solar panel quote

fairycakes77

Hi, I've had a quote for a 2.75kw pv solar panel system for £6500 from solar king with a barclays green funded loan 5.6% APR over 10 years (0% down) with a suggested payback of 8 years but I can't easily find out if this is a good deal, I have just asked another company to quote but would rather not sit through lots of sales reps if this is a good deal.
Any help would be greatfully received

crucian

This seems expensive, do you need to borrow as you would probably get a better interest rate elsewhere and not borrowing at all would be best.If you give more details i.e type and amount of panels,inverter, your general location in the UK and any generation predictions you have been given.If you do this i am sure some of the regulars will be able to advise you further.

tunnel

As above, way too expensive.

Is there a reason SK quoted only for a 2.75kWp system? Is your roof small? Any shading?

Post what they have offered and predictions for the price and you'll get all the help you need.

Did i mention...too expensive

fairycakes77

Thanks its for 11 250w panels ( fills available roof space) 2590 kwh in first year, lifetime payback £18300 no shading 10 year guarantee on installation 25 on panels no details on make/model I'm in frome somerset

zeupater

fairycakes77 wrote: »

Hi, I've had a quote for a 2.75kw pv solar panel system for £6500 from solar king with a barclays green funded loan 5.6% APR over 10 years (0% down) with a suggested payback of 8 years but I can't easily find out if this is a good deal, I have just asked another company to quote but would rather not sit through lots of sales reps if this is a good deal.
Any help would be greatfully received

Hi

Same observations as above .... way too expensive ...

I'd be suspicious about the suggested payback being 8 years too. A £6500 loan over 10years at 5.6% results in a total system cost of just over £8500, but a well orientated 2.75kWp system would likely only be estimated to generate ~2300kh/year (ballpark - 850kWh/kWp), which would return a little under £400/year from FiTs (https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/85846/010214rpiadjustedtariffspv1.pdf) and say another £100(ish) in energy savings ... looks more like 17 years (8500/500) to me (at current costs) ...

I'd be tempted to ask for them to clarify the calculation of the payback and be prepared to "sit through lots of sales reps" however little you like the idea .... I know that time is precious but think of it this way - a couple of hours with sales reps could save you well over £1k/hour, so it's just a case of what value you set on your hourly rate ...

HTH
Z

tunnel

fairycakes77 wrote: »

Thanks its for 11 250w panels ( fills available roof space) 2590 kwh in first year, lifetime payback £18300 no shading 10 year guarantee on installation 25 on panels no details on make/model I'm in frome somerset

You say fills available roof space, is that one roof or multiple rooves?

Can you afford to pay for panels without finance? Would help payback. As for 2590kWh, its right on the money(i got 2610kWh for Frome with south facing roof)

Is your roof south facing or off south? if so how much off?

You really do need to be a bit more forthcoming with the info to get any sort of advice.

fairycakes77

Sorry I wrote the post 3 times but kept losing it as I searched for information, main rear hip shaped roof where the panels are proposed faces south south east, I have a smaller roof facing south west but this was ruled out as I would need 2 invertors??? I wish I could afford to purchase them outright but we have just put an extension on and don,t have any spare cash. ,I am happy to spend time getting the best deal I just wanted to make sure I didn't already have it, I have a plan of the roof submitted to planning if that would help

legoman62

Way too expensive!
Just as another example, look at this on flea bay

Sunpower E20 327W 4kW Solar PV System Kit inc Inverter, Mounting, panels x 12
For £6295.99

Sure you could get a deal for 11:D

tunnel

fairycakes77 wrote: »

Sorry I wrote the post 3 times but kept losing it as I searched for information, main rear hip shaped roof where the panels are proposed faces south south east, I have a smaller roof facing south west but this was ruled out as I would need 2 invertors??? I wish I could afford to purchase them outright but we have just put an extension on and don,t have any spare cash. ,I am happy to spend time getting the best deal I just wanted to make sure I didn't already have it, I have a plan of the roof submitted to planning if that would help

You don't need 2 inverters, that's utter rubbish, what SK mean is they only do simple installs at inflated prices


I suggest you have a read at this thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4909999


That deals with hipped rooves and also the need for only one inverter spread over 3 rooves. I'd suggest your smaller roof is useful(size dependant)


Any chance of using a 0% purchase credit card then switching when the deal ends to another 0% balance transfer card, its got to be better than 5.6% over 10 years

lisyloo

Hi Fairycakes,

I've just had solar installed (and live in wilts).
My install wasn't simple. I have a big house but limited roof space in the right directions.
I went for 325kw panels (BenQ). They were more expensive but I have a 3.9kw system.
Mine is on 2 rooves and we only have 1 invertor.

Some companies are only interested in simply installs and making money.

As your's is not straightforward I would say it is worth you while getting in more quotes. I had different advice from each installer which makes it hard to decide, but as yours doesn't seem like a straight forward case I think you need to go through the due dillegence process fully.

What I learnt was that they "over-egg" the electricity savings, so you need to go over the maths thoroughly.
My gut feeling is that 8 years is too low especially with a loan.

So in summary I'd say that you should sit through at least 3 or 4 sales reps and get into the maths and technical stuff as well.
I spent time on forums talking to people about what was reasonable in terms of energy savings and got different views from the salemen.

My solar is now working great (beyond expectations) but I did spend a lot of time over a few weeks doing a lot of research.

If you really don't want to spend the time (rather than prefer not to) then personally I'd leave well alone because there are lots of pitfalls and you are in a worse situation by taking a loan than those of us who buy outright (not bragging just stating the fact that the maths are worse if you borrow).

Hope that helps even if it's perhaps not what you wanted to hear :-)

Martyn1981

fairycakes77 wrote: »

Sorry I wrote the post 3 times but kept losing it as I searched for information, main rear hip shaped roof where the panels are proposed faces south south east, I have a smaller roof facing south west but this was ruled out as I would need 2 invertors???

Hiya fairycakes, been there, bought the tee-shirt. I think MSE times out your post if you take too long. I once compiled a 50,000 character post so had to do it in Word just in case! You may be interested in it, it's a PV FAQ that lots of PV'ers on here contributed to:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3872445

Can't agree with tunnel more, that second roof is almost certain to be of benefit (unless it's tiny and shaded). If it can take 5 panels, then there are loads of inverters that can run the two rooves at the same time (known as dual MPPT). Or other methods (such as micro-inverters and power optimisers) that can also do the job.

The thread tunnel has linked is long, but discusses all of the issues and benefits of using additional rooves. In fact I've just added a reference to it in the FAQ (section 1).

Cost wise, also agree with all, it's too much. A good price to chase is approx £6k for a 4kWp system. Assuming you can use your SW roof (possibly WSW? (90 deg from the ESE)) that will only be 10% less efficient than ESE. Then assume perhaps £100 or so extra for a dual MPPT inverter, and perhaps £100 to £200 more for extra scaffolding, so a tough but doable price target in the low £6ks.

BTW a mix of ESE & WSW panels would give you a nice generation spread across the day and a teatime boost during BST months.

Mart.