Looking at Solar Panels - Updated-Now installed

powerful_Rogue

Been considering solar panels for a long time now, but like most, with the recent rises have decided to dig a bit deeper.

British Gas estimate my annual electricity usage as 5418.00 kWh.

Been doing a lot of readong on the forums, as i'm based in Kent, dropped Light Renewable a message to see with what they come back with.

Rear roof faces East, front faces West. However as we're up quite high with no obstructions, we get an awful lot of sun at the rear in the morning and then the same at the front in the afternoon.

QrizB

An east-west split array can work well. Lower total output but a better spread through the day.

Your main challenge might be finding an installer with capacity.

powerful_Rogue

QrizB said:

An east-west split array can work well. Lower total output but a better spread through the day.

Your main challenge might be finding an installer with capacity.

I think it will be a case of waiting till I can get someone to come out and have a look, but because we have no obstructions at all, the sun seems to hit the roof from a variety of angles.

Hoping Light Renewable get back in touch, although read the thread where you had quite some issues with them.

jimjames

Mine were installed by Solar Advanced Systems from Edenbridge so depending on location might be worth a call

powerful_Rogue

Afternoon, got my quote through this morning.

Option 1/

Size of system 4kh. With 3.3kh battery storage

Equipment;

10 x 400w Sharp Solar black panels, 25 year warranty to 86.2% efficiency

  1 x Growatt SPH3600w Hybrid inverter and AC/DC Battery storage management system 10 year product warranty

  1 x Growatt 3.3kh of battery storage 10 year warranty

  1 x Emergency power back up supply

  1 x Grid trading option

  1 x All cable run’s isolators and fitting’s

  1 x Micro generation meter

  1 x System Wi Fi monitor  

  1 x System registration

  1 x Access Equipment

  1 x MCS and G98 Certificates

 All service and maintenance under the terms of the warranty.

Fully fitted price of £7,845.00 This price includes 0% Vat. No extra’s

Option 2/

Size of system 4kh.

Equipment;

10 x 400w Sharp Solar black panels, 25 year warranty to 86.2% efficiency

  1 x Growatt TL3600w inverter 10 year product warranty

  1 x All cable run’s isolators and fitting’s

  1 x Micro generation meter

  1 x System Wi Fi monitor  

  1 x System registration

  1 x Access Equipment

  1 x MCS and G98 Certificates

 All service and maintenance under the terms of the warranty.

Fully fitted price of £4,995.00 This price includes 0% Vat. No extra’s

__________________________________

Am I right in thinking from what i've read it's not worth the additional expense of getting the battey? We're both shift workers, however the OH is pregnant so come Jan 2023 she'll be at home a lot during the day.

Received new bill today from British Gas *gulp*, they estimate annual electric useage to be 5308.07 kWh. Is there a calculator that is recommended to work out how much I could save with panels?

silverwhistle

No, they paid £1,025 per kW installed and the 2495 just for the battery. On here people aim for £1000 per installed kW.

powerful_Rogue

silverwhistle said:

No, they paid £1,025 per kW installed and the 2495 just for the battery. On here people aim for £1000 per installed kW.

Thanks, I need to try and work out my figures.

ccbrowning

Good luck, most places seem nearer to £2000/kW now.

Officer_Dibble

Yes to be fair they were cheap.

Screwdriva

powerful_Rogue said:

Afternoon, got my quote through this morning.

Option 1/

Size of system 4kh. With 3.3kh battery storage

Equipment;

10 x 400w Sharp Solar black panels, 25 year warranty to 86.2% efficiency

  1 x Growatt SPH3600w Hybrid inverter and AC/DC Battery storage management system 10 year product warranty

  1 x Growatt 3.3kh of battery storage 10 year warranty

  1 x Emergency power back up supply

  1 x Grid trading option

  1 x All cable run’s isolators and fitting’s

  1 x Micro generation meter

  1 x System Wi Fi monitor  

  1 x System registration

  1 x Access Equipment

  1 x MCS and G98 Certificates

 All service and maintenance under the terms of the warranty.

Fully fitted price of £7,845.00 This price includes 0% Vat. No extra’s

Option 2/

Size of system 4kh.

Equipment;

10 x 400w Sharp Solar black panels, 25 year warranty to 86.2% efficiency

  1 x Growatt TL3600w inverter 10 year product warranty

__________________________________

Am I right in thinking from what i've read it's not worth the additional expense of getting the battey? We're both shift workers, however the OH is pregnant so come Jan 2023 she'll be at home a lot during the day.

Received new bill today from British Gas *gulp*, they estimate annual electric useage to be 5308.07 kWh. Is there a calculator that is recommended to work out how much I could save with panels?

Hope you won't mind a couple thoughts:

1) I would advise against the Growatt components and ask them to switch to SolarEdge or Enphase inverters with the 25 year warranty. This will help with peace of mind and with any unexpected shading. 

2) A battery is a waste of money at current Octopus Agile Outgoing prices, which effectively make the grid your "battery".

Our 4kW system is saving/ earning us ~£1K per annum at current prices. This will shoot up dramatically in the months to come. 

With any installer, I always recommend the following precautions:

I always suggest anyone I refer to:

1) Pay with a credit card, even if its just the deposit. This will provide Section 75 protection incase the installer disappears.

2) Always check each component (but especially the optimizers and panels) when they arrive at the location prior to installation. Sometimes they get incorrectly switched due to error etc.

3) Be politely detailed with any installation instructions when it comes to wiring on the day of. Installers always chose the path of least resistance, which may not match aesthetic requirements. 

4) Request bird netting as part of your quote (if a pigeon issue exists)

5) Insist in writing that final installment (10%) will only be made upon receipt of the MCS certificate. You'd be amazed at how quickly it shows up!

powerful_Rogue

Screwdriva said:

powerful_Rogue said:

Afternoon, got my quote through this morning.

Option 1/

Size of system 4kh. With 3.3kh battery storage

Equipment;

10 x 400w Sharp Solar black panels, 25 year warranty to 86.2% efficiency

  1 x Growatt SPH3600w Hybrid inverter and AC/DC Battery storage management system 10 year product warranty

  1 x Growatt 3.3kh of battery storage 10 year warranty

  1 x Emergency power back up supply

  1 x Grid trading option

  1 x All cable run’s isolators and fitting’s

  1 x Micro generation meter

  1 x System Wi Fi monitor  

  1 x System registration

  1 x Access Equipment

  1 x MCS and G98 Certificates

 All service and maintenance under the terms of the warranty.

Fully fitted price of £7,845.00 This price includes 0% Vat. No extra’s

Option 2/

Size of system 4kh.

Equipment;

10 x 400w Sharp Solar black panels, 25 year warranty to 86.2% efficiency

  1 x Growatt TL3600w inverter 10 year product warranty

__________________________________

Am I right in thinking from what i've read it's not worth the additional expense of getting the battey? We're both shift workers, however the OH is pregnant so come Jan 2023 she'll be at home a lot during the day.

Received new bill today from British Gas *gulp*, they estimate annual electric useage to be 5308.07 kWh. Is there a calculator that is recommended to work out how much I could save with panels?

Hope you won't mind a couple thoughts:

1) I would advise against the Growatt components and ask them to switch to SolarEdge or Enphase inverters with the 25 year warranty. This will help with peace of mind and with any unexpected shading. 

2) A battery is a waste of money at current Octopus Agile Outgoing prices, which effectively make the grid your "battery".

Our 4kW system is saving/ earning us ~£1K per annum at current prices. This will shoot up dramatically in the months to come. 

With any installer, I always recommend the following precautions:

I always suggest anyone I refer to:

1) Pay with a credit card, even if its just the deposit. This will provide Section 75 protection incase the installer disappears.

2) Always check each component (but especially the optimizers and panels) when they arrive at the location prior to installation. Sometimes they get incorrectly switched due to error etc.

3) Be politely detailed with any installation instructions when it comes to wiring on the day of. Installers always chose the path of least resistance, which may not match aesthetic requirements. 

4) Request bird netting as part of your quote (if a pigeon issue exists)

5) Insist in writing that final installment (10%) will only be made upon receipt of the MCS certificate. You'd be amazed at how quickly it shows up!

Thank you very much for your thoughts, really appreciate them being so new to all this. Although have been doing an awful lot of research recently!

1) I shall drop them an email and get them to requote with those suggestions.

2) I was dead against getting a battery to start with, however the more i've read the more i'm starting to look towards possibly getting one. However i've been advised a 3.3kwh would be pointless and to look at getting something bigger. We're in a forever home, so no plans on ever moving - will have to do some more reasearch. I did email earlier and asked how much a bigger battery would cost, so will wait to see what they come back with.

We don't seem to have any issues with birds, however would you still recommend getting the bird netting? Knowing my luck I don't get it and it will then be an issue after!