Solar Quotes for the North West

EricMears

JKenH said:
 My experience generally is that telephone contact elicits a better response than email which can be quite time consuming for suppliers to deal with.

I wouldn't have  thought there's any 'extra' time involved in dealing with an email compared to a telephone call.   However,  if you're on the phone demanding attention your contact can't really put you to one side and deal with your enquiry when it's more convenient (often never !).

silverwhistle

I disagree! Think about how often you play message tennis to make some arrangements when it would be just as cheap and a lot quicker to just pick up the phone and deal with any (supplementary) issues that arise. Talking is quicker than typing (mine certainly!) and you can also get a 'feel' for the situation and it shows how serious you, as the client, are. As you say, harder to put in the 'too difficult' basket.

Spies

I chose to email because I thought by including a plan and measurements it would make their life easier. 

Hexane

Unless an installer feels like commenting on this thread, it's all irrelevant anyway. Yes, some things are more convenient for them, and others are less convenient. As far as I can remember, I emailed my installer and then they visited me. Or, perhaps I phoned them and then they visited me. So... the distinction is important I suppose?

Spies

A new installer I emailed replied with the following when asked to quote for 4*365w and 6*395 on different elevations along with a Solis Dual inverter. 

"You have requested a mix of panel outputs and layouts which would require micro inverters to function" 

Why do I keep getting so much conflicting information? 

QrizB

Spies said:

Why do I keep getting so much conflicting information? 

I could have a good rant about the failings of the UK education system but really that's for another time

I suspect that, for many small but larger-than-one-man firms, the office and/or sales staff may little technical knowledge of the kit they are selling. They might have a menu of common options to pick from and no ability to leave the script.

You could try phoning them up and asking to speak to someone technical?

Edit to add: Or send them the illustrationsa from page 2 of this thread and ask "can you install this, and if not why not?"

Spies

I finally have a formal quote from the first guy that said they would supply a 3.65kw system (10*365w), included in the price is a Solis dual 3000 inverter, breakdown as follows ex vat:

SUPPLY OF PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM (3.65 kWp)  £3,124.50
INSTALLATION OF PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM £1,161.21

This is the best quote I've had so far, maybe his relucatace to put 6*395w is because the inverter will be even more undersized?

QrizB

Looks as though you're getting closer. A 3kW Solis is only £5 less than a 3.6kW one so that's not really an excuse to undersize the system!

Actually, the website I've linked to for inverter prices belongs to a solar installer, and they're in Chorley - is that anywhere near you? I've done no checks at all but they seem to say all the right things on their website. They even have an article on "things you don't need"!

Edit to add:The page for those Solis inverters even says:

"Tip: If each string of panels in your system are of equal length AND the panels are all oriented the same way AND there is no shading, you can use a Solis mini 3G as a lower cost alternative. However, the strings MUST be equal which MUST be confirmed with a voltage check (a schematic diagram may be inaccurate). Contact us if you’re unsure."

... which makes me think they understand odd-sized strings in a way that none of your other installers do!

Spies

QrizB said:

Looks as though you're getting closer. A 3kW Solis is only £5 less than a 3.6kW one so that's not really an excuse to undersize the system!

Actually, the website I've linked to for inverter prices belongs to a solar installer, and they're in Chorley - is that anywhere near you? I've done no checks at all but they seem to say all the right things on their website. They even have an article on "things you don't need"!

Edit to add:The page for those Solis inverters even says:

"Tip: If each string of panels in your system are of equal length AND the panels are all oriented the same way AND there is no shading, you can use a Solis mini 3G as a lower cost alternative. However, the strings MUST be equal which MUST be confirmed with a voltage check (a schematic diagram may be inaccurate). Contact us if you’re unsure."

... which makes me think they understand odd-sized strings in a way that none of your other installers do!

I did email red electrical but they said they were too busy to do work out of their area

Spies

Getting a few more quotes coming in now!

Supply and install as per owners design 4x 365w 6 x 395w solis 3600 dual inverter onroof mounting system and solis WiFi stick all certification and commissioning

£4,654.6