Domestic solar PV quotes 2018

Shefwedfan

Ok I have posted on this before....my usage is crazy....no chance reducing it....so at the moment my base is 0.5kWh all the time.

As winter is in the immersion is back on 24x7....

So I’m wondering, would I get better out of waiting and just installing the 2kWh system? Or stick in 4kWh now? Dealer contacted this morning and has slots....

I have zappi but I think I need over 1.4 before it starts pushing to car?

Alkers

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Ok I have posted on this before....my usage is crazy....no chance reducing it....so at the moment my base is 0.5kWh all the time.

As winter is in the immersion is back on 24x7....

So I’m wondering, would I get better out of waiting and just installing the 2kWh system? Or stick in 4kWh now? Dealer contacted this morning and has slots....

I have zappi but I think I need over 1.4 before it starts pushing to car?

We have 300w without an immersion, if your immersion is on 24/7 you would have a much higher load than than and you might benefit more from hot water panels than PV?

KCross

Shefwedfan wrote: »

So I’m wondering, would I get better out of waiting and just installing the 2kWh system? Or stick in 4kWh now? Dealer contacted this morning and has slots....

Are you talking about the battery or the panels?.... kWh is battery capacity.

If you are talking about the panels you should use kWp. Very different meaning and hence answers!

Shefwedfan

KCross wrote: »

Are you talking about the battery or the panels?.... kWh is battery capacity.

If you are talking about the panels you should use kWp. Very different meaning and hence answers!

Panels

Always make that mistake

unkel

You have a Zappi and if your car is regularly at home (you have 2 EVs now?) and plugged in, that is just about the best use case for sticking excess PV production into your car as it is worth 8c/kWh (immersion is only worth 5c/kWh and if we get a FIT, that will probably only be worth 5c/kWh too and sticking it into a heavily subsidised battery is only borderline profitable)

Panels are very cheap, if you have the roof space (and I think you do), I would install as big a system as you can. Up to you if you want to go battery or not. The subsidy is very generous.

Shefwedfan

unkel wrote: »

You have a Zappi and if your car is regularly at home (you have 2 EVs now?) and plugged in, that is just about the best use case for sticking excess PV production into your car as it is worth 8c/kWh (immersion is only worth 5c/kWh and if we get a FIT, that will probably only be worth 5c/kWh too and sticking it into a heavily subsidised battery is only borderline profitable)

Panels are very cheap, if you have the roof space (and I think you do), I would install as big a system as you can. Up to you if you want to go battery or not. The subsidy is very generous.

Are panels cheap? Like what would 6kw without battery be these days

unkel

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Are panels cheap? Like what would 6kw without battery be these days

A 310W panel is €105.50 + VAT full retail price, so 19 of these give you just short of 6kwp for €2k + VAT

Plus of course inverter, other materials and install costs, minus any subsidies. Gives you roughly an idea.

Shefwedfan

unkel wrote: »

A 310W panel is €105.50 + VAT full retail price, so 19 of these give you just short of 6kwp for €2k + VAT

Plus of course inverter, other materials and install costs, minus any subsidies. Gives you roughly an idea.

Ask an installer and it’s 10k

air

Shefwedfan wrote: »

As winter is in the immersion is back on 24x7....

Does your space heating boiler not heat your domestic hot water?

unkel

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Ask an installer and it’s 10k

Installer gets a substantial discount on the price I quoted above. That's for the panels only though. Add materials, labour ($$$) and profit ($$$$$$$$$$$$$)

KAGY

Not a quote as such, but I was led onto
https://dalasevrepair.fi/#products
from the Nissan leaf thread and saw this

80% State of health batteries, from a Nissan Leaf

One 500Wh module, 100€/piece
10x 500Wh modules, 90€/piece
20x 500Wh modules, 80€/piece

That's €1600 for 8kWh (10kWh x 80%)

Pity hes in Finland

niallers1

SEAI Changing the grant to encourage people to install smaller PV system

https://www.seai.ie/news-and-media/changes-to-domestic-solar/

Zenith74

Got a quote in the last few days as follows, would love some thoughts from the experts here?

- East/West system (very little south facing roof space)
- x14 Q-Peak Duo-G5 325W panels
- GivEnergy 3.6kW hybrid inverter
- Installation in attic & other odds and ends
- BER assessment
- Without battery €9350 inc VAT (before grant)
- With a GivEnergy 2.6kWh battery €11000 inc VAT (before grant)
- With a GivEnergy 8.2kWh battery €12750 inc VAT (before grant)

In-terms of our usage, we have two electric cars (but low enough usage), gas heating/cooking/showers, work from home most of the time so always people at home during the day. Average usage is 500kWh per month.

For the craic here is our usage by hour (totals in the first, averages in the second) for August this year. You can see we tend to boil kettles, stick the washing machine/dishwasher on when we get up at 7/8am, and we tend to plug one of the cars in when one of us gets back from work at 5pm. We could certainly tweak that behaviour somewhat to suit solar, and I could swap the car chargers for a Zappi as our cars sit on the drive most days so could be trickle charging.



So would love some input on the sizing of the array, battery and inverter given our usage, and of course on the price itself. Obviously with the grant changing from 19th of this month it would make sense to order a system of this size before then, but maybe ye will all say it's too expensive, far too big, whatever and the new grant will be fine for a smaller system. Was not hoping to spend this kind of money until later next year if I'm being honest...


Thanks!

wexfordman2

Zenith74 wrote: »

Got a quote in the last few days as follows, would love some thoughts from the experts here?

- East/West system (very little south facing roof space)
- x14 Q-Peak Duo-G5 325W panels
- GivEnergy 3.6kW hybrid inverter
- Installation in attic & other odds and ends
- BER assessment
- Without battery €9350 inc VAT (before grant)
- With a GivEnergy 2.6kWh battery €11000 inc VAT (before grant)
- With a GivEnergy 8.2kWh battery €12750 inc VAT (before grant)

In-terms of our usage, we have two electric cars (but low enough usage), gas heating/cooking/showers, work from home most of the time so always people at home during the day. Average usage is 500kWh per month.

For the craic here is our usage by hour (totals in the first, averages in the second) for August this year. You can see we tend to boil kettles, stick the washing machine/dishwasher on when we get up at 7/8am, and we tend to plug one of the cars in when one of us gets back from work at 5pm. We could certainly tweak that behaviour somewhat to suit solar, and I could swap the car chargers for a Zappi as our cars sit on the drive most days so could be trickle charging.



So would love some input on the sizing of the array, battery and inverter given our usage, and of course on the price itself. Obviously with the grant changing from 19th of this month it would make sense to order a system of this size before then, but maybe ye will all say it's too expensive, far too big, whatever and the new grant will be fine for a smaller system. Was not hoping to spend this kind of money until later next year if I'm being honest...


Thanks!

4.5kwp of panels with a 3.6kw inverter ? Should they not be giving you a 5kw inverter ?

Also, is there not a mid size battery option, seems that either a 2.6kwh or 8.2kwh option is missing an option for a 5kwh battery which would prob work better for you than the larger one ? Bearing in mind you already have 2 large batteries in your cars
?

Zenith74

wexfordman2 wrote: »

4.5kwp of panels with a 3.6kw inverter ? Should they not be giving you a 5kw inverter ?

Also, is there not a mid size battery option, seems that either a 2.6kwh or 8.2kwh option is missing an option for a 5kwh battery which would prob work better for you than the larger one ? Bearing in mind you already have 2 large batteries in your cars
?

Good question on the inverter, my guess here (and I'll confirm during a site visit) is that because the system is East/West it will never generate anything near peak, guessing even seeing 3kW would be extremely good (but I'm completely guessing!).

Yes I wondered about a mid sized battery and I think there is, just didn't get a price initially. What's your thinking that 5kWh might be better than 2 or 8, is it just because it's in the middle :P or there's some math in there?

unkel

Plugging in your EVs at 5 PM? :eek:

Why don't you plug them in or set them on a timer for when the night rate comes in? Or are you going to tell us that you don't have a night rate meter? :eek: :eek:

Shefwedfan

5800 for 4.1kW plys 2kWh batter....that what it will cost me after grants....good or bad?

Zenith74

unkel wrote: »

Plugging in your EVs at 5 PM? :eek:

Why don't you plug them in or set them on a timer for when the night rate comes in? Or are you going to tell us that you don't have a night rate meter? :eek: :eek:

We discussed this in the EV forum before actually. Don’t have a night meter and based on my usage (which I can see in detail from the Efergy) the benefit is relatively marginal.

Would love your input on the solar quote if you have any views though!

thos

I paid €10.5k inc vat before grant for
16 x 325w panels
Givenergy 5kw inverter and 5.6kwh battery

As wexfordman2 says, they should have a 6.3kwh battery option also.

The 3.6kw inverter is probably on basis on lower peak power (2.2kw) given east/west split, but for future proofing I’d be asking for the 5kw one.

cjooconnor

Hi
I have been reviewing the history on this thread and alot of good info.
I recently had a supplier visit home to quote but i feel the price too high. After grant for a 2.3kw 8 panels and iboost it was coming in 8k inc vat, no battery. I had another supplier give a price over phone for roughly same setup but different manufacturer of panels and solax inverter hybrid for about 3.8k inc vat. Why would prices be so different, is it due to warranty and quality?

My average electric bill is about 80 per month and we use oil in summer to heat water. I expect to use more oil over the future as kids are getting older. Any advice would be useful.

MAULBROOK

cjooconnor wrote: »

Hi
I have been reviewing the history on this thread and alot of good info.
I recently had a supplier visit home to quote but i feel the price too high. After grant for a 2.3kw 8 panels and iboost it was coming in 8k inc vat, no battery. I had another supplier give a price over phone for roughly same setup but different manufacturer of panels and solax inverter hybrid for about 3.8k inc vat. Why would prices be so different, is it due to warranty and quality?

My average electric bill is about 80 per month and we use oil in summer to heat water. I expect to use more oil over the future as kids are getting older. Any advice would be useful.

€8,900 after grant for me,
16 by 325w Q cell panels.
5 kw Solis inverter.
7kw BYD battery.
I boost for hot water.
BER included.
System fitted in one day.
Signed on the 25 may, installed on the 24 June and grant payed on the 30th of July.

sandy2000

Ive had help from a few people on this thread already so thanks for that. Am looking for some advice about the eddi diverter as trying to keep the cost down.


We have limited roof space, south facing, so can only install somewhere between 7 south and 10 south/east facing panels. Work at home during the day and have an EV so would use quite a bit of daytime usage and would hope the EV can take any excess (dont have a Zappi so its a dumb charger).



If I can get it sorted before Thursday, was going to install as small battery. Does the eddi make any sense then?


My quote at the moment is


8 panels x 320
Eddi
2.6 kwh battery




7.5k after VAT with the BER included.

garo

@Zenith74: Your quotes are a bit high. Since you are at home most of the day you could adjust your usage a bit - takes a few months of getting used to but then it becomes automatic - and go with the smaller battery. I have a 4.8kWp E/W system with a 2.4 kWh battery. Since you also have EVs you could trickle charge all day from March to October so you don't really need a large battery. I would be asking for more panels and a smaller battery. And ask for a 5kW inverter by all means. They don't cost that much more but you will see slightly lower efficiency in the winter but more output in the summer.

garo

sandy2000 wrote: »

Ive had help from a few people on this thread already so thanks for that. Am looking for some advice about the eddi diverter as trying to keep the cost down.


We have limited roof space, south facing, so can only install somewhere between 7 south and 10 south/east facing panels. Work at home during the day and have an EV so would use quite a bit of daytime usage and would hope the EV can take any excess (dont have a Zappi so its a dumb charger).

If I can get it sorted before Thursday, was going to install as small battery. Does the eddi make any sense then?


My quote at the moment is


8 panels x 320
Eddi
2.6 kwh battery

7.5k after VAT with the BER included.

No the Eddi does not make sense. With a bit of planning you get get your EV to soak up a lot of the excess. I assume your quote is before grant? I would be asking for two extra panels instead of the Eddi!

Shefwedfan

So board meeting this morning and after careful consideration the CFO has give then thumbs up.....in other words discussion with Misses and she said go for it

Last day of grant as well :-) well proper grant

4kW system with a 2kWh or 6kWh batter

So far price from Next Gen Power. Waiting for Caldor Solar to come back

Any other options? In the Dublin area

thos

garo wrote: »

No the Eddi does not make sense. With a bit of planning you get get your EV to soak up a lot of the excess. I assume your quote is before grant? I would be asking for two extra panels instead of the Eddi!

Just remember that a Zappi minimum charge rate is 1.4kw, so you still need a decent amount of production to charge the car. That's at 100% Solar, it's probably still economically viable to run it at around 70% Solar, but that's still 1kw and above.

A lot of people think you can 'trickle' charge the car, but 1.4kw in my mind is not a trickle. And the alternative you're competing against is cheap night rate electricity.

If you have a need for daytime or evening hot water (with my young kids we still find baths before bed in the evening means a demand on water) so an EDDI would be saving us from otherwise day time rate electricity if the water needed a boost during the day.

From what I understand with the EDDI is that it will start from 100W, so is more of a 'trickle' solution.

thos

Shefwedfan wrote: »

So board meeting this morning and after careful consideration the CFO has give then thumbs up.....in other words discussion with Misses and she said go for it

Last day of grant as well :-) well proper grant

4kW system with a 2kWh or 6kWh batter

So far price from Next Gen Power. Waiting for Caldor Solar to come back

Any other options? In the Dublin area

https://www.savememoney.ie probably worth a chat also.

garo

thos wrote: »

Just remember that a Zappi minimum charge rate is 1.4kw, so you still need a decent amount of production to charge the car. That's at 100% Solar, it's probably still economically viable to run it at around 70% Solar, but that's still 1kw and above.

A lot of people think you can 'trickle' charge the car, but 1.4kw in my mind is not a trickle. And the alternative you're competing against is cheap night rate electricity.

If you have a need for daytime or evening hot water (with my young kids we still find baths before bed in the evening means a demand on water) so an EDDI would be saving us from otherwise day time rate electricity if the water needed a boost during the day.

From what I understand with the EDDI is that it will start from 100W, so is more of a 'trickle' solution.

Yes I agree on all counts. I just think that it will be hard to justify the expense of an Eddi especially if in high summer you are charging the EV instead of exporting for free. Unkel did the numbers here and found that it would take a long time and probably forever if a €500 Eddi is replacing heating through a gas or oil boiler. Of course everything depends on the individual situation I.e. install size, hot water cylinder capacity, HW usage, current water heating source etc.

unkel

If you use a lot of hot water and if you do not already have a Zappi or equivalent (or might get one) and if you have a large array (over 3kwp) and if you expect we will not get a FIT in the next decade, it would make sense installing an immersion diverter as part of an SEAI install

A lot of ifs there...

thos

unkel wrote: »

If you use a lot of hot water and if you do not already have a Zappi or equivalent (or might get one) and if you have a large array (over 3kwp) and if you expect we will not get a FIT in the next decade, it would make sense installing an immersion diverter as part of an SEAI install

A lot of ifs there...