Official MSE Free Solar Panel guide discussion

tunnel

Blondboy13 wrote: »

Dont worry about micro inverter they will install one single unit as this is common place in domestic solar PV

And what if the OP has any shading issues, installing "one single unit" will mean that the whole string will suffer if there is any shading, causing less generation and loss of FiTs income

Blondboy13 wrote: »

FiT rate drops every 6 months if your looking to get solar get in before the rate drops.

It drops as and when certain capacity install figures are met

Blondboy13 wrote: »

4kw is big for a house you are more likely to end up with 3kw jope this helps

Would you suggest I downsize my 6.5kWp installs?


Please, if you are going to give advice then at least get all the facts before replying, giving incorrect information could end up costing someone £k's in lost revenue and generation.

As for prices, I believe anything over £5k for a "standard" 4kWp system is expensive.

Martyn1981

tunnel wrote: »

Please, if you are going to give advice then at least get all the facts before replying, giving incorrect information could end up costing someone £k's in lost revenue and generation.

Hiya T. I was going to respond to those posts, but when I saw new poster, 4 posts in 8 mins, and 3 of those posts naming a company, I just hit the spam button instead. Perhaps I was being a bit grumpy!

Mart.

duffyscouse

I have had a quote for a 4kW system (16 panels) 12 on an almost totally South facing roof and 4 on a Western roof, with a Solar i-boost (diverts to heat hot water BEFORE sending elec back to the grid), A Voltage Optimiser VO4 (drops house voltage to 210-220V so a further saving) & a wifi kit to display usage, solar generation etc.
Quote was just shy of £8000 and it was suggested I get a cheap rate loan to pay for the cost - I was also quoted that id be 'making money almost immediately and the cost per month of the loan would be covered by the savings and income I would be making"

any opinions welcome please as I checked the detail on the EST web site and I reckon itll cost me at LEAST £30 per month to have them after savings, FIT and generation repayments.

Thanks in advance

Martyn1981

duffyscouse wrote: »

I have had a quote for a 4kW system (16 panels) 12 on an almost totally South facing roof and 4 on a Western roof, with a Solar i-boost (diverts to heat hot water BEFORE sending elec back to the grid), A Voltage Optimiser VO4 (drops house voltage to 210-220V so a further saving) & a wifi kit to display usage, solar generation etc.
Quote was just shy of £8000 and it was suggested I get a cheap rate loan to pay for the cost - I was also quoted that id be 'making money almost immediately and the cost per month of the loan would be covered by the savings and income I would be making"

any opinions welcome please as I checked the detail on the EST web site and I reckon itll cost me at LEAST £30 per month to have them after savings, FIT and generation repayments.

Thanks in advance

Hiya. Obviously I'm only guessing, as I don't know your location, roof pitches, shading. But you should get 900kWh+ per kWp south facing, and about 75% of that for West (or East). So let's say 3,375kWh pa which should give you about £600 to £650 in income (FiT 12.92p/kWh, export 4.85p/kWh (on a deemed 50%), leccy savings of about £120). So around £50pm.

£8k is too high, you want to aim for less than £6k*, with some folk getting £5k or just under now.

Forget the voltage optimiser, waste of money for a domestic situation. No benefit for any device designed to produce heat (kettle, tumble dryer, washing machine etc).

There's nothing wrong with your roof setup, and some western generation will benefit at teatime, but your income will be slightly less, so with tighter margins, you'll need costs to be low, and any finance at very, very low rates (interest free credit card etc).

Apologies for any confusion on this next bit, but be slightly careful with that 12:4 split. Nothing wrong, and it can be done, but you'll need a dual MPPT inverter, with one MPPT (don't worry what they are) assigned to each orientation so that the roof not in the sun, doesn't drag down the performance of the one in the sun.

But, inverters have minimum voltages for their MPPT's and 4 panels (approx 120V) will be tight for some models. So the installers will need to choose a suitable inverter. So worth you popping onto the Green & Ethical board when you start getting quotes and specs, to ask if 'that inverter' is ok. Think of it as a confidence check on the installers to see if they know what they are doing.

*Quite a lot of posters on the G&E board got installs a year ago for £6k, including water heating diversionary switches and monitors. But you do have to spend time kissing a few frogs!

Mart.

Cardew

duffyscouse wrote: »

A Voltage Optimiser VO4 (drops house voltage to 210-220V so a further saving)

As said above, in a domestic situation a voltage optimiser is simply a waste of money. See


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/advice/9153868/Jeff-Howells-DIY-advice-home-voltage-optimisers.html


If reducing mains voltage to 210v to 220v saved money, why wouldn't the National Grid reduce all our voltage to that level?


Indeed why not drop it even further? The USA standard voltage is 120v and many of our electronic devices(laptops etc) will run on 120v or 240v - Do you think that a, say, laptop only uses half the energy in the USA?


Also when considering the savings from a Solar I boost, remember to price the savings at the cost of the fuel you normally use to heat the Hot water e.g. gas/oil/economy 7 - few heat water at full rate electricity prices.

Cardew

duffyscouse wrote: »

Quote was just shy of £8000 and it was suggested I get a cheap rate loan to pay for the cost - I was also quoted that id be 'making money almost immediately and the cost per month of the loan would be covered by the savings and income I would be making"

Just a point on the economics.


Martyn's post above indicates a ball park figure of £50 a month savings*, and that a system should cost in the region of £6,000 not the £8,000 you were quoted.


If you managed to get a £6,000 repayment loan at a fixed 3% over 10 years it would cost £58 a month. - a total of £6,960.


* The savings are index linked(assuming electricity is the same)


So in approx. 10 years, assuming no repairs are required, the system will have 'paid for itself' and you can then look forward to 'being in profit'.


An attractive proposition??

Piccasso

I'm in the process of making a business plan on getting a loan to purchase a shop with my partner the position of the building is facing is south / south east briefly i'm looking to get information on solar panels my options on fitting cost etc and what savings I can make for existing cost and if any income can be generated.

1. how many panels I would be able to fit (what measurements would be required)
2. could extra panels be wall mounted to increase power generated.
3. is there grants available.

Cheers

Cardew

Piccasso wrote: »

I'm in the process of making a business plan on getting a loan to purchase a shop with my partner the position of the building is facing is south / south east briefly i'm looking to get information on solar panels my options on fitting cost etc and what savings I can make for existing cost and if any income can be generated.

1. how many panels I would be able to fit (what measurements would be required)
2. could extra panels be wall mounted to increase power generated.
3. is there grants available.

Cheers

Welcome to the forum.


I suggest you pose your questions in the 'Green and Ethical' section of this MSE forum as that is where all the experts contribute.

ramjet1041

Your right, the 327w panels you refer to are Sunpower panels. Im a seller of Sunpower and for £7500 for a 4kw system is a very good price, I disagree that it is not installable at this price, but that really is the maximum discounted rate for the best panels in the world with a gauarenteed 25yr output warranty. Its the only ones id have fitted on my house.

zeupater

ramjet1041 wrote: »

Your right, the 327w panels you refer to are Sunpower panels. Im a seller of Sunpower and for £7500 for a 4kw system is a very good price, I disagree that it is not installable at this price, but that really is the maximum discounted rate for the best panels in the world with a gauarenteed 25yr output warranty. Its the only ones id have fitted on my house.

Hi & welcome to the forum ....

You might find that they're probably not the E20s, more likely to be BENQ, thus probably halving the cost difference between an installation using the Sunpower 327/330W units above and a typical install using ~250W panels ....

HTH
Z