Questions for Solar Installation Sales Interview

Verdigris

The guide prices given in the Which? article are somewhat adrift. £2/Wp rather than £1/Wp.

Hexane

NoobSolar said:

375 KWh

If that's an estimate of yearly energy production then it's extremely low.

Spies

Hexane said:

NoobSolar said:

375 KWh

If that's an estimate of yearly energy production then it's extremely low.

That's the individual panel kwp

Hexane

Spies said:

Hexane said:

NoobSolar said:

375 KWh

If that's an estimate of yearly energy production then it's extremely low.

That's the individual panel kwp

expressed in KWh ??? Would make me wonder about the installer.

Heedtheadvice

Verdigris said:

The guide prices given in the Which? article are somewhat adrift. £2/Wp rather than £1/Wp.

Yes very expensive. However the quoted figures are from what some Which members have said they have paid for their systems and what the RICS have have collated from a survey.

Now that is very different from what the cheapest might be that we should aspire to meet. Those in the know would (unless a very difficult installation) not be content to pay even the median price, nevermind the high costs.

It perhaps reflects what some in the trade might quote (part of the RICS input) or hiw gullible or naive some purchasers are.

It really is a drop of in that particular quote not giving reasonable cost for best buys. Normally for Best Buy recommendations links to the best suppliers are given. Maybe not so easy to do that for PV systems in all cases but still does not guide people to what might be considered a reasonable cost. We will all have read on here posters asking if a high priced and over optimistic return quoted is reasonable.

The Which report though does give a good insight.

Hexane

Heedtheadvice said:

Verdigris said:

The guide prices given in the Which? article are somewhat adrift. £2/Wp rather than £1/Wp.

We will all have read on here posters asking if a high priced and over optimistic return quoted is reasonable.

The Which report though does give a good insight.

Does it warn about the common practice of installers over-inflating likely usage proportion of generated solar, and over-inflating likely savings based on unrealistic long-term estimates of electricity prices, when giving quotes?

Petriix

Hexane said:

Heedtheadvice said:

Verdigris said:

The guide prices given in the Which? article are somewhat adrift. £2/Wp rather than £1/Wp.

We will all have read on here posters asking if a high priced and over optimistic return quoted is reasonable.

The Which report though does give a good insight.

Does it warn about the common practice of installers over-inflating likely usage proportion of generated solar, and over-inflating likely savings based on unrealistic long-term estimates of electricity prices, when giving quotes?

To be fair, those highly inflated future prices are starting to look more realistic.

But I wouldn't personally be interested in the suggested savings figures from an installer or their salesman. I'd be doing my own sums based on zero inflation.

NoobSolar

I just want to thank you for all your help. It has been very useful, and I am taking to heart your cogent point about the Iboost there, Merlin.

I have since been in touch with another installer with a better reputation. He has quotes £6000 for a 13 panel 4.8 kW install, 380w panels (12 yer guarantee and 30yr performance guarantee) and a 3.6kwh inverter with 5 year guarantee, plus Iboost. This seems better but can anyone tell me

1 does this seem reasonable?

2 Is the inverter a bit underpowered? Also shouldn't it have a better guarantee?

2nd_time_buyer

NoobSolar said:

I just want to thank you for all your help. It has been very useful, and I am taking to heart your cogent point about the Iboost there, Merlin.

I have since been in touch with another installer with a better reputation. He has quotes £6000 for a 13 panel 4.8 kW install, 380w panels (12 yer guarantee and 30yr performance guarantee) and a 3.6kwh inverter with 5 year guarantee, plus Iboost. This seems better but can anyone tell me

1 does this seem reasonable?

2 Is the inverter a bit underpowered? Also shouldn't it have a better guarantee?

The quote seems reasonable. Perhaps not the cheapest but if they are local and have a good reputation that has got to be worth something.

I wouldn't be too worried about the inverter being under powered. That is pretty standard practice because:

1) your panels will only be outputting more than 3.6kw for a very small percentage of the time

2) if they use an inverter greater than 3.6kw then they will need to apply to your electricity region (DNO) to see if the grid can accept it.
3) Apparently inverters are meant to work more efficiently when under powered (I am a bit sceptical of this)

Having said that, I believe good practice is to undersized by a maximum of 25% which puts you right at the limit.

What is the make of inverter?

NoobSolar

Thanks for resolving that question for me, 2nd Time. The info on the quote only says this:

SolaX Power 1 x X1-3.6-T-D

3.68 kW Total Inverter Rating