are ikea solar panels any good

theboylard

Any consumer protection is a good thing.

But some of the smaller companies who offer a personal service, have a conscience, ethics and morals, will struggle to meet the costs of HIES membership as they don't have the marketing budget, so they can only compete on price.

HIES focuses on Green deal offerings, some of the best solar companies have no interest in the 40+ measures available under green deal, so why pay for Nick Ross?

Your installer needs to be MCS, RECC and use either an Niceic or Elecsa registered electrician. Anything else is nice, but you are covered by anything hies offers through the above certifications.

Don't get distracted by fud, ask lots of questions, do some research, get other quotes, go on flea bay, knock on neighbours doors...

People will often not name a company through caution, fear of being branded a spammer, or simply they don't want to. They may also not properly understand the rules here at MSE regarding promotion of companies?
If you want to know, then ask. If they have concerns then they won't tell you, or maybe only privately.

This is a large sum of money (well, to us normal folk it is), you want to get the best value, and is not cheap to fix something if you make a mistake now, solar PV is one of those things that you really want to get right first time!

socrates

Interesting thread - I am looking into this at the moment from a Landlords perspective - I am talking to an independent Qualified Electrician who is MCS Registered - will come back with his recommendations etc

tunnel

socrates wrote: »

Interesting thread - I am looking into this at the moment from a Landlords perspective - I am talking to an independent Qualified Electrician who is MCS Registered - will come back with his recommendations etc

If your house/houses you let out have a good southish facing roof great, just bear in mind that if any of your tenants have top up meters and they are allowed to run out of credit then the power shuts off, which also shuts down the solar system....causing a loss to yourself from the lack of generation....just a thought. I did look into it myself for my properties but decided against it for that reason.

Martyn1981

Lei_Chat wrote: »

Thanks for the comments.
The two quotes are based on a roof 6.3m x 4m.

Is the estimated kWh perhaps considerably lower than the true output due to the selling regulations that require them to quote at certain percentages?

I received a copy of the Solibro SL2-F Panel product sheet today from the Hanergy sales advisor.

Hiya. If your roof is 6.3m by 4m (25.2m2) then thin film (low efficiency) is out. For 16 regular (normal efficiency 250Wp) panels you need 25.6m2 (1.6m x 1m x 16) of useable (note useable) space. In addition you probably need approx 200mm space all round for various reasons - planning rules, water run off, roof edge wind lift etc. If your roof measurements are total, not useable, then you'll want to consider 'regular' efficiency panels, that push the limits a little, so 270Wp to 285Wp.

Don't get too bogged down with efficiencies. A 250Wp panel is a 250Wp panel whether it's a 10%, 16% or 22% efficiency. So it's output will be the same, it's only the size of the panel that will vary.

Think about 2 cars, one has a 2 litre engine, the other has a 1 litre engine. Both produce 100bhp. So the 1 litre car is twice as efficient in producing power, but both cars are 100bhp, and performance will be similar.

For output, forget efficiencies, and simply use PVGIS to see what you'll generate based on output .... total kWp.

As to 'who we are' and 'why we do it', then theboylard has absolutely nailed it.

Mart.

ed110220

I think 4 x 6.3m is going to be too small for 4kW with normalish (ie less pricy) panels because our roof is roughly that size and shape but a little longer so I've been trying to work out what would be best.

The narrowest of those panels I could find are the BenQ 285W panels at 983mm across the short side and 1639mm tall. Arranged portrait in two rows of seven that's 7.081m x 3.353m if you allow 25mm between them and at the ends.

They also make a 330W panel which is 1046 x 1559mm so twelve of those arranged landscape in three rows of four would be 6.361 x 3.238m - perhaps possible if your length measurement is a bit on the short side. Think it's possible to install them pretty much right up to a gable end as that is what A Shade Greener have done opposite here and I wouldn't think a big rent-a-roof outfit would install on anything less than an ideal roof.

Ed

ed110220

I think 4 x 6.3m is going to be too small for 4kW with normalish (ie less pricy) panels because our roof is roughly that size and shape but a little longer so I've been trying to work out what would be best.

The narrowest of those panels I could find are the BenQ 285W panels at 983mm across the short side and 1639mm tall. Arranged portrait in two rows of seven that's 7.081m x 3.353m if you allow 25mm between them and at the ends.

They also make a 330W panel which is 1046 x 1559mm so twelve of those arranged landscape in three rows of four would be 6.361 x 3.238m - perhaps possible if your length measurement is a bit on the short side. Think it's possible to install them pretty much right up to a gable end as that is what A Shade Greener have done opposite here and I wouldn't think a big rent-a-roof outfit would install on anything less than an ideal roof.

Ed

Lei_Chat

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Hiya. If your roof is 6.3m by 4m (25.2m2) then thin film (low efficiency) is out.

Thanks Mart.

Is the efficiency / quality of the panels relevant with respect of how long they'll be effective for each day and/or when it's cloudy?

Although we may only have room for a lower kW system, if we could get that for a competitive price would it not still be worth considering? Long term we won't generate as much power/money but the Ikea system being considerably cheaper than the MyPlanet quote has a much better initial ROI.

As long as the system generates enough to power the washing machine to avoid drawing from the national grid.

I know we shouldn't really be worried about the aesthetics but the Solibro panels (Ikea) do look much nicer than many I've seen being entirely black.

Martyn1981

Lei_Chat wrote: »

Thanks Mart.

Is the efficiency / quality of the panels relevant with respect of how long they'll be effective for each day and/or when it's cloudy?

Although we may only have room for a lower kW system, if we could get that for a competitive price would it not still be worth considering? Long term we won't generate as much power/money but the Ikea system being considerably cheaper than the MyPlanet quote has a much better initial ROI.

As long as the system generates enough to power the washing machine to avoid drawing from the national grid.

I know we shouldn't really be worried about the aesthetics but the Solibro panels (Ikea) do look much nicer than many I've seen being entirely black.

Hiya, if you fancy going a bit mad, then try googling all the different types of panels (thin film, poly, mono and hybrids) and see if you can work out which work best. I gave up years ago, too much conflicting info.

For simplicity sake, you want as much kWp as possible, as the main income stream is the FiT. However, the very high efficiency panels are much more expensive, and that may work against you on a ROI basis.

So your best bet (certainly initially) is to see how much 'regular' panels you can fit, and then go from there. By regular, I'm referring to 1m by 1.6m panels that generate about 240Wp to 285Wp.

I would guess that for the Hanergy price you originally posted (£4,350) you should be able to get about 3kWp of regular panels fitted, as compared to the 2.16kWp of the Hanergy quote, as it was too expensive.

Aesthetics wise, if it matters to you, then it matters to you, nothing wrong with that. Have a little search and you should find that most manufacturers make BoBs (black on black panels), here's an example (not a recommendation):

http://www.swithenbanks.co.uk/Solar_Photovoltaic_Equipment/1131372/Hyundai_250W_Mono_All_Black_Solar_Panel.html

or these:

http://www.swithenbanks.co.uk/Solar_Photovoltaic_Equipment/1132580/LG_250W_S1K_MonoX_All_Black_Panel.html

from the links just click on 'solar pv equipment' then 'solar panels' to find loads more.

Mart.

PS I've got BoB's on the front of my house. Wifey calls them stealth panels. M.

Lei_Chat

Martyn1981 wrote: »

I would guess that for the Hanergy price you originally posted (£4,350) you should be able to get about 3kWp of regular panels fitted, as compared to the 2.16kWp of the Hanergy quote, as it was too expensive.

My S/O prefers the stealth panels.;)

Pity My Planet are so expensive as their panels were 250w and would have provided just under 3kW.

The Hanergy quote had two rows in portrait and one in landscape. Their panels seem to be quite a bit smaller than most. 1.2m x 0.8m
I'd share the picture but I'm not allowed to post links... yet.

Martyn1981

Lei_Chat wrote: »

My S/O prefers the stealth panels.;)

I like 'BoB's' I think they look cool. But my other panels on the back are the normal looking type. I think people are getting used to PV now. My father used to be quite snotty about Velux' fitted on front rooves, but even he now admits that he doesn't even notice them these days.

Lei_Chat wrote: »

The Hanergy quote had two rows in portrait and one in landscape. Their panels seem to be quite a bit smaller than most. 1.2m x 0.8m

Pure speculation, on my part, but this may have something to do with rules on weights and handling, as those small (and low power) panels are still about the same weight (20kg(ish)) as regular panels. If not rules, then perhaps simply logical to restrict weight to about 20kg.

Lei_Chat wrote: »

Pity My Planet are so expensive as their panels were 250w and would have provided just under 3kW.

Not a pity - I recently spoke to RECC and sent them links to some of the threads on MSE that mention this company. The growing number (of very similar complaints) seems to show that they are operating outside of the rules for sales. Significantly outside the rules.

Also, pretty much all panels, and all companies will fall into the 240Wp to 285Wp range, so nothing special about that quote other than the horrific price, at least twice what you should pay.

[Edit: Let me clarify that point, "pretty much all" regular panels will fall into the 240Wp to 285Wp range. There are lots of other options, for instance my main roof has 13 185Wp panels which are 1.3m by 1m as these fitted perfectly to roof size and around a Velux. But if you look at those links I posted and skim through the multitude of panel manufacturers and models, you'll see that most are approx 1.6m by 1m and 250Wp(ish). M.]

Back to panel sizes, read Ed's posts, they are excellent and spell out the issues. Sorry to labour the point, but it's important to know if your measurements are total roof space, or useable roof space. But it would appear that 12 regular panels is probably about your limit.

If you could get this for £4.5k or less then that's a lot better than your first quotes. If you could fit 12 285Wp panels for £5k or less, then a 3.42kWp system may be a good compromise on a ROI basis. But you could look into higher efficiency panels to push the kWp up further, but as I mentioned earlier, the ROI may drop, as the cost increase may outweigh the income increase.

Hope I'm not burying you in information? Yet?

Mart.