Solar panel quote check + advice

bottomsforever

Hi all

Like many I'm considering solar panels and I was hoping some of the experts around here could help me move forwards with a reasonable course of action.

I've been quoted £12.8k for the following:

1) 10 505w Trina black panels, six on S-facing roof, 4 on flat roof angled in solar bins
2) K2 solar mounting system + 4x solar bins
3) Solis 3.68kw hybrid inverter
4) All cabling and isolators
5) Pylontech 7kW battery storage
6) Solar iBoost
7) Commissioning and certification

Thoughts please? I will getting additional quotes but for a few reasons, I like the way this company does business.

My consumption from November until now has been 297KW per month to 340, with an average of about 315

I WFH so am home a lot during the day, every day (apart from weekends when we are out a lot as a family. My wife and I are happy to change habits to reduce pay back period.

As well as the reasonableness of the quote, I'm also weighing up battery v not battery at the moment. I'm doing a lot of research but I'm struggling at the moment on how much a battery defrays grid usage during the winter months.

Many thanks to anyone in advance who is able to advise me.

Screwdriva

bottomsforever said:

Many thanks to anyone in advance who is able to advise me.

Your existing quote seems quite high for what's on offer. For your perspective, my MCS installer offers higher quality brands  in their quotes - an example below was from last week!       

10X Sharp panels (410W or 550W depending on survey) + SolarEdge optimizers + SolarEdge inverter (all with 20+ year warranty) for ~£5800 installed. Bird netting extra if needed. 

Add ~£5K for 10 kW of Pylontech if you really want a battery but frankly, based on your relatively average consumption, I would skip the battery entirely and sell your excess to Octopus via their very lucrative Flux tariff. If you get a heat pump or drive a lot with an EV in the future, you can always revisit this later. 

I would also skip the hot water diverter entirely (unless you currently use oil to heat water).

bottomsforever

Hi Screwdriva

Thank you for your response, some things to think about for me there. 

Could I ask why you would skip the hot water diverter? Do the economics not stack up?

Jonboy1889

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80026639#Comment_80026639

if you're happy to go with but with cheaper inverter/panels/no optimisers I imagine this price could also come down to closer to £4k

Magnitio

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80026672#Comment_80026672

If your hot water currently comes from gas, then you will be paying a max of about 10p/kWh. You can be paid anything from 15p upwards to export excess solar. Even taking into account inefficiencies from using gas, the electric option is more expensive and diverters are not cheap to get installed. Gas and electric rates do keep fluctuating, so this may well change.

Grandad2b

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80026672#Comment_80026672

The cost of the iBoost (usually £700 -£1000) is completely outrageous. How much are you expecting to save?

How do you currently heat your water?

Screwdriva

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80026672#Comment_80026672

Exactly - they don't stack up. You can always install a MyEnergi Eddi (superior to the iBoost) later if so desired.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80027079#Comment_80027079

Unlikely. My installer buys direct from the manufacturer (panels from Sharp, inverters from SolarEdge), and is very competitive on price/ quality of kit.

Jonboy1889

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80027499#Comment_80027499

They get those brands at the same price as cheap Chinese equivalents? Wow, they have a pretty good deal!! I always thought solar edge were more expensive

Screwdriva

Growatt is slightly cheaper but….Eeeks! Their warranty isn't worth the paper it is printed on.

markin

You will be a net exporter apart from 4 months a year, And the export paymeants will cover them. A battary simply has a very long payback even at good prices.

If the panels are all south facing you really should have a 5kwh Inverter and go with a company that will do the paper work wilth the DNO rather than linit it to 3.6kwh, and if you have roof space get more solar.

https://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/#api_5.1

https://i.imgur.com/WsDU7A9.jpeg

Jonboy1889

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80027978#Comment_80027978

impressive figures from April to July, almost no difference despite the less hours in the day in the day in April! What size system is it?