Solar Panel & Battery System Quote (check!)

bartyj11

Hi all, bit of a lurker but I figured I'd sign up to use your expertise to help with a solar decision!

I have been in a new build home for 2 months and I'm considering solar. The house is a 4 bed detached, with only me and the partner for now. I only have 1 month's bill which was about £70 for electric through Octopus Flexible Tariff (that was for April so I don't know how I'd scale that up over the year!). We don't currently own an EV, but I'd expect we will in the next 2-5 years.

I have 3 quotes at the moment from Octopus, Project Solar and GlowGreen:

Octopus:
12x JASolar 450W panel (25 year Product Warranty & 30 year linear performance warranty)
12x 4.32kW Enphase microinverters (25 year parts & labour warranty)
1x 5kwH Enphase Battery (15 year warranty)
Quote:£11,840 

Project Solar:
12x Evolution Maxima 490W panels (Lifetime warranty)
1x Fox Inverter (can't find/ remember the spec) (Lifetime warranty)
1x Fox Energy Cube 12.9kWh [Flux & Force charge] (15 year warranty - but he mentioned a cell swap on Year 15 or something).
Quote: £13,314

GlowGreen
12x Perlight Smart Black 500W panel (30 year warranty)
1x Duracell Dura-i Inverter (6kW) (No idea on warranty)
1x Duracell Dura5.12kWh battery (8000 cycle life)
Quote: £7951

I'm a bit out of my depth in working out all the pros and cons here, but I'm wondering if anyone has any insight as to my next steps?

Octopus seemed reasonable and offered 0% finance for 3 years (I'll always say yes to free money!). Also, they're not likely to disappear being a large energy company - so ongoing customer support will be available.

Project Solar are more expensive but offer a better battery system and comprehensive warranties (though from a search on this forum, might not be worth the paper they're written on - if anyone can explain further that would be really helpful! It seemed like they were all FCA covered so I'm not sure what the concern is?). The bigger battery can help as the household grows and as a cost saver (by charging up overnight and then selling during the day when the tariffs are cheapest/ highest).

GlowGreen are obviously the cheapest up front but I'm going to have to change my battery and inverter more frequently.

My thought process/ ChatGPT advised that for my requirements, Project Solar makes more sense - I'm not planning on moving house again (it's the forever home) and the initial outlay will be recouped over the lifetime of the solar. But the worries about the company on this forum have concerned me.

Any advice is welcome - what do you think?

Screwdriva

I'd avoid Project Solar like I would any con artist. Octopus has higher integrity as a national installer but are overpriced for the panels they offer. 

Installers I use to help others offer:

12 X Eurener 500W bifacial panels (30 year warranty)
  1 X Tesla Powerwall 3 (13.5kW) (10 year guarantee)

~ £11K installed including bird netting, G99 and (optional) painting of the invisible roof area behind the panels in white to maximize bifacial gains. That's > 11% more PV generation, 40% higher inverter capacity (6kW with the PW3) and 170% more battery capacity (not to mention much more capability) for less £.

GlowGreen's spec is very much on the (Chinese) budget end of the spectrum and cannot be compared to the above. Hope this helps give you perspective! 

bartyj11

Thanks @Screwdriva. Definitely perspective!

What is it about Project Solar that's greatly concerning? I only had the guy round this morning and he was fairly amenable

Do you have any companies to recommend that would/should offer that kind of value that I can call up?

QrizB

GlowGreen have quoted a fair price for budget kit. If the electricity market stays as it currently is, it should pay for itself in 7-8 years and anything beyond that's a bonus.

Project Solar are a "someone else's bargepole" installer, and Octopus are sadly too expensive for what they're offering.

Screwdriva's system is bigger brands and should get better long-term support, and should still pay for itself within a decade (again, assuming there's no big change to the electricity market). Also the Powerwall opens up access to some specialist tariffs that could reduce the payback period further.

bartyj11

Thanks @QrizB. I'm definitely getting those vibes on Project Solar!

I'm definitely up for buying better products so I don't have to worry about longer term support - I suppose I just need to go find an installer!

Screwdriva

QrizB said:

Screwdriva's system is bigger brands and should get better long-term support, and should still pay for itself within a decade (again, assuming there's no big change to the electricity market). Also the Powerwall opens up access to some specialist tariffs that could reduce the payback period further.

Based on the numbers I'm seeing with end users, the PW3 and Intelligent Flux combination have reduced payback period to between 5-8 years, depending on the number of panels installed. 

badmemory

The Octopus battery looks very small for the house size (unless I have misunderstood).  

Just because any warranty has expired does not necessarily mean a replacement.

bartyj11

badmemory said:

The Octopus battery looks very small for the house size (unless I have misunderstood).  

Just because any warranty has expired does not necessarily mean a replacement.

Octopus said that they'd recommending sharing with a smaller battery for now while our usage is low, then adding later if necessary. I wasn't too fussed either way.

Yes I suppose that's right. But we likely don't have a lot of data on how long these systems actually last in reality (though I may be underestimating just how long solar has been around!).

bartyj11

Screwdriva said:

QrizB said:

Screwdriva's system is bigger brands and should get better long-term support, and should still pay for itself within a decade (again, assuming there's no big change to the electricity market). Also the Powerwall opens up access to some specialist tariffs that could reduce the payback period further.

Based on the numbers I'm seeing with end users, the PW3 and Intelligent Flux combination have reduced payback period to between 5-8 years, depending on the number of panels installed. 

I've asked for some quotes from two local suppliers. One of them is the company that actually wired up the house (figured it made sense to ask).

Both of them are approved to fit Powerwalls.

What's the main benefits of the Powerwall over a standard battery of the same capacity? In my mind I was kinda against them as I figured it was largely inflated cost for the brand.

Martyn1981

I think the big benefit of the PW3 is that it has the PV inverters built in, so the panels will just plug straight into it. I think it can handle 3 PV strings each on its own MPPT (if memory serves).

So that simplifies things. Also if you have the gateway(?) device, then the house can switch over to the PW3 in the case of a powercut, but I may be oversimplifying things.

Screwdriva

Martyn1981 said:

I think the big benefit of the PW3 is that it has the PV inverters built in, so the panels will just plug straight into it. I think it can handle 3 PV strings each on its own MPPT (if memory serves).

So that simplifies things. Also if you have the gateway(?) device, then the house can switch over to the PW3 in the case of a powercut, but I may be oversimplifying things.

Spot on. Often overlooked, Intelligent Flux tariff has been incredibly lucrative for homeowners. Just to highlight this, several PW3 owners are earning £0.25+ per kWh as a daily average. That has translated to a consistent £10 a day for a relatively smaller system rising quickly to twice that when you are north of 20 panels. PV only homeowners like me would be lucky to get £5-7 a day!

The PW3 can discharge much more than other IOF compatible batteries, so when you have a larger array, you are consistently exporting a significantly greater amount of power through peak generation. A great combination of capability and commercials!