Domestic solar PV quotes 2018

Gazzler82

Zenith74 wrote: »

You’ll probably want to give your rough location so local references can be given

Cork City! Thanks Zenith

Stefs_42

Need your opinions guys!
Im ready to upgrade my existing 3.6kwp system but Ive got roof space at a premium now. All Im left with is:
7 possible panel spots on NE facing roof side and 4 panels on S facing garage roof, all other spots taken by 12 panels in total
I think NE roof spot is pretty worthless no?
Also Ive got 3.5 kw inverter, so if Im adding more panels is it not going to overload current inverter, does it have to be upgraded as well?

garo

The inverter should have a max input value which may be larger than 3.5kW. The bigger issue might be if you have a dual string inverter and both strings are taken and you have nowhere to attach additional panels to. You could get a mini inverter for your 4 or 7 panels. That should be relatively cheap.

NE would be pretty useless for 3-4 months of the year but otherwise will have some generation. Look here PV-GIS
Do you know the angle of your roof? You will probably get about 50-60% total annual production from the NE panels compared to the S panels as long as the roof angle is not too steep.

KAGY

Has anyone gone ground mount? I was thinking of going the diy route and ground mounting over "waste" ground at the back of the house (percolation area). Our roof is dormer + velux and is SE /NW whereas I could angle ground mounted panels at the most useful angle.

A year old quote I got for parts was €4.3k ex vat & no grant for 14 panels, 5kW Solis inverter, 2.4kW pylontech battery plus misc fittings.

I also have Zappi and ev, so might not go with battery

unkel

KAGY wrote: »

A year old quote I got for parts was €4.3k ex vat & no grant for 14 panels, 5kW Solis inverter, 2.4kW pylontech battery plus misc fittings.

Buy the parts and that's €5.3k incl. 23% VAT

Or just a few hundred euro less than the whole lot installed and certified by an SEAI installer under the grand scheme incl. VAT. You'd be mad to do it yourself...

If you have to do it yourself, do it cheaper. Buy your parts cheaper, do not use a hybrid inverter and do not get a battery...

championc

Stefs_42 wrote: »

Need your opinions guys!
Im ready to upgrade my existing 3.6kwp system but Ive got roof space at a premium now. All Im left with is:
7 possible panel spots on NE facing roof side and 4 panels on S facing garage roof, all other spots taken by 12 panels in total
I think NE roof spot is pretty worthless no?
Also Ive got 3.5 kw inverter, so if Im adding more panels is it not going to overload current inverter, does it have to be upgraded as well?

Note to all
First of all, do not mix panels pointing in different directions on the same string - this will kill the potential output down to the lowest common denominator. Either install optimizers or have on separate strings into a Dual String inverter.

Secondly, A panel not being hit by any sunshine will create fook all. And if panels do get sun, the optimum is for the sun to be at right angles to the panels. So if the sun is peeking over the top of a roof ridge onto north facing panels, it's likely to not hit them for 6 months of the year, let alone be at an angle which would produce anything decent. Forget about NE or NW or N*

Look at sun angles for your location at www.timeanddate.com/sun/Ireland/ and pick your nearest

AstraMonti

Semi-relevant question. I 'll be replacing the roof soon, is there anything that I can prepare for the PV installation that will come later in the summer?

championc

AstraMonti wrote: »

Semi-relevant question. I 'll be replacing the roof soon, is there anything that I can prepare for the PV installation that will come later in the summer?

It might be worth getting the mounting rails and brackets and have the roofers install them, especially if it's a slate roof since slates need to be cut to fit around the brackets. That lot will only cost a few hundred.

AidenL

AstraMonti wrote: »

Semi-relevant question. I 'll be replacing the roof soon, is there anything that I can prepare for the PV installation that will come later in the summer?

You could use inroof panels, they are much more integrated looking.

http://www.viridiansolar.co.uk/solar-products-roof-integrated-pv-fusion.html

Shefwedfan

AidenL wrote: »

You could use inroof panels, they are much more integrated looking.

http://www.viridiansolar.co.uk/solar-products-roof-integrated-pv-fusion.html

Also massively problematic and that is why most vendors have moved away from them.

unkel

And not to mention they are ridiculously expensive. Either fit conventional panels or wait until we get reasonably priced roof tiles with integrated solar PV. Which to me still seems like a pipe dream.

AidenL

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Also massively problematic and that is why most vendors have moved away from them.

What kind of problems?

gally74

AstraMonti wrote: »

Semi-relevant question. I 'll be replacing the roof soon, is there anything that I can prepare for the PV installation that will come later in the summer?

big time,

get the brackets fitted, no need to do the rails etc,

have you picked your vendor yet for the solar,

youll save a good few euro's but more importantly have a better roof

Slate or tile?

championc

AidenL wrote: »

What kind of problems?

I would have thought that, to embed anything into a roof is not going to be easy at all. Sealing it around the edges for starters, I then assume that the wiring would then all be internal, and not easy to then add extras later.

It seems like a totally inflexible solution, with little pluses and plenty of minuses.

AidenL

championc wrote: »

I would have thought that, to embed anything into a roof is not going to be easy at all. Sealing it around the edges for starters, I then assume that the wiring would then all be internal, and not easy to then add extras later.

It seems like a totally inflexible solution, with little pluses and plenty of minuses.

It’s about aesthetics. I’d definitely consider it myself personally if I was reroofing. Only if reroofing.

championc

AidenL wrote: »

It’s about aesthetics. I’d definitely consider it myself personally if I was reroofing. Only if reroofing.

Even for aesthetics, I wouldn't bother, unless forced upon you because of a building being of a particular type.

Ok, thankfully, my South facing panels are on the rear of the house, but ii would go with that type just because of what it might look like for the neighbors if I had to put them on the street facing side

air

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Also massively problematic and that is why most vendors have moved away from them.

I think you might be confusing them with solar tiles.
In roof tray systems are simple and very reliable, huge volumes of them installed in continental Europe.
As well as looking far better they also save the dead load and cost of the roofing material that would be under the panels in a traditional on roof intall.

AstraMonti - I have a full system (just add clips for your appropriate panel thickness) for 12 panels for sale on adverts if you're interested, link in my sig.
I'm selling the kit for about half price.
I didn't go ahead with them as they only do flashings for Velux windows and I had a Keylite one.

unkel

air wrote: »

I think you might be confusing them with solar tiles.
In roof tray systems are simple and very reliable

But hugely expensive. You're selling for half the cost, so the full cost was €1,200. That's €120 per panel, which is more than a panel itself costs. Traditional mounting only costs a fraction of that. If you prefer the slightly better looks (agreed) over many years longer pay back period, then you should consider it as an option.

air

Agreed, they're not cheap by any means, they're a premium product which deliver the neatest possible PV (panel) install.

However if you're using a premium roofing material they can still make economic sense on a new build or reroof.

There is a small efficiency penalty as well due to less back ventilation than what is achieved with on roof panels.
However this isn't a factor at all in Ireland most of the year.

Shefwedfan

Seen one company with this advertisement today....a bit of bulls**t I guess

“!!! NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME FOR SOLAR !!!

The SEAI grant structure is finishing this year and a 'sell back to the grid' scheme is being introduced next year. Get the best of both worlds and start saving money today!“

_dof_

Could be true. Feed In Tariff will come since it's an EU directive as far as I know.
Once FIT comes, then SEAI will surely reduce or eliminate the grant, since FIT would probably be enough incentive for solar PV.

AstraMonti

gally74 wrote: »

big time,

get the brackets fitted, no need to do the rails etc,

have you picked your vendor yet for the solar,

youll save a good few euro's but more importantly have a better roof

Slate or tile?

Thank you everyone. It's slates. I haven't picked vendor yet, I guess the rails are not universal right?

Shefwedfan

_dof_ wrote: »

Could be true. Feed In Tariff will come since it's an EU directive as far as I know.
Once FIT comes, then SEAI will surely reduce or eliminate the grant, since FIT would probably be enough incentive for solar PV.

If FiT does arrive the grant will be gone ASAP.....


Just interested that it will be coming next year, when I asked the company they didnt answer

air

AstraMonti wrote: »

Thank you everyone. It's slates. I haven't picked vendor yet, I guess the rails are not universal right?

They are universal, you can fit any type of panels on any rails, you just need the right clips.
Slates are a royal PITA to retrofit roof hooks so make absolutely sure you put the hooks in while the roof is being slated. You should put in a cable entry gland at the same time.
The rails and panels can be fitted later but it may make sense to do the whole lot at once while scaffolding is in place etc.

AstraMonti

air wrote: »

They are universal, you can fit any type of panels on any rails, you just need the right clips.
Slates are a royal PITA to retrofit roof hooks so make absolutely sure you put the hooks in while the roof is being slated. You should put in a cable entry gland at the same time.
The rails and panels can be fitted later but it may make sense to do the whole lot at once while scaffolding is in place etc.

I can't afford to do altogether unfortunately, but at least preparing the rails should be good enough. Thanks very much.

air

Just stick on the hooks then during the roofing and leave the rails until you are putting up the panels.
The hooks won't be very visible then while you save for the rest of the installation. The bare rails would be a bit unsightly.

KCross

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Seen one company with this advertisement today....a bit of bulls**t I guess

“!!! NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME FOR SOLAR !!!

The SEAI grant structure is finishing this year and a 'sell back to the grid' scheme is being introduced next year. Get the best of both worlds and start saving money today!“

I was told similar from a company as well but could be a simple sales tactic.
FiT is being driven at EU level so it does sound like it is coming but it wont make up for the grant. FiT will be worth relatively small money. The grant is quite generous so they dont simply cancel each other out.

Shefwedfan wrote: »

If FiT does arrive the grant will be gone ASAP.....

Just interested that it will be coming next year, when I asked the company they didnt answer

_dof_ wrote: »

Could be true. Feed In Tariff will come since it's an EU directive as far as I know.
Once FIT comes, then SEAI will surely reduce or eliminate the grant, since FIT would probably be enough incentive for solar PV.

I can definitely see the grant reducing when FiT comes in but I would hope they wouldnt eliminate it. For example, the grant is worth €1800 for 2kWp. It could take 20 years for FiT to match that €1800 grant so I think both grant and FiT need to coexist, just the grant at a reduced level maybe.

championc

AstraMonti wrote: »

Thank you everyone. It's slates. I haven't picked vendor yet, I guess the rails are not universal right?

Absolutely then, install the brackets for the rails and, if you're bringing the cables into the house through the roof, the necessary opening too.

Any rails can be used. Clamps match to rails, but clamps don't need to match to any specific panels.

Obviously, you just need to decide as to where on the roof to put them, and as to whether to mount them portrait or landscape.

Mickeroo

Quick question for those with solis inverter & pylontech battery set ups. Is it fairly straight forward to add additional batteries yourself once you're set up or would you need to be giving a leccy a shout each time you want to add one?

garo

Haven’t done it myself but it looks fairly straightforward. Lots of videos on YouTube so do a search and see if you are confident enough to do it.