Solar choices..

Waywardmike

Hi all,

So I've decided to get Solar PV installed. I looked into getting free panels installed but after browsing on here looked at the suggestion of just buying them and benefitting from the FIT ourselves as the price of installation has come down so much recently.

I've got six quotes for a 16 panel 4kw system on my south (ish 165 degrees) facing bungalow with minimal shading (from about 6pm in summer from neighbours house, but not in winter) and they range from 5.3k-6.6k.

I really liked one company when they came out and was glad to see they came in with one of the lowest quotes, but they have given me a raft of options to go with.

I was just wondering what people on here with systems would choose out of these panels at these prices.

I only have one choice of inverter, the SMA sunny boy, that's all they'll fit as the company are SMA advanced installer accredited which is fine, as I wanted an SMA inverter anyway. The price also includes a we connect module for the inverter and a complimentary Geo solo monitor which I can upgrade for a price. I have a choice of four panel types (all black).

Canadian solar all black £5300

Solarworld all black £5.686 with a free 5 year insurance from solar world against theft or lightning strikes etc...

LG standard panels all black, same price as above but with no insurance

LG high efficiency panels, two less panels, £6046

Part of me thinks just go for the cheapest, as I've heard good things about Canadian Solar, but another part of me thinks for only £300 more I can get German panels with an insurance (but which I'll probably never need). The installer thinks the Solarworld are the best choice based on price/quality.

Which would you go with?

Thanks

Mike

nrsql

I have solarworld installed a month ago and seem pretty good.
They should be covered by your buildings insurance anyway.

The price looks good. Worth haggling a bit though. My guy said he could come down by 5% (from £7000) without problems. A couple of weeks later he called and said they had a new batch in with bulk discounts - ended up just under £6000 - still more than you have been quoted but I think they are coming down in price still.

Martyn1981

Hiya Mike, and welcome.

Thanks for posting that price spread, that's very useful to us when advising others. Shows a reasonably tight spread, centered around £6k. Cool.

Regarding panels, I (and I suspect many others) are wary of commenting, as we simply don't know. I usually say that in 10 years time we'll be able to give lots of advice, but for now, really tricky.

However, in the absence of anything better, there's nothing wrong with a good ole fashioned gut feeling.

One thing to note, does the insurance cover anything else? Since lightning, theft etc would come under house insurance. Speak to your insurer, but usually, PV costs nothing to add, you simply need to let them know you have it. If that's the case for you, then other than not having to claim on your main house insurance, you might not be getting anything 'extra'.

Inverter wise, sounds like you're happy. SMA's are good, I've got two, nothing to worry about there.

Sounds very good. All the best.

Mart.

tunnel

Hi Mike,


I'd like to ask about the shading, is it gradual from one side of the roof to the other or is there a chimney from your neighbours casting a shadow(you are SSEish)...believe me, it will make a difference. A sunnyboy would be great on 2 strings if set up correctly to alleviate the slight shading issue, but knowing more would help.


my parents have Canadian solars and so far can't fault them(they look good too) but as Mart says, it's new technology and in the not too distant future we can all look back and give advice that's come from experience and not from say so. the prices you have are good, don't be put off because one seems too cheap, they're not, they're just responding to market movement instead of trying to "rob" their customers.

Waywardmike

Hi all, thanks for the replies.

I hadn't thought about the house insurance, that's definitely something to ask the installer to see if there is anything worthwhile in this insurance, don't want to pay extra for a 'benefit' I'm already paying for...

He had sample panels with him of the Solarworld and LG panels, which, tbh were just black rectangles with silver stripes, I'm guessing the Canadian solar are exactly the same?

As for the shading issue, my next door neighbour was a bungalow like ours but they stuck on an extra floor, but with a very shallow pitched roof, so at this time of year the shadow of it creeps along our roof from about 6pm. Our intention is to put the panels as far along the roof to the other side as possible minimising this. One of the benefits of a bungalow roof, well ours anyway is that it's 13m across, and 4.5 m down so we've got plenty of space. Being central on the roof for aesthetics doesn't concern me and somehow I've persuaded the wife this is the case as well. She may well change her mind once they're up but then it's too late...

Eventually we'll convert the loft, when we have a spare 50k lying around, so a dormer window will be at the shady end making it worse so we'll have to reconfigure things then too. As that won't be for at least 10 years though probably, they'll have hopefully paid for themselves and then some so we'll have a better idea of how they perform.

At least if I save money on the panels by going for the cheaper option I can 'invest' inn a better monitoring system and also home automation. I like the idea of turning appliances remotely from work to make the most of when we're making electricity...

Martyn1981

Waywardmike wrote: »

Hi all, thanks for the replies.

Eventually we'll convert the loft, when we have a spare 50k lying around, so a dormer window will be at the shady end making it worse so we'll have to reconfigure things then too. As that won't be for at least 10 years though probably, they'll have hopefully paid for themselves and then some so we'll have a better idea of how they perform.

Another solution, and future proofing, would be a SolarEdge (SE) system. I have this on my WNW roof, which has lots of shading from multiple sources. Tunnel has a SE system on one of his rooves too.

Check out this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsa9rHpDVmQ

Slight overkill if only shading from early evening, as dual strings on an SMA would work well. But if the dormer will cause extra problems then this'll solve em all. [Edit - sorry, won't solve the shading problem, but will prevent shading on one (or more) panels from affecting the others. M.]

The only downside to SE is that you have a power optimiser (PO) behind each panel. They are tough, and have a 25 yr warranty, but access costs must be considered ......... but with a bungalow, no probs.

SE inverters are a couple of hundred cheaper than SMA's, but the PO's cost about £40 each, so expect a total cost a few hundred more. However, you have full monitoring, down to individual panels, and it should be more efficient. Also the inverter has a standard 12 yr warranty.

Just for giggles, if you might not build a dormer, then consider slapping 24 (12*2) panels on for 6kWp. But check with your DNO (District Network Operator) if they'll allow more than 3.68kW of export first. The FiT rate for 4-10kWp is 10% lower than >4kWp, but you should save 10% on costs proportionately.

Mart.

tunnel

There is another choice too, there are a couple of panels around at 327W(sunpower & benQ), instead of 16 panels you could go for only 12(3.92kWp) and shove them at the far end giving you more room for your dormer window....or as Mart says 2 x rows of 10 of them gives 6.54kWp.

The above idea does come at a price though, the panels are quite a bit more expensive and are really ideal for people stuck for space(something of which you are not)
Do keep us up to date, we're more than happy to help.

Waywardmike

That video is incredibly informative... Not just on the benefits of solar edge but on how PV systems work and losses along the way... Never realised there could be so much... I'm going to study my roof now throughout the year, we have two short chimneys that don't appear to cause a problem, they're not used as we have central heating but if they even look like they'll shade a panel, they're coming down....

Can solar edge be fitted later? The installer mentioned this system but said it wouldn't be cost effective for us, thankfully he came round at 6pm so he could see the issue for himself. If we do get the loft done in ten years time which we probably will, we have two young children that are only getting bigger, then we could get SE fitted then. The inverter MIGHT be coming to the end of its life then anyway and need replacing.

The one thing I did notice about all the quotes I received is that no-one tried to push the most expensive systems possible. Naively, before I considered Solar I assumed that the companies would all be Eco warriors, pushing the environmental benefits of solar regardless of cost. All of them were more concerned with getting me the maximum return on investment which doesn't involve just slapping the most expensive kit on the roof. I've actually enjoyed the shopping around aspect because of this.

tunnel

A SE inverter is about £800 plus as Mart says, you need however many PO's to how many panels you decide on(at about £40 each). Add to that the cost of re-installing you'd be looking at between £1500 and £2000 to retro fit the system.(it can be done as I have done it)
Who knows though, in 10 years time, hopefully the cost of the kit will have dropped quite a bit more(wanders off to get the crystal ball out..lol)
Probably better getting it now though if your serious as your not paying for one inverter to replace another(when the original may have plenty of life left in it) and your not paying for in effect another install(less wiring). At least doing it now you'd be future proofing your system.