is only on the FiT. It's 3.5% taking it from 14.9p/kWh to 14.4p. The export income and leccy savings obviously aren't affected ..... so perhaps a total weighted drop of about 2% in income. Worth keeping April in the back of your mind, but hardly missing the boat.

    Mart.
    Mart. Cardiff. 8.72 kWp PV systems (2.12 SSW 4.6 ESE & 2.0 WNW). 20kWh battery storage. Two A2A units for cleaner heating. Two BEV's for cleaner driving.

    For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.
  • Just to add to what Martyn1981 said, I think most posters here estimate their breakeven point will be after about 6 or 7 years so perhaps you could negotiate the price down on that basis.
    Are you for real? - Glass Half Empty??
    :coffee:
  • tunnel
    tunnel Posts: 2,601 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I had these guys out for my parents and if I'm honest they didn't fill me with confidence, if I'm correct they will have given you a presentation off a laptop, blahed on about offering monitoring of the system. I asked questions that I knew the answers to and didn't get the correct answers.


    If your serious about solar then get several quotes, as has been stated, that price is WAY TOO MUCH, I've just paid £4300 for a 2.5kWp system and believe that's about the figure you should be looking at.


    can I ask where you are(roughly)?


    tunnel
    2 kWp SEbE , 2kWp SSW & 2.5kWp NWbW.....in sunny North Derbyshire17.7kWh Givenergy battery added(for the power hungry kids)
  • Martyn1981 wrote: »
    Hiya RFS. Running off, so quick pointers.

    846kWh/kWp is possible from a ESE system, but you'd need to be very south/SW of Britain. Chimney could be a problem, but my ESE (808kWh/kWp) get shading from the central chimney of our semi-detached (to the SSW), and doesn't do too badly.

    Leccy savings, I'd suggest £80 to £160. Perhaps £120, and aim for better. So there figure isn't impossible, but it is a high estimate.

    Price is way too much. Many on here have paid between £6 and £7k for 4kWp systems in the last year.

    But, the worst bit (in my eyes) is the tariff scaremongering. The drop in April is only on the FiT. It's 3.5% taking it from 14.9p/kWh to 14.4p. The export income and leccy savings obviously aren't affected ..... so perhaps a total weighted drop of about 2% in income. Worth keeping April in the back of your mind, but hardly missing the boat.

    Mart.

    Thanks Mart, I'm on the south coast of Hampshire. Who do you suggest I approach for a better deal? Mono Crystalline panels.
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