Solar quotes - advice

ABrass

Yes, £1 a Watt would be for panels, the inverter, G99 application and everything else needed to generate power. But not for batteries.

I got my system in my signature a month ago for £12k. They were quoting around £7.5/8 for my 8kW array alone.

Screwdriva

DSB_ said:

Question: When people talk about "£1 a Watt", are they talking solely about the cost of the installed panels? Is the inverter another expense, or is it wrapped up in that £1 a Watt figure?

It's wrapped up into one figure. In my view, £1 a watt has become mythical in the last 6 months.

DSB_ said:

An 8 kWp array seems to work out as the best return on investment, coupled with 8-10 kWh of storage from Pylontech, GivEnergy or similar. Ballpark: £12,000-13,000. 

If it was my home with that kind of usage, I'd max the # of panels on my S/SW roof aspect instead of a battery and sell excess to the grid via Octopus Agile. IF funds aren't an issue, then a Powerwall paired to the SolarEdge inverter. 

I'd also look into the battery's discharge throughput (the maximum kW draw the battery can support) and compare that to your usage patterns before deciding.

DSB_

In my view, £1 a watt has become mythical in the last 6 months.

Thanks for the info. If you were buying now what £/Watt would you be aiming for? Is £1.20/Watt realistically achievable?

Alnat1

Generally, the bigger the array, the lower the price per watt, simply because many of the costs will be fixed however many panels are going on, scaffolding, days wages for installation team etc. If a 2nd lot of scaffolding is needed, price will be more.

Once you get above 5k on top, a bigger inverter might be needed so might work out more per £w/p but should drop again as array size increases until you hit the point where a yet bigger or 2 inverters are needed.

It's about finding the best balance for your needs. If you're lucky £1.20/w but recently people have paid up to £2/w.

ABrass

DSB_ said:

In my view, £1 a watt has become mythical in the last 6 months.

Thanks for the info. If you were buying now what £/Watt would you be aiming for? Is £1.20/Watt realistically achievable?

£1 a Watt has always been difficult but sometimes achievable if you've got a good quote, a simple system and an easy roof.

If you demand solar edge Optimisers I don't think it's ever been possible to hit £1 a Watt. As I posted up thread I had a quote for less than £1 a Watt two months ago so it isn't mythical, just hard to find. And again it assumes that you aren't buying Solaredge.

If you are going for solar edge, which you don't need, then £1.2 as a lower target for a large array is possible.

QrizB

I'm fortunate in that neither of the arrays I've had installed have had significant shading problems, but if they did I'd prefer microinverters to optimisers.

Optimisers seem to be the worst of both worlds; you've got electronics on your roof where you can't easily maintain them, plus you've still got a string inverter with a single point of failure.

Optimisers do have the advantage that you don't need to fit them to every panel, but many people seem to want to do that regardless.

DSB_ said:

In my view, £1 a watt has become mythical in the last 6 months.

Thanks for the info. If you were buying now what £/Watt would you be aiming for? Is £1.20/Watt realistically achievable?

I poked about in the Wayback machine a couple of months ago:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79413439/#Comment_79413439

The price of the hardware for a solar PV system has risen by about 20p a watt since the spring of 2021, so £1.20/watt should be achievable.

I suspect that demand for installations is outstripping the number of available installers, and so they have started raising prices simply because they can.

DSB_

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Will be pressing my installers for a more competitive quote whilst also casting my net further afield in the search for more installers.