Batteries are they worth it...

Solarchaser

Screwdriva said:

2nd_time_buyer said:

Please, can you stop slagging off Chinese manufacturers in general? Sweeping statements are of very little help and can cause offence. Personal experience of specific brands is much more useful. 

Experience has been provided by several elsewhere on this forum. Offense is regretable but my intention is not to sugarcoat reality. 

94JDH said:

That's a fairly broad statement, I have run the numbers and for me it's definitely worth the investment - it all depends on your personal circumstances and usage.

Care to share more about your usage/ circumstances and projected ROI? Solarchaser shared a ROI of 12 years (mine was 15), which to me extends beyond the warranty of the product itself, and therefore suboptimal in my view. 

You are gonna get a shock when you do your calculations about your solar panels then.

Very expensive panels take alot more time ti pay back

gefnew

So here is my own  experience Chinese panels German inverter, install 2011 November still outputting the same as the day of install.
SMA 4000tl Inverter good software support for keeping a check of things.
Do not forget that your first choice LG have stopped making panels, so where is the support in that type of purchase.

pioneer

gefnew said:

So here is my own  experience Chinese panels German inverter, install 2011 November still outputting the same as the day of install.
SMA 4000tl Inverter good software support for keeping a check of things.
Do not forget that your first choice LG have stopped making panels, so where is the support in that type of purchase.

I have the same inverter, can we get decent batteries for our systems ? (without changing inverter)

2nd_time_buyer

Screwdriva said:

2nd_time_buyer said:

Please, can you stop slagging off Chinese manufacturers in general? Sweeping statements are of very little help and can cause offence. Personal experience of specific brands is much more useful. 

Experience has been provided by several elsewhere on this forum. Offense is regretable but my intention is not to sugarcoat reality.

I first started loitering on this forum about 6 months ago. What has struck me has been the generosity of in-depth advice and information from the forum members (including yourself). It almost feels like a public service. The information I received on here was invaluable for our solar and heat pump installation.

I appreciate your opinion on Chinese quality, but I think it is fair to say it is divisive and has a tendancy to derail threads. This portrays a false sense of animosity on the forum that may be off-putting for visitors. Anyway, I'll leave it there and won't comment any further.

* I appreciate the irony of me contributing to derailing this thread - sorry OP.

Officer_Dibble

No problem here yet with Growatt, apart from their app not being the best - though it's early days. I've been reliably told that western manufacturers know their IP will be ripped off when they manufacture in China, but the cost savings are so great that they're willing to put up with it and try to keep one step ahead. It's even written into some contracts that they won't attempt to take action for infringement of IP. I'd suspect that many of the Chinese batteries work in a very similar way and contain very similar stuff to the batteries for western manufacturers made in the same factories 6 months earlier.

Guru861

Wow this blew up. Thanks for insight. I think with costs as they are will have to opt without battery and look to add in the future

2nd_time_buyer

Guru861 said:

Wow this blew up. Thanks for insight. I think with costs as they are will have to opt without battery and look to add in the future

If you think you will probably add storage later, an option would be to get a hybrid inverter installed now and a single e.g. 2.4kwh Pylontech battery. That would conceivablly be around £1100-1300 uplift. You can then add extra modulus yourself if/when you can afford to. 

Screwdriva

Solarchaser said:

You are gonna get a shock when you do your calculations about your solar panels then.

Very expensive panels take alot more time ti pay back

My calculations were done in 2019, the year of installation. I'm fortunate to be able to absorb the extra cost as I wanted the best available panels given the limited, hard to access roof area. I update a thread for all who are interested in their performance.  

Do not forget that your first choice LG have stopped making panels, so where is the support in that type of purchase.

I haven't forgotten - see attached below. It's not just their solar panels. I recently had a replacement power board fitted to my 5 year old LG OLED television, long out of warranty, at zero cost to me. 

Would you be willing to place a friendly wager on the likelihood of receiving the same from GoWatt/ Sofar/ Insert brand here? 

flyinggoose

Screwdriva said

Do not forget that your first choice LG have stopped making panels, so where is the support in that type of purchase.

I haven't forgotten - see attached below. It's not just their solar panels. I recently had a replacement power board fitted to my 5 year old LG OLED television, long out of warranty, at zero cost to me. 

Would you be willing to place a friendly wager on the likelihood of receiving the same from GoWatt/ Sofar/ Insert brand here? 

I asked my installer about the warranty reliability when it came to the solar panels of Chinese brands after reading your comments on these forums, he said in the event of a panel fault they don't contact the manufacturer, they just contact their supplier who sorts it out and gets them a replacement, I'm unsure about how it would work with inverters though, didn't ask about inverters as I'm getting a solaredge Inverter installed.

paul991

my inverters a samil luckily its  never gone  wrong but the warranty is worthless as  no longer do business  in uk and the supplier went bust when the  govt  moved  the  goalpost with  fit . i  try to avoid Chinese products when i can not  because of quality but their appalling human rights record