Solar + Battery Installer Suggestions

Proverbial

I'm just about to start looking at getting quotes for a solar + battery system and was wondering if anyone had suggestions for good installers that cover the South Yorkshire area?

Some other potentially useful information:

• Current yearly consumption is ~3500kWh, but is expected to rise slightly next year with additional weekly washing/drying loads and [electric] cooking next year
• Roof is a East/West split (attached image)
• Currently have one EV that is predominantly charged for free at work but it is looking likely I'll be charging at home a little more often (not currently on an EV tarrif). Consumption estimate above purposefully doesn't include any home EV charging
• Leaning towards a PW3 from my research so far but open to alternatives depending on price, usable storage, cold weather performance etc…
• Must allow part payment with credit card for relevant protection
• Considering AC in the future (though unfortunately this will likely be once VAT is chargeable again)
• Someone is usually home every day during the week. I've typically WFH 3-4 days a week but this is likely to increase to 4 days a week or 9 days every 2 weeks, and my partner is at home 2 days during the week with childcare.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Screwdriva

Looks like a lovely E/W roof that will easily take 20 panels with the potential for a 2-3 additional panels on the South facing dormer aspect.

I would expect 22 Eurener 515W bifacial panels paired to a Tesla PW3 with Gateway 2 will cost ~£13K all inclusive. 10 year workmanship warranty and bird netting included.

Make sure you don't compromise on the battery, the workmanship warranty and check recent Trustpilot reviews to make sure the installer isn't a cowboy!

EDIT: I'd suggest using a calculator like this one to estimate annual generation (PGVIS data) and potential earnings. You will see that a larger array makes much more financial sense. When it comes to cold weather performance, aftersales and reliability, your instinct is accurate - nothing comes close to the PW3.

sheenas

That a relatively low amount of electricity. So you would be fine with 10-12 panels & 5-10kwh battery. The EV does not really come into things, if you at work during the day. Worth looking at Ampace as they have battery solution for 10k-15k cycles that are tuned towards European countries, so can be installed outside without needing internal heaters to work down to -20c. They working with CATL to produce these, so a solid battery.

Power walls are great, but they are top end price wise.

Martyn1981

Side issue regarding the EV. If you get PV and batts, then it will be worth you going onto a cheap rate tariff. That's where the EV comes in, as the EV tariffs are some of the cheapest.

And my personal 'campaign', is to mention that if you are thinking of A/C after the hot summer, then an A2A (air to air) unit can provide heating too. So with cheap rate, you can pre-heat the house quite a lot, over night, at very cheap rates, and reduce the need for gas boiler. And if the batts are big enough, you can even heat the house all day too, but will require two or three A2A units.

Sorry for the later aside.

Proverbial

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82139709#Comment_82139709

Thanks for this - it's useful to have a baseline to compare against. I'll make use of the calculator over the weekend as well.

@sheenas I'll update my original post to include some info on daytime usage / occupancy which would have been some useful background info.

@Martyn1981 Yeah, I've definitely got a ToU tariff in mind to go hand-in-hand with a battery setup (and subsequently useful for EV charging). Definitely have AC in mind for the future given recent summers and what future ones are likely to be like, although hadn't thought too much about the heating aspect though I know A2A can cool and heat.

Currently trying to compile a list of possible installers, but there are a lot to try and sift through, especially when trying to discount those that haven't been around too long (I'd like a company they will likely still be around to act upon their own warranty if needed).

sheenas

I work from home and with the light on we tick-over on under 300wh, so it has less impact than you might think.

Typical ACs can use up to 1.5Kwh so can be very expensive to run. I would think about insulation before make the step to AC. Our house has triple glazed windows and decent insulation. Getting the window open closed routine right and its nice during the summer and needs some heating during the winter evening, and all day Dec/Jan/Feb/April thu with ultimate passive houses you don't need any central heating, now I am not suggest you go to those extremes, just to suggest thinking insulation first. Insulation does require consideration for air circulation. We have two very low power fun that run all the time within the bathrooms for example.

Hexane

I would recommend Red Electrical in Chorley, Lancashire if they're not currently too busy for work in Yorkshire. They are or were a Tesla Powerwall certified installer, and used to recommend part payment by credit card for the reasons you mention. They installed my system considerably more than five years ago.

In my experience, larger/national companies or chains are worth avoiding.