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

powerful_Rogue said:

@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

Hi p_R

Thanks for the reply and links. Will get a quote from LR to compare and then make a decision

Cheers

Dave

arty688

Just came across this thread , I'm in the midlands and my cheapest quote was LR from Kent

bit of a long journey with battery delays ,Wasps nest, Queens death and illness , but finally all installed and all seems to be working well.

dave64k

Had a quote from LR which is much more competitive that the others I have received although the 410 Sharp panels don't looks as black as the 400 panels (which they don't have anymore). Any thoughts on the system which is coming in at just over £1/kWh (ex battery)
Size of system 4,920kh. With 6.5kh battery storage and a Solar I Boost water heater

Equipment;

12 x 410w German Sharp Solar black panels, 25 year warranty to 86.2% efficiency 

  1 x Growatt SPH3600 Hybrid inverter with AC/DC Battery storage management system 10 year product warranty

  1 x Growatt GBL16532 6.5kh of battery storage 10 year warranty

  1 x Solar I Boost water heater

  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. 

Screwdriva

dave64k said:

Had a quote from LR which is much more competitive that the others I have received although the 410 Sharp panels don't looks as black as the 400 panels (which they don't have anymore). Any thoughts on the system which is coming in at just over £1/kWh (ex battery)

Hi Dave! 

Those panels are excellent and are probably the best bang for the buck you can get today. The inverter and battery not so much - you'll find 6.5 kWh to be too low for your particular usage/ consumption. For me, reputation wise, Growatt is probably one of the worst brands you can buy these days when its comes to aftersales support. 

If I were you, I'd ask LR to supply the GivEnergy inverter/ battery from quote 1 or the installer from Quote 1 to supply the Sharp Panels. LR also supply LG Chem batteries which are some of the best you can buy but do cost a bit more. 

Officer_Dibble

If you've got gas central heating you might want to reconsider the iBoost. At the moment you can export at 15p per kWh with Octopus while paying 10.3p per kWh for your gas to do the job. It might also get into fights with the battery, you wouldn't want to end up with a tankful of hot water that might not get used but a battery only half full. Glad to see that no one's taught Mark about aposhrophes yet.

Officer_Dibble

Aposhrophes being well brought up apostrophes, of course.

uk1

Officer_Dibble said:

Aposhrophes being well brought up apostrophes, of course.

Apostrophes was an  extremely possessive  Greek God who died of a coma. 😀

Solarchaser

Panels are a decent make.
I'd strongly advise aaginst the growatt sph3600 as I had one, and made them take it back.

Before trying to sway you about iboost and or batteries, can you tell us what your annual consumption is (electricity and gas) and also how often someone is in the house during the day consuming electricity?

dave64k

Solarchaser said:

Panels are a decent make.
I'd strongly advise aaginst the growatt sph3600 as I had one, and made them take it back.

Before trying to sway you about iboost and or batteries, can you tell us what your annual consumption is (electricity and gas) and also how often someone is in the house during the day consuming electricity?

Hi Solarchaser

Electricity about 4400kWh and gas about 11500kWh  There is some consumption during the day as work from home

Is Growatt a standard pick for suppliers as it's low cost as plenty seem to offer? All this tech seems to have issues if I pay too much attention to various blogs?

Cheers

Dave

Officer_Dibble

My Growatt SPH3600's doing a good job so far. Some slight delays switching away from import to solar/battery occasionally, but not costing enough to justify spending much more on a niftier make.