Solar PV quotes East Midlands

Secretsusie

This is my first venture into solar so forgive any ignorance. I have researched as much as I think I can. And it seems that £1 per kw is what I should be trying to get, but non of my quotes are near. 
Background....south west facing bungalow, clear roof, small amount of shading first thing in the morning and last half hour before sunset in winter, less in summer.

Retired, two adult household, home all day, have an EV. Average daily useage 20kw, but in reality thats 4-5kw daily and 30kw when charging car.  . Currently price capped single tariff ( never bothered with cheaper night tariff) as we have very little overnight useage. 

Solar quote 1.  local well respective company, running 15 years, and took most time to assess our useage. 

4kw solar panels, (12*330w) ( not sure brand, details being provided soon) , tigo optimisers, solax hybrid invertor, solar iboost. £6900

He did suggest adding a 5.8kw battery as well, but that ups the price to £10600. 

solar quote 2.   online quote, large national company. 

5kw, ( 13*385) ja solar.  Solis invertor. £5995. Plus £495 for iboost 

Solar quote 3 .  local one man band, company formed in 2019. 

6kw eutner panels (16*375)  5kw invertor,  £5700.  Plus £300 for iboost, plus £1200 for solar edge plus £450 bird block 

Solar quote 4   Pushy salesman (but local company) and didn't send actual quote, when I wouldn't agree to install on the spot. 

5.54kw, q-cells q peak duo (16*345) 

£6995.   

Quote 6.  
Energy supplier online quote 4kw system £5500.  No idea on invertor or panel make (e-on). Three years interest free credit.


Would be grateful for any comments, it's so complicated that it's putting me off. Which would be a shame. My aim I guess is to reduce bills a bit and roof seems almost perfect for solar so a waste not to use it.  I do have the cash to pay for solar, (but the battery as well would be pushing it), which is earning next to nothing in the bank, so my thinking is I'll save more on bills than the interest I'd lose? And after 10-12 years it may have paid for itself.  

Martyn1981

Hiya. Straight off, don't be put off, please. I totally get where you are coming from, and it doesn't help to get such different quotes, especially regarding the size of the system. PV does seem a bit complicated when you first jump in, and that's to be expected as there's a learning curve, but now you have posted on here you can chat and hopefully get explanations for anything that dosen't make sense.

Moving on, whilst many of us suggest aiming for £1/Wp, that's typically on larger systems, say 4-5kWp (such as yours), but harder on smaller systems due to all the fixed costs, and also tends to involve a bit of shopping and haggling. Ironically, PV panels have gotten so cheap over the last 10yrs, that their price is less and less important.

I note that quote 3 in its basic form does tick the £1/Wp target, and the fact you have a bungalow is a big uptick as that immediately saves around £500 in scaffolding.

I see you have quotes ranging from 4kWp to 6kWp. That's a pain in the proverbial, as it could mean the upper figures are over ambitious to get your custom, or the 4kWp quotes are typical lazy figures, as that used to be a sort of unofficial max due to lots of various issues that no longer really apply.

I'd keep shopping, if you haven't given up, chat more with quote 3, and see if you get a good vibe. I wouldn't go with the Solaredge system (both my systems are Solaredge, and it's excellent) since your description of the shading suggests it's not really needed.

SW orientation is excellent, it's only about 5% off max annual generation (for due south), but will give better generation in the afternoon and early evening when generation is often most beneficial.

As you have an EV, then 5-6kWp of PV, will allow you charge the car easily with a 2kW granny charger on most good days in the better 6 months of the year, when you and the car are home. We probably managed 75%+ PV charging this year Apr-Sep, the import part being when charging but gen was fluctuating.

I agree about the battery, probably not a good economic bet yet, and regarding night tariff, I couldn't make it work when we first had PV, but I switched to one when we got the EV, as it increased our leccy consumption, and it's a 'device' whose night time consumption can be managed easily, so for the darker 6 months of the year it gets charged off night rate. You'll need to look at the deals, prices and numbers to calculate if it's worth it to you, obviously a night rate goes hand in hand with a slightly higher day rate, but daytime import will be reduced by the PV ...... lots of number crunching for you to do there.

Keep looking, shopping and chatting on here, you now have a large number of PV'er shoulders to lean on for help, assitance and advice.


PS It's a bit dated now, and I don't update it anymore, but you could check out the PV FAQ's, link in my autosig, for some general bits of advice.

QrizB

Martyn's given you some good advice. In particular, I think he's right that your installers are trying to upsell you with otions you don't really need. Oprimisers, SolarEdge and so on are of mosrt benefit on shades roofs and from what you say, you're isn't. I think the case for iBoost isn't clear either, depending on how you would heat your water otherwise (it makes little sense to displace 4p/kWh gas with electricity you could sell for 5+p/kWh).

I also agree that quote 3 looks pretty good without the extra gubbins, and you should think about the £450 for bird-proofing (which you might need, or might not, but if you need it you may as well get it fitted along with the panels).

Spies

Do you know roughly how big your roof is because 12 vs 16 panels is quite a difference. 

Secretsusie

Thankyou so much for your replies. Very helpful.  Quote 1 is coming today, certainly have been impressed with his passion, but he does seem expensive.  Quote 3 is coming tomorrow, not really got a vibe either way about him yet, but definitely seems the best value, and I'm pleased you seem to agree. 
Quote 5 ( I typed 6 in error) isn't coming until December, which is a bit later than I'd like to make a decision, given the other two are booking for Feb currently, and installing then will make use of the spring light. 

Currently heat water via gas, obviously need to check the price I pay, as haven't even considered that it may be cheaper to buy gas and sell excess electric.  Update.... 4.2p per kWh.

As for size of roof I'm not actually sure, it's a two bed with integrated garage, all under same roof, so quite a wide roof, and totally clear of obstruction, so I've been told an ideal and easy fit. 

Hexane

Incidentally, you may not need anti-pigeon mesh (bird block) on a bungalow. My installer told me pigeons won't nest that low down (roof of a single storey building.) He's been right so far in my case, although to be honest I don't know if I'd take the risk on a fresh install!

Verdigris

This sounds uncannily similar to what I will be doing in west Wales, right down to the orientation. I'd be fairly confident that your roof is just over 14 metres wide and about 4.5 metres eaves to ridge.

I agree with the others that quote 3 sounds most promising apart from the bird-proofing. How does a bit of "chicken wire" cost that much? To kill two birds with one stone, you might consider an "in-roof" installation, where some of the tiles are directly replaced by the panels, making them more or less flush with the rest of the roof. This is aesthetically more pleasing and obviates the bird problem at the same time. It does cost more, but if you deduct the £450, it shouldn't be too much extra. The only downside to in-roof is that the panels tend to get hotter which will slightly reduce efficiency.

I shall watch your progress with interest.

Exiled_Tyke

Hexane said:

Incidentally, you may not need anti-pigeon mesh (bird block) on a bungalow. My installer told me pigeons won't nest that low down (roof of a single storey building.) He's been right so far in my case, although to be honest I don't know if I'd take the risk on a fresh install!

surely on a bungalow if pigeons do nest they should be relatively easy to clear.  So far I've been lucky with my two storey house.  we have a lot of pigeons but they prefer to the trees! 

Secretsusie

Another update,
first quote called for an update from me and will go to £5700 without optimisers - (12*330), felt uncomfortable with this conversation, there was a bit of attitude so ruled out.

quote 5 - i called to see if they could do earlier than dec and they could, was impressed with them tbh.   they offered a) 12 *360w panels for £5000    or b) 17 panels 6.12kw for £6500.  he also mention not bothering with iboost for the reasons you have all mentioned. would also get 5.5p export if they supply and install.

the phone call with quote 1, has made me even more unsure, and im not sure i even want quote 3 to visit now, as thats now two pushy solar reps and i find it unnerving dealing with that type of person.

gut instinct is to go with eon (quote 5) its all a bit faceless then, they are cheaper, and bonus 3 years inters free credit.  So help me pick please, do I go for 4.12 for £5000 or 6.12 for £6500?  

Thanks

Verdigris

I'd go for 6kWp if you have an EV to feed a lot of the summer surplus into.

Spies

Eon quote with the 6kwp system I'd say.