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Does this Solar quote sound right?
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stuhow20
Posts: 19 Forumite

Had a quote yesterday for 13 x Qcell panels, 3.6kwh inverter and 10.4kwh batteries. Total £14000
First concern was that they can install in 5 weeks, from what I have been reading it is way longer than that for an install time, maybe just me.
First concern was that they can install in 5 weeks, from what I have been reading it is way longer than that for an install time, maybe just me.
Secon concern is during the meeting I was told the savings would be between 80-90%. We have quite a high consumption of around 7660kwh and the system states 4245kwh. This works out at around 57%.
They state on the paperwork a proceed annual saving of £1250, when I questioned them they said that they can only state government SAP calculations and compliance laws that are 15 years old. They said the figures stated in the meeting would be correct, but I have no way of checking these if what they say is true and the calculators are 15 years out of date.
Am I being overly cautious or being taking for a fool?
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As you suspect, they're having you on with those ROI calcs (and the system sounds quite expensive, too).Who are the installer? There are some firms to avoid.If you generate 4245kWh a year, even with a battery you'll struggle to consume more than 70% of it. That's 2970kWh of self-consumption, which at a value of 28p/kWh is £830-worth.The remaining 1275kWh you can export. Export tariffs are a topic of debate in themselves but if you choose a supplier thay pays 7.5p/kWh that will earn you another £95. Total annual ROI is £925.Next year, of course, we're expecting electricity prices to double so the £830 saving will become £1660. But I wouldn't rely on prices staying that high for long enough to pay back £14k.At a more typical energy price of 20p/kWh import and 5p/kWh export, the annual ROI is only £594 + £64 = £658. We could be back to those prices in 2-3 years.N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 34 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.Not exactly back from my break, but dipping in and out of the forum.Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!1 -
The installer was Fresh Electrical Solar.
How I see it, unless I’m wrong the battery would only share if we had excess electricity I.e. we use approx 21kwh per day so unless the Solar generates over that there will be no excess to store. Is that correct?
Just had, well tried to have a conversation with one of their tech guys who wouldn’t let me speak and seems to have cancelled the install.0 -
stuhow20 said:The installer was Fresh Electrical Solar.That's a new one to me.
How I see it, unless I’m wrong the battery would only share if we had excess electricity I.e. we use approx 21kwh per day so unless the Solar generates over that there will be no excess to store. Is that correct?
Yes, sort of.The panels only generate during daytime (obviously) so unless you use all 21kWh between dawn and dusk, the battery would let you store some of the daytime excess to use during the evening and overnight.The 13 panels, how many watts were they (each, or in total)? From the description I'd guess around 360 watts each, so 4.7kW total? A system like that might generate 500-600kWh in June but only 120-150kWh in December. Therew will be times in the summer months when you'll be generating more electricity than you can use immediately or store in your battery, and this is when you'll be exporting surplus to the grid. In the winter, however, you'll struggle to fill your battery and will be buying power from the grid.Just had, well tried to have a conversation with one of their tech guys who wouldn’t let me speak and seems to have cancelled the install.
Sounds like a bullet dodged.Where in the country are you? Solar generally gets discussed on the "Green and Ethical" forum and if you post over there you might get a local installer recommended to you.N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 34 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.Not exactly back from my break, but dipping in and out of the forum.Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!0
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