Opinions on Solar setup and cost

Hi there,

After reading plenty of articles I have decided to take the plunge and buy a Solar PV setup.

After almost getting conned out of £9500, I have managed to find a different company which will install the following for £4500.

14 Eternity 8.33 Solar Panel Modules
Solax Inverter X1

My question is do any of you have this setup and is it worth the money?
I have manufacturers warranty for 25 years on the panels and Inverter, and am covered for the installation by the company's insurance, so it all seems legit.
It will all be getting installed on a south facing roof and they have projected the following returns once installed: 3483.3 kwh

I'm just after some peace of mind before me and my partner commit.

Thank you in advance!
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Comments

  • Coastalwatch
    Coastalwatch Posts: 3,111
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    Hi Solarshel, I'm no expert but having gone through a similar process to yourself recently your latest figures seems to be in the right area. Looks like you had a close shave with the earlier quotaion so well done for avoiding that. It's great you have a south facing roof on which to place them and judging from your inverter there are no issues with shade(from other buildings, trees or chimneys etc) upon the panels at any time of the day! If you have, it may be worth considering a SolarEdge inverter which maximises output, but would involve a greater investment, although then enable to you monitor each panels output in real time. I'm sure others will add their more qualified thoughts than I've applied here but I don't think you are far away from a very reasonable deal, providing there are no other hidden costs/conditions involved.
    East coast, lat 51.97. 8.26kw SSE, 23° pitch + 0.59kw WSW vertical. Nissan Leaf plus Zappi charger and 2 x ASHP's. Givenergy 8.2 & 9.5 kWh batts, 2 x 3 kW ac inverters. Indra V2H . CoCharger Host, Interest in Ripple Energy & Abundance.
  • The company that gave us the original quote actually reduced their quote by £2000 once I called them to cancel the installation. Their salesman tried to sell me a deal through another company, and asked me to keep it quiet from the original company. It all seemed a little too shady.
    I feel better with the new price, but I can't find many reviews of the solar panels or inverter.
    We don't have any shaded spots on our roof, and the quotation states everything (including the scaffolding, installation, epc rating) is thrown in for £4500.
  • Martyn1981
    Martyn1981 Posts: 14,713
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    Solarshel wrote: »
    The company that gave us the original quote actually reduced their quote by £2000 once I called them to cancel the installation. Their salesman tried to sell me a deal through another company, and asked me to keep it quiet from the original company. It all seemed a little too shady.
    I feel better with the new price, but I can't find many reviews of the solar panels or inverter.
    We don't have any shaded spots on our roof, and the quotation states everything (including the scaffolding, installation, epc rating) is thrown in for £4500.

    Hiya. I agree with CW, sounds like a good deal. You haven't mentioned the size, but I assume it's about 4kWp, perhaps the panels are about 285Wp each or so?

    I doubt you will get many comments on the panels, lots of people ask for advice, but there are so many panels, we have lots of different ones, and ultimately, we won't know how good they are till about 20yrs in, so it's really tricky. But I don't think they've attracted any negative comments on here, not sure.

    Inverter wise, I think the Solax is one of the cheaper models but has good efficiency. What length of warranty does it have, hopefully 10yrs, and can you pay a small premium to lengthen the manufacturers warranty?

    If you are shading free then Solaredge probably isn't for you. I have it on all my panels, but I do have shading issues.

    One other question, will the 14 panels max out your roof space, if not, then consider going a bit bigger, perhaps 5kWp.

    There is a lot of info on CW's thread which might be worth a read for you, and possibly the FAQ's (see my signature) for basics.

    "Looking for a PV and EV solution"

    But again, good price, and well done for avoiding the cowboys ..... £9,500 ..... ahhhh don't get me started .... too late! ;)
    Mart. Cardiff. 5.58 kWp PV systems (3.58 ESE & 2.0 WNW)

    For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.
  • Hi Martyn,

    The system will be 4kwp and that is the maximum we can fit on the south facing roof.
    The panels come with a 20 year manufacturers warranty, and a 25 year performance warranty, and the inverter comes with a 20 year manufacturers warranty.

    Feeling a lot better about it all already just from the 2 responses we've had.

    Time to order those credit cards I think!
  • NigeWick
    NigeWick Posts: 2,714
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    Solarshel wrote: »
    It will all be getting installed on a south facing roof and they have projected the following returns once installed: 3483.3 kwh
    That's very precise! I live in south Lincolnshire and was quoted about 3,500kWh per year by three sales people for my 4kW system. I'm getting a good 4,000 kWh. I presume it's because I'm in the same "sunshine" band as Wales.....
    The mind of the bigot is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour upon it, the more it will contract.
    Oliver Wendell Holmes
  • Wobblydeb
    Wobblydeb Posts: 1,046
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    That price doesn't look bad. We recently paid just over £5k for a 4.8kWp system with the same inverter (X1 Boost 3.6kW) with only a 10 year warranty.

    Not wanting to worry you, but we have been having some minor (firmware) issues with the inverter, and are waiting for either an update or a replacement at present.
    I've got a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.
  • The company came out yesterday to install everything but when the panels got delivered they were Perlights rather than 8.33, so I said I wanted what was quoted as they have a greater warranty.
    They did install the inverter though and I'm all synced up. I'm just not generating any power which is annoying with this ridiculously hot weather were having.

    Thanks for the heads up on the firmware. Fingers crossed it's an easy fix for you.
  • pinnks
    pinnks Posts: 1,259
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    You'll be up and running soon but just to note, hot days are not your best friend as the panels lose some efficiency when they are too hot. Best is good sun but not blasting hot. Sometimes days with small isolated clouds blowing through are as good as pure blue sky days as the panels cool a little.
  • jamesrst
    jamesrst Posts: 5 Forumite
    Wobblydeb wrote: »
    That price doesn't look bad. We recently paid just over £5k for a 4.8kWp system with the same inverter (X1 Boost 3.6kW) with only a 10 year warranty.

    Not wanting to worry you, but we have been having some minor (firmware) issues with the inverter, and are waiting for either an update or a replacement at present.

    by any chance did wersolaruk fit it. i have the same invertor x1 boost whats the problem with it mine sometimes plays up it decides to turn it self off half way through the day and just says waiting until it gets dark then resets it self i have been told might be overvoltage protection the highest i have seen it in the log is 150v whats the problem with yours
  • Wobblydeb
    Wobblydeb Posts: 1,046
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    jamesrst wrote: »
    by any chance did wersolaruk fit it. i have the same invertor x1 boost whats the problem with it mine sometimes plays up it decides to turn it self off half way through the day and just says waiting until it gets dark then resets it self i have been told might be overvoltage protection the highest i have seen it in the log is 150v whats the problem with yours
    No, wersolaruk did not fit it. Ours is turning off part way through the day and just says "Waiting" too. Our installer is speaking to Solax about it (something to do with a firmware issue) and hopefully will get it sorted soon.
    I've got a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.
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