Solar Panel Quote

lucasharrison

Hi all.

I'm getting roof replaced, so looking at solar to make use of scaffolding. I know very little, so after any advice on this quote.

4.4kwH system, spanning two roofs, inc battery
£7.5k.
10 DMAGC solar panels
1 Fox ESS H1 G2 5.0kW 1ph Hybrid Inverter
 Fox ESS 5.2kWh battery storage system
Expected to generate 3,660 kWh per year 

Same set up without battery, but with hybrid inverter (in case we want future battery) is £6.1k

Any advice would be great, not sure quality of the materials. We'll likely get an EV, and I work at home, so also not sure if a battery if worth it.

Feels a lot to me given no scaffold costs. £3.4k labour for what is presumably only a few days work.

Screwdriva

Can I ask what your annual electricity consumption is and we can go from there?

lucasharrison

Thanks

3493 khW last year. No EV yet.

Screwdriva

lucasharrison said:

3493 khW last year. No EV yet.

I would suggest skipping the battery unless you're planning on a heat pump soon? Most branded, non-DIY type batteries start to make fiscal sense North of 4000 kWh a year. (An EV would typically charge at night during the cheap EV tariff windows). 

Installers I use to help others offer the following system for ~£5.5K installed:

10 X Eurener 500W Bifacial panels (5kWp)  +
10 X SolarEdge optimizers +
  1 X SolarEdge 5kW inverter (20 year warranty)

Bird netting, G99 and 10 year workmanship warranty all included. A 10+ % larger, more capable system with vastly superior brands and support, for less.

Fox/ DMEG are what I call the "bargain basement" PV brands some operations use to undercut quality installers - I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

lucasharrison

Thanks. No plans for heat pump, boiler only 2 years old and it's an old house.

Interesting. Maybe I need to speak with more installers then. The £6.1k quote with no battery included a hybrid inverter so assume it would be cheaper without. 

Screwdriva

The quote I have shared above includes a vastly superior hybrid inverter as well. The price you have been quoted is exorbitant for what’s on offer And this is a common practice sadly.

badmemory

That quote makes me wonder if my installer was being totally honest.  They said that they would not install without a battery.  My usage though is double & I would not be without my batteries anyway.

Screwdriva

badmemory said:

That quote makes me wonder if my installer was being totally honest.  They said that they would not install without a battery. 

This is a common tactic - more profit in it for them. Most end users haven't run the numbers to determine whether a battery makes sense or not for their own use case. 

badmemory

I had already made the decision about having batteries when they said that so at least it didn't influence my decision.  It just may influence what I may have said to friends considering solar themselves.