Solar PV Quote seems excessive

Martyn1981

Ray, if you pull this off it'll be a victory for sheer determination. :j

When I did the WNW extension, had the first installer I spoke to taken the time to listen to my full idea, ponder it, and conclude, 'probably not', I think I'd have dropped the idea.

But after 5 or 6 had simply told me it wouldn't work, or wouldn't be allowed, without letting me explain the full idea to them, I decided what the hell, let's prove em wrong.

Now I'm really chuffed with my somewhat odd setup, and all the bits and bobs I've learned, and can share.

To paraphrase Stitch (Lilo's alien friend) - "This is my install. I found it, all on my own. Is little, and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good."

Mart.

Ageing_Stick_Insect

Hi Martyn and all,

Good for you for sticking to your guns and getting the system you wanted.

I've had a reply from my quoter this morning advising my guestimated price of £120 for Schletter roof hooks & clamps etc is closer to £350-400. Fair enough.

He is speaking to his supplier to see what he can buy the kit for. He also has to pay for his MCS accreditation and a "small profit". It looks like he is willing to be flexible on price and even if it goes up as seems likely I doubt it will go up by £1K so as he said in his email "if he can get a better deal on the kit everyone is a winner". The important thing here is to be fair and reasonable and it looks like both of us are being that so a good deal seems likely.

tunnel

Any update Ray,

Did you manage to screwww him down to £7k?

Ageing_Stick_Insect

Nothing further since my lunchtime update. I'll keep you posted.

Ageing_Stick_Insect

I've now had a reply from my quoter. He is unable to match my suggested price of £7K. In any case some of my estimated costs were guesses so I anticipated the eventual price would rise probably by several hundred pounds.

He has quoted me £7.801.50 inc VAT. That £800 more than my estimate but around £400 above what I thought might be a fair price. But my prices still had something of the unknown about them including MCS accreditation fees.

Panasonic and Solaredge is the bees-knees kit. He also comes across as a genuinely nice bloke and having been to one of his installs the customer was very satisfied.

If I got another company in there's no guarantee that I'd get a lower price for the same kit. It's £1,850 cheaper than my first quote although that was for Trienergia - still an expensive panel.

He hasn't mentioned costs for an immersion heater to be added to my hot water tank. I'm guessing that's around £100+VAT.

I'm tempted to accept his price if he includes the immersion heater. Although it's higher than the price tunnel suggested of £7.4K it's not outrageously higher. Appreciate your thoughts.

His earlier price for Panasonics was £8,253 so he's dropped £450.

Ageing_Stick_Insect

Another thought on his price. He originally quoted £8253. I offered £7000. Half way point is £7625. He's asking me to pay £175 above that half-way point. That doesn't seem unreasonable. I'm waiting for replies before getting back to him,

tunnel

Hiya Ray,


Put 'solar panel installation' into ebay for your area and see what comes up. Believe it or not my last installer for the WNW was found on there(yes I was surprised). Call it the last roll of the dice. You have time to get a couple more prices before jumping in and signing up with this guy before the fits drops. I still feel its a bit minty but I'm not you and unfortunately only you can make that final decision.

Ageing_Stick_Insect

Hi tunnel,

Did as you suggested. Lowest price for a 4Kw system is £4550 with Perlight / Trina Solar / EGing panels and a Solar River inverter. Not heard of those and the panel size is 1.6 x 1.0 - too large and dubious quality.

A few using Solaredge inverters and LG Neon panels are priced at £8,199 or £8,299.

That makes my quote look reasonable. I'll await Martyn's opinion and then go back and agree IF he includes a immersion heater and its wiring. Can't see him saying that would be extra but he might want to check the wiring first.

Thanks!

tunnel

Shot in the dark but it may be worth calling one of the cheaper priced companies and asking to upgrade to(give them all the specs) and see what they say. If they have good buying power like the one I used then maybe just maybe you could get it cheaper than you've been quoted. Can't hurt to try!!

Martyn1981

Hiya Ray, well ..... my thoughts Hmmm.

It sort of matches crucian's post and price, which is probably our best guide at this point. And isn't far off my admittedly wonky guesstimation of £7.5k to £7.9k (£6k + extras).

So, I suppose given that it's a complex 3 roof fit, with lots of necessary rail measuring and fitting, it sounds about right. Be nice if you could get it cheaper, like tunnel says, but you also have to keep the installer on side if you trust him.

Last reality check, going back, you were very keen on the triangles, and unhappy about the way the rectangles would look. Are you sure you're happy with this compromise, and not just focused on getting PV regardless now, as you've committed so much time to it?

I'm not trying to be negative, if you're happy, go for it, and as discussed before, you can only work with what you've got. But given the slightly higher price, slightly lower generation, and slightly less acceptable appearance, are you 100% happy to have PV fitted?

Hope you appreciate where I'm coming from, take a deep breathe, have a thunk, and if you decide "yep" with a nod and a smile, then go for it. If not, then what the hell, you gave it your best shot.

Mart.