Project Solar panels quote.

MrHockallz

Hi all,

On Friday I had a quote for panels from Project Solar and would like to hear your thoughts.

I have been quoted a 10 panel install of Evolution +10 panels and a Growatt inverter totalling a 2.50kWp with a voltage optimiser -and estimated output is 2255.00kwh per year

The current quoted FiT rate is 0.1339. The cost of the system is £5523.81 incl labour £7250.

I don't have £7k so have opted for finance yet the consultant never mentioned the totals - I found out later from the pre credit email to be £14.4k - this is supposed to be a 9.9% APR so I cant see how I'd be borrowing that much but OK. The credit agreement is £78.90pcm over 15 years but the guy said it would be paid off in 10 years - I assume this would be buy me overpaying from profits?
Over 20 years - it is expected to earn me £20,172 (£9460 FiT, £8,040 bill savings and £2671 VO savings) about £490 per year

I'm a little concerned about the bill savings as these are based on estimated of 8.385 rises per year - is that feasible? The papers suggest in 25 years I'll be paying £2897 annually which seems ridiculous.

Another concern I have is that they don't require a surveyor - the consultant said its because my neighbours have ten panels on the roof as well but no one has looked in my loft and I've only owned the home a week, I haven't even gone up in the loft yet!

I did email them about the finance and got a pretty jargon response - if anyone can shed light on this I'd be grateful

"As this is a balance reducing loan you never pay more than you borrow and only interest on the outstanding.
This further protects the product for the period of the 180 months, so it would make sense to have a double indemnity on your goods which starts from the day of the loan to the end of the loan, irrespective of the settle early if you did.
Most people settle within 4.2 years in full, a bank average."

I have provisionally agreed install for 16th June but am waiting on more paperwork to sign and return and the guy mentioned the FiT is being reviewed the 1st July and is likely to go down - I felt pressured (a little) into getting my skates on.

To add to the mix I have had an Ikea-Hanergy quote and they have quoted a 2.25kWp system with a total revenue of £13,395 (predicted) at a cost of £5329 including the finance £44pcm for 10 years - seems a no brainer but I have read mixed reviews on the panels. They also use independent surveyors which I;d have to pay for but the consultant there says it removes bias, which makes sense I suppose

Sorry for the long post but am just a little in the dark - I like the sound of the Project Solar quote more but the questions over the estimated leccy prices and finance figures is brining up alarm bells - not to mention lack of a survey.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Martyn1981

Cancel it!

Cancel it now!

Take pity on a random stranger from S. Wales and cancel it!

Make my day, and cancel it now!

Then we can all chat about sensible prices at half that figure, and real leccy savings.

Mart.

PS Hiya, and welcome.;)

Markj1110

Good Grief!! As Mart says, cancel it now and run!:

I know you are looking at the finance side, but there must be cheaper alternatives. I have recently installed a system, but took the time to get as many quotes as possible and asked loads of questions before I purchased mine. This forum was extremely helpful with getting me to understand the jargon used and now I have a much better understanding of what you can get.

Take your time, get plenty of quotes, don't be pressured into making decision based on the FIT payment going down, in the grand scheme of things its only a few quid a year, maybe even single figures per year!!

Mark

JimLad

oh my gosh!!!! RIP OFF ALERT

EricMears

I'm guessing that you're considering a ten panel system because that's all that will fit on your roof ? If indeed that's true, then ten higher wattage panels should also fit and give more generation.

The price quoted is far more than others on this forum have recently paid for a full 4kWp (i.e. 16 x 250Wp panels) system. Quoting materials and labour separately seems designed to encourage a favourable comparison with other companies who'd give a comprehensive quote; it's certainly not an option to buy their materials and shop around for another fitter !

From the quote, FIT payments of approx. £300 could be expected. You might (if you're very lucky !) save £150 pa on imported electricity. An income of £450pa (£37 pcm) is nowhere near enough to cover proposed loan repayments of £78.

BTW, I wouldn't be too concerned about chances of roof collapsing. If you've just bought, I assume you had some sort of survey and even a half blind surveyor would have noticed rotting roof timbers. However, fitters are supposed to be working to Building Regs so ought to be trying to prove the roof structure is adequate rather than hoping for best.

I second Martyn's advice (and that of the others who can type faster than me) to cancel that contract and look for something better.

MrHockallz

Thanks for the quick replies

I have now cancelled the installation Mart - rest easy

I should have realised it seemed too good to be true!

EricMears - this is the first real quote I've had and kinda dived in - I haven't really looked at how many panels I could get fitted in all honesty - seems a little naive on my part now.

The Hanergy quote seemed a little more realistic in my mind but I could be wrong.

Can anyone make any recommendations or point me in the direction of some unbiased help/figures/costs?

tunnel

Post your rough location on here, roof pitch, orientation(direction) and if possible try to get an idea of the size of your roof.
Most of the guys/gals on here will help you as much as possible to get the right deal at the right price, including recommendations for local installers


Ps, GOOD WORK CANCELLING, that was a total rip off....as you already know now.

Martyn1981

MrHockallz wrote: »

Thanks for the quick replies

I have now cancelled the installation Mart - rest easy

Can anyone make any recommendations or point me in the direction of some unbiased help/figures/costs?

Phew! Thanks for that, I'll be able to sleep soundly tonight. :T

Eric raised an important point, how big is your roof? Sometimes the rip-off guys just quote a small(ish) size so that they can throw on a system and run.

If you can get some rough measurements, then more detailed help can be given, but there are options for slightly more powerful panels, and also high efficiency panels, but these do cost more.

Price wise, lots of threads on here with people getting under £5k for 4kWp, and most prices under £6k.

Some nighttime reading for you to get started in the PV FAQs.

Mart.

MrHockallz

Thanks for the help all so far, much appreciated

My home buyers survey says 'approximately south' and the guy from project Solar said south as well so I'm assuming that's correct.

I'm not 100% sure on roof size, if the Project Solar gen is to be believed its 40m2 and an LG roof calculator site (which I'm not allowed to post the link to apparently) also suggests about 40m2.

MEVW62

An alternative is to find your house on Google Maps satellite view, zoom in as close as you can get and then look at the scale in the bottom right corner. You can measure off the screen with a plastic ruler or print it out and measure that. You also get the orientation from this (due south at the bottom, as in standard maps).

It's a bit rough and ready but it'll give you an idea at least of the roof width. Total roof area on its own isn't terribly helpful as you'll have to go round obstacles such as chimneys, soil stacks, velux/dormer windows, etc.
If you know the pitch of your roof and some basic trigonometry you can also work out the depth. Most panels are around 1m wide by 1.5/1.6m deep so you should be able to get get an idea for how many might be accommodated. Bear in mind that they can't go right to the edges or overhang.

MrHockallz

Well based on the calculation from that site and from the Project Solar report my roof is 8 metres by 5 metres and the LG site is estimating a 3-5kw system with up to 18 panels. I know that's an estimate but its pretty encouraging. As for roof obstacles its pretty clear no skylights and the chimney is on the north facing side.