Solar quote - any good?

tunnel

pw22 wrote: »

I thought the installers would pay £250 + 20% VAT which is how I arrived at the £3600 figure in total - maybe I am wrong!!

It's an easy mistake to make. They have to advertise vat at 20% to anyone that's not an installer
My rule of thumb(might be complete boll*cks) is that the price shown would be the installers price inc their 5% vat, indeed it may be even less...i don't know with not being a trader

Martyn1981

pw22 wrote: »

I thought the installers would pay £250 + 20% VAT which is how I arrived at the £3600 figure in total - maybe I am wrong!!

For FiT eligible MCS approved installs (PV, wind etc) the VAT is only 5%. That's why it's a good idea to get any potential extras like a diversionary switch done at the same time, otherwise it'll be +20% later on. The reasoning behind the VAT rule is to encourage green energy rollouts.

I also use the site tunnel has referenced. Not because I've ever bought anything, but just as a fast source of info and pricing. I'd also guess that the trade price will be lower. If I can buy one panel for £250 (plus VAT) then perhaps an installer can buy 12 for £200 (plus VAT) ..... no real idea, but it's got to be less, not more than the retail price of a single unit.

Mart.

Martyn1981

Blread wrote: »

Thanks for the responses everyone, I think Mart you've hit nail on the head as salesman is quoting me £36000 return over the 20 years!

Very rough and ready estimate - For a large system (3kWp to 4kWp) total income (FiT, export and leccy savings) will probably be around £600 to £750 pa. 20 years plus some inflation, £15k to £20k.

Let me take a stab at some of that £36k.

20 LED's, each saves you 'up to' £10 a year.*

20 x £10 = £200 in yr 1

19 years of energy inflation at 10% = 6.116 multiplier

£200 x 6.116 = £1,223 in year 20, and

a total of approx (£200+£1,223)/2 x 20yrs = £14,232 over 20 years. What a bargain.

I really don't like these quotes, as you can probably tell!

* Nothing wrong with LEDs, they are the future, and a great idea. Savings from a bulb in high use can easily be £10 compared to an old incandescent, but savings from low use bulbs will of course be much less (but still important). But they shouldn't be used to complicate calculations relating to another product, such as PV.

Blread wrote: »

Also any recommendations for installers in the Bristol area that could deliver at these prices?

If you post, they will come.

I'm sure folk will post (or PM) suggestions as the weekend rolls on.

Mart.

pinnks

Not too far north of Bristol and willing to travel at least that far (I live 40 miles further away), you might like to try Eco2Solar.co.uk. They fitted a friend's system and they were pleased. I ended up using them because their price was similar to other quotes and they came with that recommendation.


One thing to note though, was that their default inverter was not (at that time) Solaredge. I think they offered BenQ panels (which as others have said are Sunpower re-badged) which were more expensive and as I do not have space issues decided against. As you have shading you will want to discuss the issue with them and see what they offer in 2015.

Markj1110

Hello Everyone,

I am also getting quotes for a Solar panel system and have found this Forum extremely helpful and knowledgeable! I now know a lot more about Solar panels than I did 4 weeks ago.

Here goes with my quotes so far.

Asked for quotes on a 4kw system, I have shading issues, so have asked for the Solaredge inverter, I can get 12 panels on one roof and 4 panels on another, hence my request for quotes to include BenQ panels to just use the one roof - (12 x 330W). All panels black.

Both roofs face SSE and are 30 Deg pitch, PVGIS says about 3800 Kw.

Location – Lincoln.

Prices so far.

Installer 0ne – 16 x Solarworld panels, Micro inverters and a WHOPPING £43,000.00 return over 20 years!! Pinocchio springs to mind! The price -£10,099.00!!

Installer Two – All based on as near as possible a 4KW system, Solaredge SE3680 inverter, all roof mountings, fixtures and fittings, EPC, GEO Solo ll monitor, Scaffold, paperwork and warranties. Sap calcs (based on 3609kWh) = FIT - £483.18, Export - £87.51, Electric saving, based on 50% used - £243.94 - A total of £814.62 in the first year. Electriciy used seems high, so would use Martyn’s suggested £120 saving, bringing it to around £700 per annum without factoring in any RPI or electricity price increases for the next 20 years.

Canadian Solar - £5750.00
Solarworld - £6250.00
BenQ -£7250.00

Installer 3 and 4 still to quote.

Once I have all figures I will be asking them to re-look at prices.

Obviously the prices look a bit high at the moment, so I am hoping to get them down by at least £750 on each.

Many thanks for reading the above, any advice gratefully received.


Mark

pw22

If you have room for 16 panels then it is not worth paying the premium for BenQ as they do come with an higher price.

If you could get SolarWorld with SolarEdge for about £5500 - £5750, then that would seem to be in line with what people have been paying on here recently.

tunnel

Markj1110 wrote: »

Asked for quotes on a 4kw system, I have shading issues, so have asked for the Solaredge inverter, I can get 12 panels on one roof and 4 panels on another, hence my request for quotes to include BenQ panels to just use the one roof - (12 x 330W). All panels black.

Both roofs face SSE and are 30 Deg pitch, PVGIS says about 3800 Kw.

Location – Lincoln.

Prices so far.

Installer 0ne – 16 x Solarworld panels, Micro inverters and a WHOPPING £43,000.00 return over 20 years!! Pinocchio springs to mind! The price -£10,099.00!!

Installer Two – All based on as near as possible a 4KW system, Solaredge SE3680 inverter, all roof mountings, fixtures and fittings, EPC, GEO Solo ll monitor, Scaffold, paperwork and warranties. Sap calcs (based on 3609kWh) = FIT - £483.18, Export - £87.51, Electric saving, based on 50% used - £243.94 - A total of £814.62 in the first year. Electriciy used seems high, so would use Martyn’s suggested £120 saving, bringing it to around £700 per annum without factoring in any RPI or electricity price increases for the next 20 years.

Canadian Solar - £5750.00
Solarworld - £6250.00
BenQ -£7250.00

Installer 3 and 4 still to quote.

Once I have all figures I will be asking them to re-look at prices.

Obviously the prices look a bit high at the moment, so I am hoping to get them down by at least £750 on each.

Many thanks for reading the above, any advice gratefully received.


Mark

Hi Mark,
I'd say sub £5k is near achievable, i was looking at the site i linked to earlier and found these, in essence taking away the need for the purchase of power optimisers(all solaredge needs them). When adding the inverter and other gubbins(mountings,wiring etc etc) plus scaffold then these panels really bring the £5k price tag into play.

I'd heard of the panels before but not with solaredge embedded, whether they are endorsed by solaredge is anyones guess but you'd like to think they would be if they're using another companies technology in production, add the fact these are black on blacks then shading issues now doesn't need to come at a premium anymore.

Martyn1981

Markj1110 wrote: »

Hello Everyone,

Asked for quotes on a 4kw system, I have shading issues, so have asked for the Solaredge inverter, I can get 12 panels on one roof and 4 panels on another, hence my request for quotes to include BenQ panels to just use the one roof - (12 x 330W). All panels black.

Mark

Hiya Mark, I'm with pw22 and a little confused by that paragraph. Do you mean quotes that also include BenQ's so you can compare all options?

If so, then good idea, get all options and prices, but I'd think the quotes for 16 panels across both rooves will be cheaper.

Looks like you've got some nice options to start with already. :cool:

Mart.

Markj1110

Hi Mart, the smaller roof area for panels is more difficult to access, so I was wanting to find out the cost of putting the BenQ panels on the main roof only, but still ending up with a 4kw system. Also it helps me to look at all options, not just the cheapest ones.

Pw22 is correct in what he says, nice to know the sort of price I should be aiming for.

Tunnel is a mind of information and suggestions!! Sub £5k achievable, Wow! He now has me wondering about all Black JA 250W Mono Solaredge embedded panels. Has anybody on the Forum fitted them?

I will keep on investigating. Many thanks for suggestions though, it is very helpful, not just for me, but for other people thinking about installing Solar panels.

Mark

ed110220

Blread wrote: »

Hi,

This is my first post on here just wanted to get some opinions on this quote I've received for £7,895:

Includes:- 12 Benq 330W

Solaredge Inverter

Owl Intuition h

Voltage Optimiser

20 x LED’s

Installation

QANW 10 year Warranty on Workmanship

EPC

MCS

Does this seem reasonable? I was interested in SunPower to begin with but they seem much more expensive, any opinions on SunPower vs BenQ?

Many thanks

I believe SunPower are made in Mexico and BenQ in Taiwan, but they appear to share the same design and spec, with SunPower offering a longer/better guarantee. The latest SunPower models don't have BenQ equivalents (no X21 series 345W panels).

I was quoted by Solargen UK £5995 for 12x BenQ 330W panels, £4895 for 14x BenQ 285W panels (the narrowest 285W panels I could find as this is the critical dimension for our roof) or £4495 for 14x Yingli 275W panels. £695 extra for SolarEdge inverter and optimisers.

Ed