PV Quote 12.3KW

Jonboy1889

True- there are certainly cases where panel level monitoring is incredible valuable!

reduced output on solar panels is guaranteed (generally gradual I assume, and often at different rates). 

But thinking hypothetically even if i knew one of my panels went to 75% would I be willing to spend £800+ on scaffolding to get it replaced anyway? 25% loss on a 400w panel = 100KW lost a year *34p = £34 lost output a year (less if you’re exporting excess- £25 on flux, pitiful sums with SEG). Long time to get that scaffolding cost back. Obviously if you can get to your roof without scaffolding that’s a different matter.  (The above calcs also ignore the additional cost of optimisers in the first place)

The failure rate on solar panels is 0.05% vs a much higher rate on optimisers (2%?)

I am sure you’re right that they bank on people not being willing to fork out for scaffolding!! That probably skews the numbers slightly  

you pay your money and you take your chances!!

Jonboy1889

Screwdriva said:

JKenH said:

I suspect panel manufacturers can supply a 25 year warranty because they know the cost of scaffold and labour will put off all but the most bloody minded of claimants.

We had a SolarEdge inverter fail on a family member's home in Bromley, 24 hours after commissioning. At the time, SolarEdge had a national order backlog of 600+ inverters. Only when our installer visited the site, checked each panel and optimizer over video call (to their credit), did SolarEdge agree to a warranty replacement, which was installed 4 weeks later.

SolarEdge paid the installer a reduced fee for their visit. We paid nothing. Had SolarEdge refused this service, I would have used our home insurance policy's legal cover to pursue a resolution. Fortunately, going with the brand has provided a degree of peace of mind, which I rate as high as our panel level monitoring. 

I also agree peace of mind is an important thing, and trust that your installers/providers are going to be reliable- which is why the cheapest quote is often not the best one!

Screwdriva

Gary's video summarizes the benefits of optimizers really well, especially the less discussed topic of panel degradation and safety. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4czBPobtg0

Jonboy1889

Screwdriva said:

Gary's video summarizes the benefits of optimizers really well, especially the less discussed topic of panel degradation and safety. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4czBPobtg0

Gary is great! Very well covers the topic, in a balanced way. The safety angle very important esp on a very large array

QrizB

Jonboy1889 said:

But thinking hypothetically even if i knew one of my panels went to 75% would I be willing to spend £800+ on scaffolding to get it replaced anyway? 25% loss on a 400w panel = 100KW lost a year *34p = £34 lost output a year (less if you’re exporting excess- £25 on flux, pitiful sums with SEG). Long time to get that scaffolding cost back. Obviously if you can get to your roof without scaffolding that’s a different matter.  (The above calcs also ignore the additional cost of optimisers in the first place)

The failure rate on solar panels is 0.05% vs a much higher rate on optimisers (2%?)
I am sure you’re right that they bank on people not being willing to fork out for scaffolding!! That probably skews the numbers slightly  
you pay your money and you take your chances!!

A great warranty is still only a poor substitute for a reliable system, as JKenH's experience shows.

Long warranties should serve as some sort of assurance that the devices are reliable and won't go wrong, but that isn't always the case.

Jonboy1889

Indeed, there are always exceptions where it’s not the case, but warranty aside you still have a 99.95% chance nothing will go wrong this year, with a solar panel at least 😊
 

I am sure a lot of company’s warranties aren’t worth much- loads of ts and cs that mean you can’t claim- or a complex process to follow to stop people claiming. Or even things like cash back that you can only get if you jump through lots of hoops!

ispookie666

The usefulness of panel level monitoring - system installed in 2015, no shading 

scubajoe

ispookie666 said:

The usefulness of panel level monitoring - system installed in 2015, no shading 

Indeed, definitely a plus.

Jonboy1889

Definitely helpful if you have that many panels!! I would love that level of monitoring (being a data analyst myself). You now just need scaffolding to fix them (and every time one goes wrong?)- it’s also quite possible that the reason the panels aren’t functioning is due to the faulty optimisers which have a much higher failure rate. 

Meanwhile all those without panel level monitoring are living in blissful ignorance 😂

Screwdriva

Jonboy1889 said:

Definitely helpful if you have that many panels!! I would love that level of monitoring (being a data analyst myself). You now just need scaffolding to fix them (and every time one goes wrong?)- it’s also quite possible that the reason the panels aren’t functioning is due to the faulty optimisers which have a much higher failure rate. 

Meanwhile all those without panel level monitoring are living in blissful ignorance 😂

If you watch the video linked above, you'll find optimizer failure rate is believed to be very low. Technically, higher than panels themselves yes but I can't speak to a specific install other than to say I'd be really glad to know when a panel (or 5) are down!

Not all roofs require scaffolding (ours can be accessed via a friendly neighbours velux window).