Solar panel quote - thoughts please?

Bluebell1000

Hi all, just received a quote for solar panels. 14 panels, SW facing, Lincolnshire, single inverter, for £5495. Does that sound reasonable?

I am a bit concerned about the projected figures from the company - this doesn't look right to me. We use about £30 of electric a month (October figure) which is probably a reasonable average across the year. They're claiming £370 per year saving on electric and we only spend £360... :think: If anyone wishes to critique this you would be most welcome :beer: We will be asking for other quotes.

tunnel

First glance....looks a bit minty, £4-£4.5k for a straight forward install would be closer to the mark
Any shading on your roof? Nows the time of year to really get to know if there is
leccy savings are always hyped, do you spend most of the day at home so are able to utilise the generated power? If not £80-£120 savings would be a reasonable figure.

Bluebell1000

tunnel wrote: »

First glance....looks a bit minty, £4-£4.5k for a straight forward install would be closer to the mark
Any shading on your roof? Nows the time of year to really get to know if there is
leccy savings are always hyped, do you spend most of the day at home so are able to utilise the generated power? If not £80-£120 savings would be a reasonable figure.

I don't think there's shading but I'm not entirely sure. It's actually quite difficult to see it properly from ground level.

There is someone home 3-4 days per week. If we weren't in we'd probably try to do things like use the slow cooker, washing machine and the bread maker during the day, so we'd still get some benefit, but I doubt we'd use all of it on a sunny day. Thanks!

tunnel

You'd be hard pushed to use it all on a sunny day mid-summer, during the winter months...not so. Like today, i bet not one watt of power made it's way to the grid from my installs...all soaked up by my baseload(all the crap that's left plugged in 24hrs)

Try these guys for a price, they've done dozens of installs for members of the forum(myself included) and should cover your area.

Bluebell1000

tunnel wrote: »

You'd be hard pushed to use it all on a sunny day mid-summer, during the winter months...not so. Like today, i bet not one watt of power made it's way to the grid from my installs...all soaked up by my baseload(all the crap that's left plugged in 24hrs)

Try these guys for a price, they've done dozens of installs for members of the forum(myself included) and should cover your area.

Haha yes it was a pretty miserable day today. I got very damp on my bicycle! Thanks for the link, I've sent them a message. If we go with them I'll ask for your details if that's OK, since I see they have a refer a friend offer!

We have another company coming on Monday so will also see what they can do. They're actually doing an install on Monday round the corner from us so we can go and see that!

tunnel

Thanks for that, keep the thread posted as to how you get on, there's plenty of posters who'll happily give advice/suggestions.
Don't be afraid to ask if you're unsure, we all started somewhere so no question is a daft question!!

Martyn1981

I'm with tunnel the leccy saving savings won't be anywhere near that high. In the FAQ's (see autosig) we suggest £80-£120 as a starter, and if you are home/sensible about using generation then perhaps £160+, but no chance of £370.

[Edit - you mention slow cooker, bread maker etc, which means you are on the ball. It's the intelligent use of excess generation like that, that pushes up your savings. M.]

Also I'm not impressed with their projections. The pic says a RPI of 2%, and the uplifts in FiT and export appear to rise by a compounded 2%, but the leccy savings rise by a compounded 5.5% .... naughty.

Zarch

Looks like they've gone down the 'get as close to a 4kWh system as possible' route. ie 14 x 280w = 3920.

a) Any reason why you couldn't get more than 14 panels on your roof?
b) Make sure you get prices for 300w / 320w panels etc too.

This is a one time install, so getting more on the roof at install is usually the best advice.

Don't worry that 14 x 320 = 4480. You may cap out a 3680 inverter during the summer (if no DNO application to go higher then 3680)..... but on weeks like this week you'll be glad of all the generation you can muster!! So well worth looking in to.

And yes, without any Solar Edge adding to the cost, the price does seem a little high. For reference, I got 17 x 300w with full solar edge across 4 roofs from CTS for £6200 a few months ago.

Also, do you have a hot water tank? You might want to consider iBoost. It scrapes any unused solar and heats the water tank in essence for free through the day. Costs around £300.

https://www.marlec.co.uk/product/solar-iboost/?v=79cba1185463

Bluebell1000

We do have room for more panels (we have quite a long SW stretch but also a SE roof, although with shading later in the day). The person quoted for a system that wouldn't need planning permission, so that there was time to fit before the December drop in FiT. Was his statement correct?

No hot water tank unfortunately, just a standard combi boiler.

Zarch

Bluebell1000 wrote: »

We do have room for more panels (we have quite a long SW stretch but also a SE roof, although with shading later in the day). The person quoted for a system that wouldn't need planning permission, so that there was time to fit before the December drop in FiT. Was his statement correct?

No hot water tank unfortunately, just a standard combi boiler.

I wouldn't worry about missing the Dec FIT deadline, there's very little difference quarter to quarter now. Only worth like £100 total over 20 years!!

As long as you get in before end of March, that is when FIT finishes completely.

Jul-Sep 2018 3.93p/kWh
Oct-Dec 2018 3.86p/kWh
Jan-Mar 2019 3.79p/hWh

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/feed-tariff-fit-generation-and-export-payment-rate-table-1-july-2018-31-march-2019

I would suggest its better to research the system you want fully, get lots of quotes and put the best system in you can rather than rush to get an extra 0.07p per kWh cramming it in before end of December.

Merlin139

To use 75% of your generation you would need to be at home in the daytime during the 8 good months of the year. I am at home most days and struggle during the summer.

I have to look around for washing, spend more time on the ironing, re hoover the house, put the dishwasher on with 5 items in it. I don't do this.
Its easy between November to February because I average around 4 kWh's a day generation but in June when it was over 20 I would need to use the tumble dryer to dry my clothes when its nearly 80 degrees outside and I am sunbathing in the garden!

Ignore what savings can be made. As others have said research a bit more and get more quotes and post the information on here.