Solar & Battery advise

brvaland

Hi 

I am newbie to solar tech and equipments and currently looking at quotes. The Annual consumption is around 4500 kWh and assumption it will go up. 

We are looking for 8K system with battery and I have received below quotes and I would like to know which one is better value for money.

Option 1 - £10,850

• 20 x 410w Canadian Solar HiKu6 Mono PERC (CS6R-410MS)
• 1 x Growatt SPH6000 Hybrid Inverter
• 1 x Growatt Lithium Battery 6.5 kWh

Option 2 - £11,000

• 20 x 410w Canadian Solar HiDM Mono PERC (CS1U-410MS)
• 1 x 6k SOLIS Inverter (RHI-6K-48ES)
  
• 2 x PylonTech US3000C (7.1 kWh Battery)

Option 3 - £11,000

• 20 x 410 Sharp NU-JC410
• 1 x Growatt SPH6000 Hybrid Inverter
• 1 x PylonTech US5000C (5 Kwh Battery)

Can you please advise which equipment is better and if above quote is standard price for the such a system.?

Regards
Bhavesh

Grandad2b

I'm also a newbie but I've been reading around a fair bit and I think it would be fair to say that both Canadian Solar and Sharp panels are pretty well regarded on these boards at least.
Personally I have a Solis inverter but a different model to the one you've been quoted for. I'm sure there are features and data I've not yet discovered but there are a few niggles with the UI that I'd like to see addressed. When it fails I will be much better informed and hope to choose a better UI. Whether it will be a better inverter as well I'll just have to wait and see.
I'd advise you to do more reading about Growatt inverters. Most of what I've seen hasn't been very positive but as I say I'm new too so it may be that the problems are with earlier models. As I say - I don't know. 
Pylontech batteries seem popular on here. Do some more reading before you jump in, I have friends with GivEnergy batteries and they are pretty happy. I haven't noticed any comments on Growatt batteries (which is about as useful as me telling the dog I can't see anyone when he knows they're there).

The only other thing I would say is to check that your installers are MCS. Don't just take their word for it.

ABrass

Those are good quotes, I'd go with a Pylontech battery over the Growatt. Probably option 2.

The Growatt inverter monitoring software is annoying, I ditched it and went for solar assistant, which itself isn't perfect.

Screwdriva

Hi Bhavesh!

I would recommend quote 3 as the panels are superior to Canadian Solar but I would insist that the installer swaps the inverter to GivEnergy or Solaredge. Growatt is terrible. 

Alnat1

Pylontech batteries are great as you can add more yourself if needed, only have to attach a couple of leads. The US3000 is 3.5kw and the US5000 is 4.8kw and it's recommended you only take them down to 10%, so useable capacity is a little lower than in your quote.

I'd suggest you consider a couple of us5000s as your average daily use is around 12 kWh. They are available online for around £1300 to give you an idea how much this should add to your quote, no extra labour.

+1 on checking regarding the MCS registration, also check the quote includes G99 permission from the DNO. 

thriftytracey

brvaland said:

Hi 

I am newbie to solar tech and equipments and currently looking at quotes. The Annual consumption is around 4500 kWh and assumption it will go up. 

We are looking for 8K system with battery and I have received below quotes and I would like to know which one is better value for money.

Option 1 - £10,850

• 20 x 410w Canadian Solar HiKu6 Mono PERC (CS6R-410MS)
• 1 x Growatt SPH6000 Hybrid Inverter
• 1 x Growatt Lithium Battery 6.5 kWh

Option 2 - £11,000

• 20 x 410w Canadian Solar HiDM Mono PERC (CS1U-410MS)
• 1 x 6k SOLIS Inverter (RHI-6K-48ES)
  
• 2 x PylonTech US3000C (7.1 kWh Battery)

Option 3 - £11,000

• 20 x 410 Sharp NU-JC410
• 1 x Growatt SPH6000 Hybrid Inverter
• 1 x PylonTech US5000C (5 Kwh Battery)

Can you please advise which equipment is better and if above quote is standard price for the such a system.?

Regards
Bhavesh

I am in the process of getting quotes.  Please can you advise the company who quoted you option 3?  The quote I am looking for is more expensive.

brvaland

Screwdriva said:

Hi Bhavesh!

I would recommend quote 3 as the panels are superior to Canadian Solar but I would insist that the installer swaps the inverter to GivEnergy or Solaredge. Growatt is terrible. 

Thanks for your reply.

I understand GivEnergy Inverter only works with their own battery not sure if pylontech works with GivEnergy. Is there any other brand inverter that is compatible with pylontech batteries.

Is Solar X1-HYBRID G4 inverter any good ?

With reference to Canadian Solar HiKu6 Mono PERC (CS6R-410MS) it offers 25 yrs Product and performance warranty but Sharp only offer 12 yrs product with 25 yrs performance warranty. Is Sharp better ?

Screwdriva

brvaland said:

Thanks for your reply.

I understand GivEnergy Inverter only works with their own battery not sure if pylontech works with GivEnergy. Is there any other brand inverter that is compatible with pylontech batteries.

Is Solar X1-HYBRID G4 inverter any good ?

With reference to Canadian Solar HiKu6 Mono PERC (CS6R-410MS) it offers 25 yrs Product and performance warranty but Sharp only offer 12 yrs product with 25 yrs performance warranty. Is Sharp better ?

I see loads of installations with SolarEdge inverters paired to Pylontech (with a controller). This combination makes the most sense to me, paired with the Sharp Panels (15 year product/ 25 year performance). 

Petriix

Just for clarity: there's only one poster on this forum who recommends (on every thread) going for the familiar named brands of solar panels. I've literally never encountered a single case of someone having a faulty or underperforming panel from any brand.
 
Inverters are a different question. I've heard reports of Growatt having poor support for issues, and Givenergy have some widely known issues with their battery systems. Of those quotes, number 2 looks best to me. 

Screwdriva

Petriix said:

Just for clarity: there's only one poster on this forum who recommends (on every thread) going for the familiar named brands of solar panels. I've literally never encountered a single case of someone having a faulty or underperforming panel from any brand.

For additional clarity, I've also shared on multiple posts, it's only when things go wrong do owners begin to appreciate the stark differences between manufacturers. 

To suggest or imply that panels do not go wrong over decades highlights an optimistic (if a bit naive) understanding of the technology...I'll just leave that one there ;D

Alnat1

Screwdriva said:

For additional clarity, I've also shared on multiple posts, it's only when things go wrong do owners begin to appreciate the stark differences between manufacturers. 

@Screwdriva I can't remember a post about panels failing, problems always seem to be with inverters. 

You seem obsessed with telling people they should be paying more to get certain brand named panels, can you provide any evidence that they will last longer or out perform any others?

Just because you keep banging on about it doesn't make it true. Give us some proof please.