Solar panel installation quote

p5x

I'm a complete newbie to solar panels and just wondered if the following quote is any good or what options I should be looking to specify in the quote?

Also, is it normal for companies not to survey the property before installing? The company I've asked said they don’t come to site until after the order has been confirmed?

4kWp Solar PV system:

Solar PV Options
16 x Jinko, Amerisolar, Seraphim or UpSolar 250W solar panels
1 x Solis 3600TL-D inverter
1 x Schletter roof mounting kit (Split system - layout tbc)
1 x All cables, clips, isolators needed for the installation
1 x Full MCS / NICEIC Installation including the EPC and completion of all the paperwork
1 x Scaffolding and access (if required)
£4,395 inc VAT

As above but using 16 x Phono Solar 250W (All Black) solar panels for £4,495 inc VAT

As above but using 16 x Perlight 250W (All Black) panels for £4,595 inc VAT

As above but using 16 x Solarworld AG 250W (All Black) panels for £4,695 inc VAT


Optional Extras
Samil Solar River 4500TL-D Inverter - £169 inc VAT
SMA Sunny Boy 4000TL Inverter - £395 inc VAT
Power One Aurora 4.2S Inverter - £345 inc VAT
Solar Edge Inverter & Optimisers - £795 inc VAT
Geo Solo 2 Wireless Display - £145 inc VAT
iBoost Immersion Control Unit - £345 inc VAT
APEX Voltage Optimisation Unit - £395 inc VAT

Martyn1981

Hiya. Cracking prices!

Not unusual for an installer now to give a price, that way they save themselves the 2 or so hours of travelling and chatting for quotes. But I would expect them to come and see you, and the house if you are thinking of placing an order. They need to check the roof, and make sure there's enough space.

Panels - pays your money, takes your chance. You can have a google and read up on the different panels, but it'll probably confuse the hell out of you. The more I read the more confused I get. Give it 10+ years and we'll have a good idea which panels you (and I) should have got, but till then ......

Inverter - checking specs here the Samil costs about £160 more, it's slightly more efficient, but more importantly it has a 10 year warranty, rather than the 5yr for the Solis, so might be worth it?

SMA and powerone are fine, but doubt it's worth the extra money. Solaredge is brilliant, but only if you have shading problems, otherwise it's a lot more money.

iBoost if you have a hot water tank, might be worth considering, but the voltage optimisers are a total waste of money in a domestic environment.

Some PV basics in the PV FAQs if you are interested in some bedtime reading.

Mart.

warrenb

I have a Solis inverter and the extended warranty to 10 years is an extra £50.

michaels

You probably need at least 6 panels on each aspect to provide the voltage to feed a string on the invertor unless you go for solaredge. If your inverter has a useabel web interface then you probably don't need the geo monitor. You should be able to get them down a bit on the iBoost if you have an immersion tank and can sensibly use it, annual return is probably in the 40-60 quid range so at 345 it may take too long to pay for itself otherwise.

Have you told them about your tiles, any issues with double battening etc that may require more expensive fixing kits?

You are unlikely to beat these prices but another quote might help you bargain them down by a couple of hundred quid.

p5x

i've had a site survey done and they're suggesting to use a solar edge inverter + optimisers due to shading problems from nearby trees. This pushes up the cost to £5400 for the following:

16 x Solarworld 250W (All Black) solar panels
1 x Solar Edge SE4000 inverter
16 x Solar Edge P300 optimisers


Site survey:
Pitch 37°
Orientation 40° off South



Does this sound reasonable? Another company is using the Solaredge SE3680 inverter, is there much difference between the 2 types of inverters?

tunnel

p5x wrote: »

i've had a site survey done and they're suggesting to use a solar edge inverter + optimisers due to shading problems from nearby trees. This pushes up the cost to £5400 for the following:

16 x Solarworld 250W (All Black) solar panels
1 x Solar Edge SE4000 inverter
16 x Solar Edge P300 optimisers


Site survey:
Pitch 37°
Orientation 40° off South



Does this sound reasonable? Another company is using the Solaredge SE3680 inverter, is there much difference between the 2 types of inverters?

The only difference between the inverters is that one will need capping at 3.68kW and the other doesn't.
As for price, at £5400 with solaredge you're definitely in the right ball park

Martyn1981

p5x wrote: »

Does this sound reasonable? Another company is using the Solaredge SE3680 inverter, is there much difference between the 2 types of inverters?
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Sounds very good.

Regarding the inverter, they may even be talking about the same model, as the SE3680W capped inverter is also called a SE4000 on the tech sheets.

If the model isn't capped at 3,680W, then the installer will have to set it anyway for DNO compliance, so swings and roundabouts.

Mart.

p5x

Thanks for the all the help everyone. Just a few more questions before I make a decision:

1. I'm going to have shading problems due to nearby trees hence opting for the solaredge system. My site surveyor just said it would be an issue but didn't really give an estimate of how much the shading will affect output, is there anything I can do to get a rough estimate of this?

2. I think i'm right in thinking that enphase microinvertors do a similar job to the solaredge optimisers (?) The microinverters come with a 25 year guarantee as opposed to 12 years with the solaredge inverter (25 years on the optimisers). Is one system "better" than the other?

Martyn1981

Hello p5x, tricky questions, but I'll have a go.

1. You'll need to have a thunk and get a gut feeling. What orientation(s) will the panels be installed on, and where are the trees (East morning, West evening, or south all day in winter?)

Now is a really good time to have a look at actual shading. If it's fine/minimal now, then the best 6 months are ok, good start. If there is shading now, but only the first or last hour, then not too bad either as generation is pretty low.

Probably a good idea to take some photos of the shade now, and post on here. I don't think anyone will be able to give you a definite response on the loss of generation you'll suffer, but we'll certainly have an opinion.

For instance, if the shading would only affect one panel (at a time) then micro's or PO's will prevent this dragging down other panels, and the way they maximise the individual potential of each panel, might make up for those losses.

If however shading affected several panels then shade mitigation will prevent the losses spreading, but you'd expect to see annual generation lower than an unshaded system with a normal inverter.

2. I don't know which is better, but the central inverter with SolarEdge means you can limit the system to 3.68kW easily, thereby meeting DNO issues/concerns. If you are worried, then the SolarEdge inverter warranty can be bumped up to 20 years for about £200.

Mart.