IKEA Solar Panels FLAT PACK

MoneyMate

The Ikea solar panel #energy
Ikea, best known for its cut price flat-packed furniture, is selling solar panels - the first attempt by a large retail chain to transform our energy habits. The thin film cells will of course come flat packed, but are not cheap, costing around £5,700 for a typical semi-detached house. And shoppers will not be expected to follow one of the Swedish giant’s cryptic self-assembly sheets – the price includes the cost of installation.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2438160/The-Ikea-solar-panel--flat-pack-course-Swedish-chain-start-selling-panels-install-too.html
Amazing what you can get now flat pack :beer:

barrymung

Always made me laugh when they built the Ikea store in Southampton. It all came in hundreds of 'flat pack' sections on the back of low-loaders and they simply hoisted it into position with a crane and bolted it together!!

MoneyMate

barrymung wrote: »

Always made me laugh when they built the Ikea store in Southampton. It all came in hundreds of 'flat pack' sections on the back of low-loaders and they simply hoisted it into position with a crane and bolted it together!!

Beds are a bit lumpy

adwzie

My experience with IKEA solar panels.... I asked them to give me an estimate which involves giving them some details and them making some checks about the position of your roof using google maps. They then give you an estimate of your annual return on investment.

You then need to pay them £100 for a surveyor to come and give a more accurate assessment. Surprise, surprise, once you've handed over the money they admit the return is likely to be much lower.

I complained to the store and all the guy on the phone wanted to do was argue about how it was just an estimate ie they can say any number they like to get you to handover your money and nothing you can do about it.

thenudeone

There are hundreds of companies which offer the same service free of charge (they are trying to sell something after all) so I'm surprised IKEA manage to get anyone to pay at all.

Read the T&Cs of what you agreed to, and see whether you have a genuine case. If so, complain in writing to their Head Office.

Living_proof

adwzie wrote: »

My experience with IKEA solar panels.... I asked them to give me an estimate which involves giving them some details and them making some checks about the position of your roof using google maps. They then give you an estimate of your annual return on investment.

You then need to pay them £100 for a surveyor to come and give a more accurate assessment. Surprise, surprise, once you've handed over the money they admit the return is likely to be much lower.

I complained to the store and all the guy on the phone wanted to do was argue about how it was just an estimate ie they can say any number they like to get you to handover your money and nothing you can do about it.

I too have had a very recent experience. I have been in the market for panels for a while and had almost settled on a local company when out of the blue Ikea in Leeds phoned me. Previously I had been told that they weren't operating in my area, but I was glad to hear they were as they are such a reliable household name.

The young man who rang was very enthusiastic and when I told him what I wanted he said, "I can tell you how much it will cost - it is £5700. He said they would need to do a survey to make sure my roof and wiring etc. were suitable and they charged a £100 refundable amount for a survey, so the final balance would be £5,600 and this included a special discount for Ikea Family Card holders.

I was handed over to a manager who took my credit card details and said they would email me a provisional quote which might need some modification in the light of a survey.

Imagine my dismay a couple of hours later when an email arrived with a quote of £6150. I immediately quoted the Leeds sales centre to ask them what happened to the £5700 and it transpired that the man who had phoned me had simply seen an amount on a sign on the wall and quoted that. It referred to a much smaller installation. I had specified a 4kw split East / West configuration with dual string inverter.

Anyway £6150 was at the top end of my budget and about the same as the local supplier so I reluctantly went ahead with the survey (what choice did I have as they had already taken my money?). The surveyor came and was surprised he had to take off his caterpillar type boots to go upstairs and into the loft on my cream carpet. He had apparently run out of the boot covers all tradesmen have these days. He took lots of pictures and disappeared saying a firm quote would arrive shortly.

And about a week later it did. £7150 all of a sudden. Due to having two roofs and extra scaffolding. But they could have seen that from the picture of my detached house included in their original quote. They also wanted to put in TWO inverters!

I phoned up to complain to someone more senior, and area manager, who sympathised and said he would speak to the national sales manager. I have heard nothing in a week and will now try and recover the £100 through my credit card company, as it was taken under false pretences.

Object lesson - DO NOT HAVE A SURVEY WITH IKEA. It is throwing your money away and they will come up with all sorts of reasons for a very much more expensive quote. Their telephone staff don't know what they are talking about and the consumer pays the price.

cypher007

I was led to believe unless the tec has changed that thin film solar was extremely inefficient.

Martyn1981

cypher007 wrote: »

I was led to believe unless the tec has changed that thin film solar was extremely inefficient.

Depends how you look at it. The thin film are about 8 or 9% efficient, compared to the silicons at about 15%. But all depends on roof space. If you are a little short, you might opt for Panasonics or Sunpowers at around 20%. They'll cost a lot more, but physically fit in more kWp.

Similarly, if roof space isn't limited, then the same idea could be to put up lots of thin film panels to reach the same kWp, but save a bit, as they are cheaper. In the case of Hanergy 120Wp panels, you'd end up with about twice as many panels on the roof, so an extra consideration might be 'more to go wrong'.

It may even play out, in the long run, that thin film will be the best (price to Wp) but will still depend on the available space.

Article just a week ago on the potential of thin film:

High-speed process for solar cells developed

“Most photovoltaic experts consider thin film flexible solar modules to be the future of solar energy, and I agree,” said Sven Lindström, CEO, Midsummer. “Our unique process makes thin film CIGS solar cells even more commercially attractive by making it possible to manufacture solar cells fast, efficiently and cost effectively even in small volumes.”

Edit: Also for anyone interested in thin film technology, some news today:

Hopes for a CIGS boom in South Africa

Mart.

penrhyn

Apparantly with Ikea you need thirty two panels for a 4 Kwhp system.

Not sure how big the panels are mind, but it seems a lot as other systems manage with 16.