Solar quotes, Cheshire

pigglypots

Hi everybody
Need some input...have an East, South East facing roof, some shading issues and apparently only room for 10 panels.

Was quoted a tad under £6000 for 10 x 300w ECSolar panels + Solaredge optimizers and inverter. Normal warranties etc. Reputable company, in business 20 yrs+

Any thoughts? I know the returns may not be awesome, thats not the main concern, but would appreciate opinions on the price and the Chinese panels?

Thanks in advance

gazapc

What other roof spaces do you have? Any potential for further panels even if they aren't quite in the perfect direction?

Also you can get 320 or 330 W panels, perhaps ask for a quote for these if space is the limiting factor then run the numbers as to the best option.

pigglypots

Hi, the only other roof space is the direct opposite facing...but no shading issues, but only rated at 622 hours per year! and it's the front of the house?

I think that the 330W seem to be overly priced...but still waiting for others to quote...this was the first serious one - other were LED lightbulb salesmen!!

Martyn1981

pigglypots wrote: »

Hi, the only other roof space is the direct opposite facing...but no shading issues, but only rated at 622 hours per year! and it's the front of the house?

Hello. I've got panels on an ESE roof, and on the WNW front roof. I'm not too bothered about the look of PV, but Wifey did put her foot down and request black on black (BoB) panels for the front of the house.

I don't think they add to the looks, but not sure they detract much either:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xowl32q5j51ycf3/IMG_1328.JPG?dl=0

If you had 3kWp on the ESE and 2kWp on the WNW all linked through a SolarEdge system capped at the 3.68kW requirement, then you'd have a very nice system, with a nice spread of generation. The FiT would be 10% lower for exceeding 4kWp, but costs don't go up proportionately with system size due to the large fixed costs involved in putting the very first panel up.

pigglypots wrote: »

I think that the 330W seem to be overly priced...but still waiting for others to quote...this was the first serious one - other were LED lightbulb salesmen!!

I think I might steal that description, and start referring to the cowboys as LED lightbulb salesmen. :T

Mart.

pigglypots

To be fair, the guy did look at doing that, but splitting a 4KW array into 2KW front and back, using 250W panels, but I just wasn't sure about panels on the front of the house. Definitely looking at black on black anyway.

So still undecided!! And one problem is that my roof is 'red' tiles, well was treated to stop the moss...

pinnks

Mart,


Am I misreading or do you have a "typo". If 5kWp is capped at 3.68kW in the inverter, why would the FiT be at the lower rate? If that is correct, why not uncap the inverter and get permission from the DNO to go large?

Martyn1981

pinnks wrote: »

Mart,


Am I misreading or do you have a "typo". If 5kWp is capped at 3.68kW in the inverter, why would the FiT be at the lower rate? If that is correct, why not uncap the inverter and get permission from the DNO to go large?

Evening pinnks,

The FiT is based on the kWp of the panels installed. Not exactly how the original wording in the legislation implied with TIC and DNC interpretations, but nobody has carried out a legal challenge to OFGEM's position, so regardless of inverter ratings, the FiT rate switches to the 4-10kWp rate if you hit 4,001Wp or more.

I'd certainly suggest asking the DNO for permission, but 5kWp spread E/W won't suffer from too much capping. My system peaks at 4.2kW sustained (perhaps 4.9kW short spikes), so 5kWp would probably peak around 3.68kW anyway.

Mart.

pinnks

Ya learn something every day:beer:
My system peaks at about 5kW on good days and 5.2kW when the sun pops out from behind the clouds. That said, on averagely good days with prolonged sun 4-4.5kw is more usual - but then, I have SSE AND WSW, not WNW which is the issue here

pigglypots

Hi Guys, am getting the quotes down and have had £5650 for 14 x 285W Seraphims + Solaredge...or £5795 for 12 x 300W LG + Solaredge. We are not sure how many panels we can get on ESE roof...2 chimneys are making life difficult!

Question...would it be an advantage to go for the 4KW system and split the array (10 + 4) - roofs are ESE and WNW. About 20% shading at ESE back roof, little or none on the WNW roof

I am kind of thinking that I would get more generation from the WNW panels in the mid/late afternoon and would give me more electricity to use at that time, esp in Spring/Autumn when sun is lower?

Experts out there with your experience...can you help and throw any thoughts my way??
THANK YOU

Martyn1981

Hiya Piggly. Have a play with PVGIS, there's a walkthrough in section 5 of the FAQs.

For a direct comparison, just enter 1 in the kWp box for ESE and repeat the process for the WNW to see how they perform relative to each other.

For my location, my ESE should generate 808kWh/kWp, and the WNW generate 679kWh/kWp. If your ESE has shading issues then the relative performances will be closer.

Funnily enough, these last 3 months my WNW have actually outperformed the ESE (on a kWh/kWp basis) which is very rare, but reflects better afternoon weather than morning weather.

The bulk of your income will come from the FiT + export, but having a system split E/W does mean you'll probably have slightly higher leccy savings. Plus, you are right, that having some generation in the late afternoon is a benefit as teatime consumption is one of the harder consumptions to avoid or move.

Those prices, with Solaredge are looking better. Don't forget, you don't have to stop at 4kWp, but the economics of the 10% lower FiT rate mean if you do go bigger don't go very slightly over (4.1kWp!), instead try for 5kWp(ish).

Mart.

Martyn1981

Also, when playing with PVGIS try to get your roof pitch correct. It's not too important for a south system, but as you get further from south a steep roof produces less and less generation. A north(ish) roof with a very steep pitch such as 50d will perform quite badly.

Mart.