Solar Panel Quotes - Are they more expensive in SE England? 10 November 2022 at 12:08PM in Green & ethical MoneySaving 36 replies 1.4K views

dave64k

I have just received 3 quotes for a Solar PV system plus battery plus installation which all seem much higher than some of the quotes I have seen on the forums and wondered if that's just a feature of living in Kent?

Quote 1 - 12 Panel/5kW Inverter/9.5kW Battery.      £13,525

Quote 2 - 12 Panel/4kW Inverter/6.5kW Battery.      £13,100

Quote 3 -  12 Panel/3.6kW Inverter/5.12kW Battery. £11,250

Interestingly all 3 companies picked different kit specs which maybe a feature of what they have to sell as it's the same house? Warranties seem a bit different too.

I guess demand is increasing as energy prices have gone mad but I just wondered if this is what people are getting quoted now?

Thanks

uk1

For what it’s worth, I decided I was certainly going to buy a system - I had “set my heart on it” - and it was only a matter of learning enough to decide what setup I wanted and needed, the best quality components and who would do it.  In order to reduce issues and stress I was prepared and willing to pay more if I encountered a company that I felt would provide a better stress free experience with premium components.  I learned about solar, from Youtube and reading but then the extraordinary and friendly and helpful resource in this forum who have patiently helped me.  This forum is unique in it’s friendliness.  I’d reconciled myself to not worrying too much about quoted payback and breakeven points but was going to invest (punt?) on an overly rich system to avoid coming back to it later ie as much as I could “future proofing”.  I’m fairly old so wanted it all done and dusted. 

I can’t get a smart meter.  But none of them answered questions about how this might compromise me with honesty. Answers to other “integrity testing” questions” produced more deceptions. 

At the end of all this with a load of initial mostly disinterested contacts and a handful of on site quotes, the key issue I have encountered is a sparseness of integrity and honesty with deceptive and misleading answers to straight forward questions I asked as well as quite ridiculous quotes.  I also used the local authority initiative (Solar Together) but they want £150 for an extremely vague and high initial quote with unspecified products. I looked today, and nearly 2000 households out of nearly 20,000 participants have accepted the quote and have been accepted - (2000 x £150 ie £300,000 collected to qualify for the next stage …. ) so that sounds warning bells to me as to how many will actually get their system and none of the people will be handing over the (in practice) non-refundable £150 without even knowing what components will actually be used. And the successful company - Home Smart Energy - will need to hugely scale up so who will actually install it all? It is a bit like handing over a non-refundable cash  deposit on a car  without knowing what make the car will be.  My quotes have all been for a 14 panel array with less than 6k and a small battery and all been around 14k’ish.  One company has updated the quote 12 times . Solar Together is £14k. 

All of this has sapped the energy out of me and I can’t face it any more.  I’m on a really good fix until mid-2023 and when my energy returns I’ll try again.  But my view is that certainly “down south” it seems like shark infested  waters and there is a big opening for a bit of old fashioned honest services at honest prices.  I’m paying 18.5p for my leccy and my heating is largely oil  and kiln dried logs.  I’d stay warmer if I used the £20 notes as fuel rather than proceed with any of my quotes.  Just poetic licence you understand. 

dave64k

Sorry to hear about your experience UK1. I'm only at the quote stage so far and the firms seem quite responsive even if the pricing seems on the high side and the spec of the systems offered seems to vary making an 'apples for apples' comparison harder.

uk1

dave64k said:

Sorry to hear about your experience UK1. I'm only at the quote stage so far and the firms seem quite responsive even if the pricing seems on the high side and the spec of the systems offered seems to vary making an 'apples for apples' comparison harder.

Thanks.  When you distil down to a finalist or two i suggest you have up your sleeve a picky question or two the answer of which you know but see how they deal with it.  Good luck. 

Screwdriva

Without knowing the brands of the components on offer, it’s very difficult to share how competitive they are. That said, #1 looks the closest to “fair”. 

If there was one thing I would recommend: it’s to chose quality components from large, diversified manufacturers who will still be around in a decade and offer some semblance of aftersales support during your ownership tensure.

dave64k

Screwdriva said:

Without knowing the brands of the components on offer, it’s very difficult to share how competitive they are. That said, #1 looks the closest to “fair”. 

If there was one thing I would recommend: it’s to chose quality components from large, diversified manufacturers who will still be around in a decade and offer some semblance of aftersales support during your ownership tensure.

Thanks Screwdriva  I have added the brands for each quote which are all different.

Quote 1 - Perlight Panels, GivEnergy Inverter and Battery

Quote 2-  Hyundai Panels, Growatt Inverter and Battery

Quote 3 - Panel not specified, Sunsynk Inverter and Battery

Hope that helps

Dave

Screwdriva

Makes alot more sense. As I suspected, #1 is v competitive. Just swap out the Perlite for Hyundai or Sharp black panels at the same price and you've got a pretty good deal.  Best of luck! 

Solarchaser

In answer to your question,  yes, SE is more expensive.

All of your quotes seem quite expensive to me.
I'd suggest that you seek out solar only quotes as the variability of battery prices and technologies mean that they arnt necessarily directly comparable, but all seem to be very expensive just now.

Up in Edinburgh, a friend of mine had a solar only install for slightly less than £1/watt.
I'd say if you can get £1.2/watt that would be a decent deal.
So 12 x400w panels would be 4.8kw and so if you could get that for say £5600-£6000 that would be a decent deal.

dave64k

Thanks Solarchaser

Looks like all the panel only offers are coming in around £2/watt here

Dave

powerful_Rogue

@dave64k As you're in Kent, have you tried Light Renewables in Kent for a quote?

Quite a few of us have had installs from them on here. Recommened to me by @Screwdriva.

Here is my thread with the quotes and pics after install - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6381378/looking-at-solar-panels-updated-now-installed/p1

Solarchaser

dave64k said:

Thanks Solarchaser

Looks like all the panel only offers are coming in around £2/watt here

Dave

Ouch.
That's terrible