Solar Quotes in Scotland

smitchy73

Hey folks I know you guys in this forum give good advice.

I've always wanted solar panels and I'm chasing the dream again after a knock on the door from HELMS, agreed for a visit, which I had yesterday, guy told me the price straight away of £8k which I thought straight away was a bit steep, I've been reading posts on here for about a week getting an idea of prices from others.

I checked for installers through the Energy Savings Trust website and found another installer who is coming out this morning, he told me average prices for a 4Kwh system is about £6k which is a good start. He has been now and taken all the details away and will prepare me a proper quote.

Wonder if others can give me any other idea's or suggestions of where to look for a decent installer with decent prices.

From my details at the side here, you'll see i'm in North Ayrshire, Scotland, ideally a 4Kwh system and i'm looking to get it split over both sides of my mid-terraced roof, rear roof is about +110 degrees and front facing roof is -70 degrees, roof pitch 42 degrees with estimated output over both of 2600 kWh's per annum.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

I used http://www.greenpower-technology.co.uk/ back in 2011 for my solar PV and have since used them for roofing work.

Brilliant service with no issues at all

Cheers

Colin

Martyn1981

smitchy73 wrote: »

From my details at the side here, you'll see i'm in North Ayrshire, Scotland, ideally a 4Kwh system and i'm looking to get it split over both sides of my mid-terraced roof, rear roof is about +110 degrees and front facing roof is -70 degrees, roof pitch 42 degrees with estimated output over both of 2600 kWh's per annum.

Hiya smitchy. I know you were after recommendations, and seem to have worked out all the tricky stuff already, but thought I'd chime in as my rooves are -70 & +110 too.

Not trying to put a damper on things, just being realistic, but with your location, off south rooves, and relatively steep rooves (which has a negative effect as you start to get further from south) then things are a little against you, hence the relatively low 2,600 figure.

So, with a FiT and export income of £411 plus leccy savings of say £120, that's £530pa, I think you need to haggle for a price nearer to £5k. If you don't like haggling (I don't) then be honest, point out the income figure and say you really need a price of £5,300 tops to give you a gross return of 10%.

That's not being greedy, just realistic. After taking off 5% for depreciation (loss of the capital) and 2% for cost of capital (loss of interest) you need the remaining 3% to make it all worthwhile.

Personally I value the promotion of PV (and renewables) and the clean leccy, but this is a money saving site, so thought it worth being a bit 'honest' regarding the cost and returns.

Mart.

smitchy73

Thanks Mart, I appreciate the honesty. I'm waiting on the 2nd guy who was here this morning to come back with the proper quote with the breakdown of expected generation, not that I expect it to be different. The first lot - HELMS - haven't given me all of that, well not broken out and worked out, plus they are more keen on doing the Green Deal with it too, and I have big doubts on going down that road, even though I was all for it, but the more I read and hear in regards to it, the more I dislike it(i'm being polite).
I don't tend to be put off to easily, but obviously the monetary figures don't lie, and although not guaranteed, you have to start somewhere and if the returns aren't there over the long term, it may not be worth it, but then again with electricity most likely never to fall in the future, probably will only save more in the future. I also have an EV but most of the week it isn't at home charging during the day.

Martyn1981

smitchy73 wrote: »

Thanks Mart, I appreciate the honesty.

If I'm being really honest, then I don't practice what I preach.

My WNW system is probably earning about 7% pa, and I expected it to be around 5%, but the SolarEdge system (to deal with all the shading) works far better than I'd hoped. However, it is on the older 25yr subsidy, but not the high rate, only 19.5p now (FiT and export). So I'm very happy with it, but I suspect if I had an accountant he/she would be dismayed at my actions.

My 'theory' was that the ESE was doing well, so adding a breakeven install on the WNW would be nice, if not profitable. Though I can't really recommend doing this as an extension (as i did), it really needs to be done as part of a larger install (like you are considering).

It sounds like you've got a good appreciation of PV and your circumstances. It won't be a huge money maker, but if you're happy with that, then looking at it for longer than 10 years, it'll be fine, and a better use for your money than a basic savings scheme like an ISA. For those only looking for a monetary reward, I think an install needs to cover it's cost and lost interest by year 10, but that's just my ponderings.

Are you happy with the generation estimate? I tried using PVGIS for North Ayrshire. I got a fairly consistent 1,200kWh for 2kWp at +110 (42d pitch), but noticed the 2kWp -70 varied quite a bit depending on where I randomly stuck the pin, from low 1,400's to nearly 1,600 (quite a range!) So a total of between 2,600 and 2,800 depending on exact location. Every little bit helps!

Mart.

smitchy73

Cheers again Mart, I was advised that over 2300 kwh generation per annum was fair for a roof or roofs that were not directly south facing, and I think splitting it over two strings front and back ensures getting close to that, when I done the tool on EST website it gave me about 2500kwh i'm just waiting on the second quote coming back from the smaller company then I'll decide if I want to call the other guys who were recommended on this post and take it from there.

I did think splitting the two lots of panels on two strings would've required to go through two inverters but I've been told as long as they're on a separate string then that is fine, i'm assuming this is fine?

cannyscot_2

there was a company who were in partnership with ikea called hanergy-we got a quote for a bungalow and it was about 5.5k and you could pay interest free.

tunnel

Hi Smitchy,
Just out of interest, how many panels have you been told you can place on your good side roof? Were you looking at 8 front/8 back. I ask as there's higher Wp panels such as BenQ 330W, 8 of those on the good side(2.64kWp) and 6 x 250Wp on the other would give a better return(providing your inverter is capped at 3.68kW). Obviously it comes down to cost too and the 330Wp panels do come at a higher price than standard 250Wp panels.


Food for thought though!!

smitchy73

cannyscot wrote: »

there was a company who were in partnership with ikea called hanergy-we got a quote for a bungalow and it was about 5.5k and you could pay interest free.

I might just check them out, thanks for that.

tunnel

smitchy73 wrote: »

I might just check them out, thanks for that.

I wouldn't bother if I were you, going on previous posters you aint getting a 4kWp system from hanergy for £5.5k, more like 18 120Wp panels giving a 2.16kWp system.


Take a butchers at this thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4810663

smitchy73

Cheers Tunnel,

The Helms guy I had first was a straight split of 8 and 8. The 2nd guy I had suggested perhaps 10 and 6, although he was going away to think of the design and price etc and would email it to me, so i'm waiting to see what he comes back back with, although his brochure was for LG MonoX panels and I think they are 280w, possibly slightly more as he said something about new panels were slightly better. Inverter is capped at 3.68kw, I remember that bit! lol

I should add the HELMS guy just said they try and get the best panels at the time!

tunnel wrote: »

Hi Smitchy,
Just out of interest, how many panels have you been told you can place on your good side roof? Were you looking at 8 front/8 back. I ask as there's higher Wp panels such as BenQ 330W, 8 of those on the good side(2.64kWp) and 6 x 250Wp on the other would give a better return(providing your inverter is capped at 3.68kW). Obviously it comes down to cost too and the 330Wp panels do come at a higher price than standard 250Wp panels.


Food for thought though!!