Solar panel quotations - how do they compare?

apennysaved_4

Hi everyone.

I'm looking to install solar panels and have been asking companies for quotations. I thought I'd share them here for comparison (and advice / experience).

My house is SSW facing in the east of England (using the 'NUTS1' categories) and gets full sun with no shading. Roof is 45 degree pitch. It's a 4 bed detached, with two adults and two kids. I work from home 3+ days per week and my partner is part time, so the house is occupied during the day much of the time. We have an electric vehicle.

I'm thinking about a 4kW system with a battery. The thought behind having the battery is to store any electricity we don't use when generating to use in the evenings (I would expect that we won't use all the electricity we generate in the day - happy to be challenged on this if you have experience!). 

So, I've had some quotes in (note - all quotes are fully fitted plus 5% VAT):

Company A - 11 x 385W panels, Hybrid Inverter, 4.8kW battery - £8295

Company B - 10 x 400W panels, 3.68kw wave inverter, 10 x optimisers, 4.8kW battery - £8123

Company C - 10 x 390W panels, 3600 inverter, 4.6kW battery - £7356

All comments welcome.

arty688

Hello,

Couple of things.

Is 4kw the most you can fit on your roof  ? as the more you have the cheaper per w it is.
 
Optimisers would be a waste of money as you have no shade.

The battery question is a complicated one depends on how much electric you use and the cost of it.

Secretsusie

Do you have a solar ready ev Charger? Eg can you adjust the charge.  
If not you'll still be taking quite alot from the grid to charge if only having a 4kw system. 
Also batteries seem to discharge slower some we asked about were only 1.3kwh so again not much use for ev unless you have a variable charger or use the granny charger.
I'm absolutely no expert as can be seen by my recent posts but we came to the conclusion to go for as large a system as would fit ( 6.21kwh) and no battery, and try to use as much as we can when it's generating. 

arty688

Also you may want to split the quotes si you know how much the battery is costing you extra.

are you on a variable tariff EG Octopus Go?

apennysaved_4

Secretsusie said:

Do you have a solar ready ev Charger? Eg can you adjust the charge.  
If not you'll still be taking quite alot from the grid to charge if only having a 4kw system. 
Also batteries seem to discharge slower some we asked about were only 1.3kwh so again not much use for ev unless you have a variable charger or use the granny charger.
I'm absolutely no expert as can be seen by my recent posts but we came to the conclusion to go for as large a system as would fit ( 6.21kwh) and no battery, and try to use as much as we can when it's generating. 

Thanks. Have read the thread and think I will ditch the battery as I suspect that it won't get used and also significantly adds to the cost.

apennysaved_4

arty688 said:

Also you may want to split the quotes si you know how much the battery is costing you extra.

are you on a variable tariff EG Octopus Go?

No. I was with Pure Planet (now defunct) and been moved over the Shell Energy. I have a flat rate tariff at the moment. 

arty688

for a battery to make financial sense (which it doesn't have to it could be you just want one) you tend to have to time shift some off peak electric in the winter. Could be of course you also have a need for overnight aircon in the summer . On a flat rate you would be pushed to justify a battery .

d1217

Hi,

Just wanted an opinion on a couple of things,

I have been quoted £8.9k for a Solar system that includes 14 x 390w panels (Trina Vertex S panels) for a 5.5KWp system including the givenergy 5kw hybrid inverter and the givenergy 8.2 KWh battery and have a couple of questions:

1. Does that seem a fair quote?
2. Is the givenergy system decent? I have heard good things about it but various companies seem to use different brands.
3. Has anyone hear used or heard of glow green? I can find a lot of reviews about them as a boiler fitting company but not much around the solar space.

Our house is a 4 bed detached and we use approx 4800 KWh per year, it is south facing (slightly south east if being picky) and doesn't have any shading issues

Thanks

arty688

Hello,

The quote seems good to me, the only thing you may want to consider is how long the payback as you consumption isn't high if that's why you are going for PV of course. Most companies payback example are quite generous and not based in reality. Maybe doing your own based on estimated pv generation per month and usage per month.

d1217

arty688 said:

Hello,

The quote seems good to me, the only thing you may want to consider is how long the payback as you consumption isn't high if that's why you are going for PV of course. Most companies payback example are quite generous and not based in reality. Maybe doing your own based on estimated pv generation per month and usage per month.

Thanks, yeah I've done my own so happy with the payback especially given the current pricing problems! We were with pure planet so are now on a shell energy variable tariff for the foreseeable! To be honest one of the main reasons is to be less reliant on the grid and be a bit more friendly to the planet (suppose we all have to do our own bit - especially given the government don't seem to want to help too much), obviously the cost saving overall is also a plus!

apennysaved_4

d1217 said:

Hi,

Just wanted an opinion on a couple of things,

I have been quoted £8.9k for a Solar system that includes 14 x 390w panels (Trina Vertex S panels) for a 5.5KWp system including the givenergy 5kw hybrid inverter and the givenergy 8.2 KWh battery and have a couple of questions:

1. Does that seem a fair quote?
2. Is the givenergy system decent? I have heard good things about it but various companies seem to use different brands.
3. Has anyone hear used or heard of glow green? I can find a lot of reviews about them as a boiler fitting company but not much around the solar space.

Our house is a 4 bed detached and we use approx 4800 KWh per year, it is south facing (slightly south east if being picky) and doesn't have any shading issues

Thanks

Glow Energy were my Company C above.

10 x 390W panels, 3600 inverter, 4.6kW battery - £7356, The panels are the same (you have 4 more), your battery and inverter is bigger, for £1.6k more.

I don't know the company though.