Solar panel system quote advice.

Brismith1987

Hi,

I'm looking at getting solar panels with a battery installed soon and I'm looking for some advice on if this is a good quote. I live in Scotland and my roof is South facing with some minor shading from my neighbours house.

The quote is below and I'd appreciate any advice:

"5.1kw system using Q-CELL 315w all black panels mounted on the south facing roof in 2 rows of 8 panels, solar edge system with modes meter for additional electricity usage monitoring.!

LG CHEM 10kw battery £11,650 including VAT"

This is from a company based in Glasgow called LoganInstall.

Thanks

Brian

Merlin139

Q-CELL 315w all black panels £121.20 each

https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/qcell-solar/qcell-315w-mono-black

SolarEdge P600 Optimiser 600W 2x60 Cell £40.50 needed with each panel for SE systems

https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/SolarEdge/se-p600-optimiser.html

SolarEdge 3680W 1ph Inverter HD-Wave £730.50

https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/SolarEdge/solaredge-3680-hdwave.html

LG CHEM 10kw battery About £4.5K

https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/storedge/lg-chem-10hv

StorEdge STI4 Kit for HD Wave Inverters £5586

https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/storedge/storedge-sti4-kit

So around £8k for the system plus £400 VAT at 5% but a trade purchase would get discount.

Try to get a few more quotes and to save you time avoid anyone called Project Solar as this board is full of there quotes.

Brismith1987

Hi Merlin,

Thanks for the reply. Do you have any companies you would recommend to approach for quotes?

Thanks

Merlin139

Brismith1987 wrote: »

Hi Merlin,

Thanks for the reply. Do you have any companies you would recommend to approach for quotes?

Thanks

When I got my system installed I used the internet to find companies. I got 6 quotes but the prices ranged from 5K to 10.5K

Although having been on MSE since 2004 I never came here for advice.

The company I chose was not the cheapest but they did understand the shading issue I have with the house next door and were the only company to recommend SolarEdge. 2 of the companies that had given me quotes said they would not recommend SolarEdge. Neither of them are still in business. Shows what they knew.

My system was installed by https://www.saveheatenergy.co.uk/

Based in Durham. Since install they have twice tried to sell me a Voltage optimiser at a knockdown price of £895 saying it would increase production by 20%.:rotfl: I have now told them never to call me to try and sell anything.

Best advice I can give is to get quotes from as many as possible. Know what you want first. Size of system, do you want or need a battery can you justify the cost? (Although looking at the one you have been quoted for I would consider it even paying 20% VAT and having to get a new inverter would cost me about £8.5k)

Any quotes you get bring back to the forum and give us as much information as possible and somebody should be able to offer advice.

You could take a drive round your area and ask people who have systems would they recommend their installer?

EricMears

If the £11,650 including VAT really does include a 5.1kWp system and a 10kWh battery system then it would be quite a good price.
N.B. note the units I've used that weren't in the original post - if the quote also used the wrong units that should ring a few alarm bells !

I'd tend to agree that the battery might be an unnecessary expense and would probably ask for an alternative quote without it (but make provision for adding a battery in perhaps 5 years time ?)

But however good you think the quote is, you really ought to get another couple for comparison purposes and in each case ask for feedback from previous customers.

Brismith1987

Hi EricMears,

Can I ask what you mean by "N.B. note the units I've used that weren't in the original post - if the quote also used the wrong units that should ring a few alarm bells !" ?

I have sent a few more companies requests for quotes. I like the idea of having a battery to allow me to use the stored energy in the evening.

Brian

Brismith1987

For awareness I had another quote from the same company for a less high end system but still with a battery. This was their quote:

"4.4kw system with 14 x 315w q cell and a single solis hybrid 3.6kw inverter with pylon tech battery.

a 2.4kw battery system would be £6995
a 4.8kw battery £7500
a 7.2kw battery £8100

plus 5% VAT for solar and storage when installed together "

EricMears

Brismith1987 wrote: »

Hi EricMears,

Can I ask what you mean by "N.B. note the units I've used that weren't in the original post - if the quote also used the wrong units that should ring a few alarm bells !" ?

I have sent a few more companies requests for quotes. I like the idea of having a battery to allow me to use the stored energy in the evening.

Brian

The size of a panel should be quoted as kWp NOT just kW

Similarly, a battery capacity should be quoted in kWh NOT just kW

Possible of course that you paraphrased the quote but if the original document used the 'simplified' units then you have to wonder what other errors were slipped in.

The idea of a battery is indeed great. Majority view here is that at present day costs they're just not economic as you have to find out how many times the battery can be discharged & recharged then divide its cost by that number to get an idea of how much your 'free' units cost when saved for later.

Also a majority view here is that within the not too distant future battery costs should fall (& by a lot more than the saving in vat by paying now) and reliability (& number of cycles in life) should improve.

You'd have to use your own crystal ball to predict whether it's better to buy the batteries now or wait.

Exiled_Tyke

Brismith1987 wrote: »

For awareness I had another quote from the same company for a less high end system but still with a battery. This was their quote:

"4.4kw system with 14 x 315w q cell and a single solis hybrid 3.6kw inverter with pylon tech battery.

a 2.4kw battery system would be £6995
a 4.8kw battery £7500
a 7.2kw battery £8100

plus 5% VAT for solar and storage when installed together "

Batteries just don’t pay for themselves at current prices. Take your 2.4kWh battery. At £7k and let’s be generous say 15p/kWh for the grid price of electricity.

My figures below seem even more extreme than I expected so I’d be grateful if someone could check them for me.

This battery needs to store (and save you) 47,000 units of electricity before it’s paid for itself. If it could fully charge and discharge (normially not fully possible) once every day (unlikely) I reckon it takes nearly 60 years to pay for itself. And that’s assuming there’s no degradation of quality and of course the think still works after that time!

I’d ask for the quote without batteries

Coastalwatch

Hi Brian, certainly an interesting thread. Is 5.1 kWp the max you can fit or do you have space for more even panels! Might be worth considering, if so, as a 4kWp system would only serve basic domestic electricity needs! If you're planning to get an EV in the future and/or wish to include heating as well then the max allowable size(DNO agreeing) is 10 kW!

In combination with battery storage that may then cover all your energy needs!

Just a thought!

mre15

Exiled Tyke

You have worked out your figures using the cost for the whole system, panels, inverter and battery so they aren't correct.

You should at least assume the system price without battery would be approx £5k therefore the batteries cost around £2k, this seems to be the going rate at the moment.