Solar options (mind field)

phill2-0-0-3

Screwdriva said:

phill2-0-0-3 said:

he has requoted for the sharp solar panels . 
But doesn't recommend this over the other panels mentioned earlier . 

What's everyone's view this or the other ones ? 

Thanks 

I have been a huge advocate of Sharp for over 2 years but sadly all their panels have been discontinued in Europe (including the UK). A very sad result of Chinese State sponsored market flooding (I was told this when I asked the UK sales lead for Sharp).  

As a result, now obsolete panels like these are being heavily discounted to installers (< £30 a panel). I think the Eurener 500W bifacial panels I shared earlier are a much better buy. Now that you've reached out, I will make sure you receive a quote for 20 X 500W panels + PW3 for ~£13K

Many thanks yes received the email .
Will wait on there response
And look into it but it is 30%+more .
So will have to take this into account and compare 

Screwdriva

phill2-0-0-3 said:

Many thanks yes received the email .
Will wait on there response
And look into it but it is 30%+more .
So will have to take this into account and compare 

I would take a look at all quotes side by side - make sure that the number of panels (and the system size in kWp) & the battery/ inverter size/ capacity are matched. The rest should fall into place from there. 

thegentleway

phill2-0-0-3 said:

he has requoted for the sharp solar panels . 
But doesn't recommend this over the other panels mentioned earlier . 

What's everyone's view this or the other ones ? 

Thanks 

I've got those panels and I'm happy them. Look good and generating about 25% more than predicted for last 6 month I've had them.

NedS

thegentleway said:

I've got those panels and I'm happy them. Look good and generating about 25% more than predicted for last 6 month I've had them.

To be clear, that 25% over-performance is not directly attributable to the panels, but the fact irradiation levels have been exceptional since the last week in February. My cheap Chinese panels have equally over-performed during the same period. This is not a recommendation for a particular panel make or type, just an observation of fact.

phill2-0-0-3

NedS said:

thegentleway said:

I've got those panels and I'm happy them. Look good and generating about 25% more than predicted for last 6 month I've had them.

To be clear, that 25% over-performance is not directly attributable to the panels, but the fact irradiation levels have been exceptional since the last week in February. My cheap Chinese panels have equally over-performed during the same period. This is not a recommendation for a particular panel make or type, just an observation of fact.

The cost is all the same pretty much . 
So it's just down to preference..
But I have no idea which to choose . 
Also waiting on two other quotes before going ahead 

phill2-0-0-3

hi tThese are the two options I have to choose from . 
The Tesla one is around £2000/£3000 more expensive.
Is it worth the extra as it doesn't seem to do any difference of what I can see .
But I am clearly missing something.
As for the Panels sharp are slightly cheaper . 
All have the same warranties .

So I look forward to any responses as I'm ready to move forward now . 
But unsure what to choose .

Thanks for the responses and help

QrizB

It's personal choice, at the end of the day. You can go for the cheap and cheerful option or you can choose the more expensive products from household names with fewer ethical questions (although Tesla's brand is somewhat tarnished at present).

phill2-0-0-3

QrizB said:

It's personal choice, at the end of the day. You can go for the cheap and cheerful option or you can choose the more expensive products from household names with fewer ethical questions (although Tesla's brand is somewhat tarnished at present).

Thanks for the response .
Oddly the sharp are the cheaper option. 
Which I would normally go for over a unknown brand . 
But the representative that I'm speaking to advices the other brand aiko as the superior panels . 
That's another reason I am confused.
I have the third dealer visiting tomorrow..
he won't offer a email quote and needs to see the property etc.  
Which I'm not to keen on due to hard sales pitches .
Hopefully this won't be one . 

Screwdriva

phill2-0-0-3 said:

But the representative that I'm speaking to advices the other brand aiko as the superior panels . 

"Superior" can be a misleading word. Let's break your options down:

Panels:

Sharp was one of the first panel manufacturers but no longer markets panels in the UK (the panels you have been quoted as the last of a few pallets remaining unsold). Replacements will be harder to find in the future. 430W monofacial. 20 X 430W = 8.6kW Peak power

vs.

Aiko is a Chinese owned brand which has only marketed panels for 2 years. Installers love them because they are cheap as chips to buy wholesale. 465W monofacial. 20 X 465W = 9.3kW Peak power

vs.

Eurener have been making their panels in Valencia since 1997. 500W bifacial. 20 X 500W = 10kW Peak power (+ 5-10% bifacial gains)

Batteries:

Tesla:

Arguably the safest, most capable battery/inverter sold in the UK. Best cold weather performance. Whole house backup. Unit replacement warranty (should something fail, they replace the entire PW3 at no cost to you). Access to the Intelligent Flux tariff. 

Fox:

Very cheap Chinese brand of battery/ inverter historically used by smaller/ newer “installers” to undercut established component brands. Nowhere near the performance of PW3. Poor cold weather performance. Poor warranty support. No access to Intelligent Flux. 5kW with 90% depth of discharge = ~4.5kW battery size. 

- Tesla has a 13.5 kW storage capacity which is 3X more and with vastly superior performance than the Fox solution. 
- Tesla's Inverter size is 10kW (vs. 6kW for Fox), which means less wasted PV generation

Sometimes cheapest can be counter productive when pursuing a solar system! Hope this helps with your decision.

doctheclown

Hope it is okay to add a comment here, but I have also been looking into this and are feeling overwhelmed (a common issue I think).  

I also am thinking of going solar with a battery backup (gateway or eps), however, have also been looking into trying to find bits and bobs not manufactured in China to try and avoid the ethical issues, while also keeping costs down.  

As to panels, I have found Eurener (spain) previous suggested on here and had an installer suggest Qcells (south Korea) (but Wikipedia did mention they had bought a chinese firm solarfun as some point?).

As to inverters and batteries, tesla a bit out of my price range and I see SolarEdge has also been suggested, but have also wondered about other options (Fronius - Ausria)?  It has been quite difficult to track down where things are actually manufacturered rather than where their HQ is.

One other issues I have found is that all manufacturing companies seem to have terrible reviews for customer service - are they all that bad?  Do the products have many issues that require returns, that they then ignore?

Thanks for all your help and advice!