Staybrite - genuine offer or too expensive to consider?

theyoungones4

We're interested in having solar panels and had a Staybrite Solar rep round to give us a quote.

First of all he spent more than FOUR hours with us which I thought was a bit of a long time but we did ask a lot of questions and he did seem very thorough (measuring roof angles etc.)

We do use a fair amount of electricity during the day as I work from home and we have two young children so the potential savings look pretty good.

His quote, based on 15 panels, was as follows (apparently this is a conservative estimate based on government figures):

Total Units Generated: 2880 kWh p/yr = £414.14 in year 1
Total units saved at 50 per cent usage: 1440 = £221.76 saved p/yr
Total Units Exported: 1440 = £68.69 p/yr

Potential income in year 1 = £704.59
Potential income over 20yrs = £18,860

Cost of system = £10,000

What attracted us was that he said the panels, made in the UK by ROMAG, were specifically designed for the UK climate and that they were self cleaning with black surrounds rather than the unsightly silver ones.

He did say they were a little more expensive but that was because they only used top quality inverters & panels and that their warranty was second to none (well, he would say that wouldn't he!)

He also said that, as they were a large national approved company, they were less likely to go bust than smaller local companies.

We liked their care free service plan which (for £90 a year) gives unlimited call outs with no hidden payments and protects the inverter and the panels for up to 25 years.

A quick search of the internet after he'd gone however revealed that Solar PV systems should cost between £6-9,000 to install.

The price we were given did include everything but we are now thinking that it was a little on the steep side.

I've also discovered that Which think no prices should be given until a surveyor comes to visit the property but I gather a lot of companies do things this way - is this really bad practice?

An added benefit is that you can earn quite a bit of cash back by referring other customers but, if they're not competitively priced, then clearly that's not going to work very well!

Any thoughts much appreciated as well as any recommendations for reputable companies.

Thanks

tunnel

Does your property suffer from any sort of shading, how many panels is he proposing, what type of inverter is he trying to sell....if you want some impartial advice then post up the proposed system details and we can hopefully give you a shove in the right direction.


As for the quote...Far too expensive, you need to shop around.


Post up your general location then someone may be able to recommend someone in your area

Hobbo2006

Hiya. From what you've posted I'd say the following.

-quote sounds high as you say.
-lots of sales patter. Ie "specifically for uk climate"
- £6k return over 20 years with their care plan doesn't sound like a great investment.
- most inverters/panels have 10 year + warranty. Why not just get an electrician in if/when something happens? (My inverter went after 3 months. Manufacturer replaced immediately and offered free install)
- 50% usage is possible with big changes to your daily habits but otherwise would be difficult to achieve.
- I wouldn't go with anyone that wAsnt nationally approved. It's easy to get into this industry and easy to exit too.

Martyn1981

Hiya Deleted_Users4, and welcome to the site.

As tunnel asks, if you can give some info about your roof (location, orientation, pitch), then it'll be easy to check the generation.

Also, did they give any indication of panel output, or just 15 panels? Those could be anything from 120Wp to 300Wp each.

If you're home during the day and using leccy (plus kids) then perhaps £200 savings aren't unreasonable, but every house will be different.

All panels (makes and models) will have glass designed to stay clean and get washed with rain.

Most companies offer panels with black frames, and also black frames and backgrounds (BoB's - black on black).

Insurance policy, up to you, but generally PV is maintenance free. The inverter will probably need replacing after 10+ years, but you could put the £90 into a savings scheme ready. But this is your decision / peace of mind. [Warranty may be second to none, but they are charging £90 pa on top, for it!]

Price wise, £6k is a tough target, but worth aiming for (for a 4kWp system (16*250Wp panels). £7k to £8k is getting expensive.

Some general info here on the FAQ thread:

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

Keep asking, keep chatting.

Mart.

ChopperST

Depends where in the UK you are but agree that this quote is far too expensive. We paid £6.5k for a 4KW system with an immersion diversion device.

Echo the sentiments on the "warranty" just put the money you get back into a savings account to cover the eventual inverter replacement.

I got a 10 year FOC warranty on parts and labour from our supplier.

Get recommendations on a good local company...

jimmyboy420

Echo the above. I am new to the world of solar, but did a lot of research before making a decision. I ended up paying just over £9k for a 4kw system, but including SolarEdge optimisers and monitoring (due to a shading issue from a chimney), an in roof system as my tiles are nearly falling apart, and taking down (another) chimney and repairing part of my roof all as part of the job. £10k is surely too much.

zeupater

Hi

As above posts, plus 15.4p/kWh for electricity could do with checking out .... have a look at your latest bill & see what your unit price is.

Furthermore, 50% self usage is usually considered to be quite high without automated power diversion - most seem to be reporting in the region of 25% to 33% or around 1000kWh/year. Self consumption actually depends more on what electrical equipment is used continuously during the day (desktop computer, plasma TV etc) rather than occasional washing machine, dishwasher etc, so take care not to overestimate the self usage cost benefit even if your at home more than average.

HTH
Z

theyoungones4

Thanks for your messages. Sounds like we've been had (or nearly!)

We live in a three storey house in Staffordshire which is not overlooked or shaded.

Our roof is 8.2m x 9.6m and at a 30 degree pitch on all four sides.

The Staybrite rep quoted us for 15 Romag panels 6xSE + 3xSW + 6xNW. Although part of the roof faces NW, he said that because the roof had a shallow pitch, the energy generated from six panels on that part of the roof would be well worth it.

The vital statistics on the system design form are listed as follows;

Nominal peak panel output: 0.245 Wp
Nominal peak system output: 3.68 kWp (1.47+0.74+1.47)
Annual solar radiation: 837/837/70 kWh/m2
Zone= 6
Shade Factor Facing South 1.0/1.0/1.0
Total Units Generated (SAP 2009) 1230+620+1030= 2880 kWh/year

I hope that's helpful. I posted a version of this once already but it doesn't seem to have appeared so I'm hoping this works!

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing your thoughts....

Martyn1981

Hiya. Had a quick play with PVGIS (see FAQ section 5). I chose Uttoxeter (why not!) as a starting point, and got 2,777kWh pa (1,270 SE, 631 SW, 876 NW) so that seems reasonably close to the estimate you got. That's a good start.

Looking back at post #1, the FiT is correct, and so is the export. The leccy savings are high, I usually say to start at £120 (£80 to £160) but as stated before, if you work from home, couple of kids etc etc, you could be nearer to £200, especially with a 3 roof system spreading generation throughout the day.

So a total of about £650+ seems reasonable.

Three rooves are fine, but do need special attention. This recent thread involved a 3 roof system (eventually), and though it's a little long, it is thorough and considers all of the inverter issues, and the benefits of considering extra rooves, even those that have a 'N' in them:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4909999

One concern is that 245Wp panels are being quoted. You really want to get as close to the 4kWp tariff band as possible, so if there is only room for 15 panels, you'd definitely want to use 250Wp panels at the very least, ideally 265Wp panels for a total of 3.975kWp.

[I'm always a little suspicious when the total is 3.68kWp as there is a separate issue regarding inverter limits of 3.68kW (note, not kWp), and wonder if the installer/salesman has gotten confused.]

Do you have a hipped roof? If so, then the above thread link may be of even more interest.

Mart.

tunnel

[I'm always a little suspicious when the total is 3.68kWp as there is a separate issue regarding inverter limits of 3.68kW (note, not kWp), and wonder if the installer/salesman has gotten confused.]

Hi Mart,

Just look at the name of the "solar" company. Looks to me like a n other window company venturing into the solar industry. Window fitting must be really slow at the minute.

I don't believe the salesman got confused, more like they haven't got a clue what they'r on about, much like the many that tried(and failed) to sell a system to my parents.

Deleted_Users4, get some more quotes, look local to yourselves instead of "national companies". I'll quite happily recommend the company who installed mine in Chesterfield(Mansfield company) and who do install in your area(can't hurt to try)...and have a good read through the thread Mart pointed you to about split rooves, it will have most of the info you require

theyoungones4

Thanks Tunnel - I'd really appreciate the name of that company in Mansfield.

Yes we do have a hipped roof, slightly different to the ones on that thread in that they're almost square.

I'm loving the look of those triangular panels too. That's another thing the salesman tried to tell me - they don't offer them because there's such variation in the types required for different pitches of roof it's not worth it - or something along those lines.

I'd consider paying slightly more for them as they must make it easier to sell your house when the time comes? Our house fronts onto a green in a cul-de-sac and the panels would be right on the front. We did joke that the neighbours wouldn't be best pleased with our panels as no one else has them locally!

Anyway, we'll definitely be shopping around to get some better deals so I'll keep you posted.