Domestic Solar PV Quotes 2022 - No PM requests - See Mod note post #1

poker--addict

The 2020 thread is so large now it is hard to locate the best posts, so here is a new thread with the latest information.

From the last thread, perhaps one of the more important takeaways;

Boards users have recommended a rule of thumb of €1.2k per 1Kwp + €1k per 2.5Kwhr battery, including VAT, after grant deducted. This is not a precise rule and quotes are often more, with some slightly less. However, the rule will stop you getting rolled over by one or two companies who chance their arm and quote prices several thousand over the rule of thumb with little justification.

So if looking for forum opinion on quotes, post below, providing all relevant details including number of panels and kWp, any battery. Make it clear if the price is before or after grant.

Having pages and pages of people asking for DMs, and getting them, suggests the no company name policy isnt fit for purpose. I think the current approach of no name and everyone in DMs actually makes forum users more vulnerable due to the lack of visibility of what is going on. I would hereby ask the moderators to allow users to post company names and brief summary of experiences. If there is concerns about bogus recommendations, I suggest moderators lay out out some ground rules for naming a company, like the comments must be based on first hand experience and come after a minimum 15 previous forum posts (stops new accounts setup for no other reason) and no repetitive posting of a name by single users. Perhaps also a robust shoot first ask questions later approach to removing posts that look suspicious.

Solar PV FAQ

List of Solar PV Installers used by Boardsies

Mod Note

We have become aware that certain posters may be recommending suppliers in exchange for financial reward. This runs against the spirit of the forum and is dishonest.

Please be aware that if you receive an unsolicited PM recommending a company and offering a referral code for discount, this is not an unbiased recommendation and that person may be receiving payment for their referral.

If you do receive a PM like this, please contact @Jonathan

Thewires

I have received a quote for 14 x 365w panels, inverter, east west system and 4.8kw battery an ev charge point!

After grant price is €13800 so more than twice the boards formula!

There is a bit of extra work as existing built in solar water heating panels have to be removed but still that quote is a bit crazy? Any recommendations for an install in Cork?

also looking to get a heat pump install if there are recommended companies that do both! Thanks

Bobeagleburger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118280034#Comment_118280034

Maybe they are throwing in a free heat pump install at that price 😄

DrPhilG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118280034#Comment_118280034

Lol, were they based in Monaghan and very Activ on social media?

If you're on Facebook you should post that on the Irish PV owners page, that way we can name and shame lol.

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118280034#Comment_118280034

If you can hang onto the existing solar water panels, no reason to get rid of them (unless your really stuck for roof space). In terms of heating hot water, the evacuated tubes are circa 2x as efficient in heating water as PV are in capturing the sun's energy. Unfortunately you can't run your telly/kettle of that energy, so PV is more "useful" in that respect. But I wouldn't get rid of a working system (assuming it is working?) unless your short on space for PV panels.

Also, beware of heat pumps. Do your research. Huge fan of them myself - but doesn't work for every house. You need to have top notch insulation/airtightness, and I really do mean top notch. Without that everything that I've read about them shouts "don't go there". That's not to say that they can't heat your house cheaply and warmly, but you need to have the house for it. I looked into going for a air-to-water HP for my house (built in '91) with an extension out the back with single breeze blocks and wall mounted radiators.....no go I reckon, I'd lose too much heat. I could fix that by spending €10-15K by exterior (or interior) insulation, but then we're talking north of €25K for everything, then it's getting into ridiculous money and that could be spent elsewhere to improve my efficiency.

This is Why Heat Pumps May NOT Be The Future - Bing video

Before people jump on the "ohh but I have one and they are great!" - I'm a huge fan here. I just wish I had the house for one. "TheWires" I'd just get in the panels and then see where you are in 12 months.

Thewires

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118283534#Comment_118283534

Id say that is them alright. There should be some sort of regulation that prevents gouging when it comes to price inflation based on grant availability. It was really obvious when i got an ev and the quotes for a home charger were more than double the cost of the materials. it annoyed me so much ive just been using a granny cable for 2 years but will have to bite the bullet when i upgrade to a newer ev..

Thewires

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118283576#Comment_118283576

Cheers. The insulation would be a fairly high standard although only double glazed windows. This storm has been a bit of a blessing with regard to highlighting some obvious drafts. Mostly from the window seals so i plan to replace that and then get an airtightness test done. The last ber completed was b2 but the window seals were probably working then. there is also an obvious draft from the sky box connector on the wall. it comes down a duct in the wall from the attic so i must go up there and see if i can seal it from that end.

House was built in 2005 and we bought in 2016, the previous owner told me the solar only works at above 15 degrees so isn't contributing in winter. Are there heat pump tanks with a 3 coil system that could use this kind of solar? I have hopefull plans to build a small covered lap pool/swimspa and repurpose these panels to the garage roof and heat the pool water.

Thewires

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118283206#Comment_118283206

No you can almost double it for the quote i recieved for doing both. 🙄

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118284475#Comment_118284475

I don't know enough to comment about solar water only working above 15C. It seems dubious to me, but don't know enough. I'd say if it was sunny and 5C you'd get a fair bit of energy into the water - but maybe I'm wrong. I understand the tech, but just don't have real life experience. Hopefully someone on the forum has one and can give a different perspective.

What I do know though is that in Winter with PV it's extremely unlikely that you'll generate enough energy to have a surplus to start heating water. The usual priority for PV is.

1. Consume the PV energy for normal day to day stuff (kettle, tv, wifi, etc)
2. Any surplus you'd place it into your local battery
3. After your battery is full, you'd then dump surplus into your immersion.

So with PV panels, it's unlikely you'll be heating much water in Winter anyway, as you won't even get to #2 above. I'm guessing a little, but with the solar water you have you probably get hot water 7-8 months of the year, while with PV you'll get hot water maybe 5 months (but a battery charged for 6-7 months) So you may be reducing your hot water production getting rid of it.

I'd hang onto it unless you need the roof space. The installers are pretty good at fitting panels as needed. Doesn't have to be south facing either, east/west roof will do too.

rainydayhere

I'm in the Mid West and so far I've received 4 quotes:

3.95kw from 10panels + 2.4w batter + Eddi hot water @ €8,300 after grant incl BER

4.38kw from 12 panels + 2.4w battery + Eddi Hot water @ €8,800 after grant incl BER

4.44kw from 12 panels + 5kw battery + Hot water @ €10,000 after grant

2.92kw from 8 panels + hot water @ €39.50 per month x 10 years (€4,740) or with a battery for €94.50 p.m. (€11,340) This quote did not specify the size of the battery but were very against getting one and payback is not worth it. BER separate. Adding another panel would be €6.50 per month so each extra panel costs €780.

Obviously the last quote, excluding battery, from a monetary point of view is the best but from reading here I should be able to get one of the other quotes for upfront payment for around €5,500 after grant but all I can gather is that the top suppliers are Enniskillen based and very busy.

I'd like a 4kw system with hot water. Is there anyone who can tell me the actual name of a Munster supplier.

Thanks

bullit_dodger

There were a couple of Limerick quotes there recently (in the last 2 months) which I thought were pretty good. Sorry, you'll have to chase back through the messages to find them over in the old discussion - but once you do, I guess PM'ing the person in question should see you on the right road.

If you have some flexibility in the spec I'd go for a

5Kwp + 5Kwhr battery if you can. Should be about €7000-€7500 in this market, after grant

Failing that

4Kwp + 5Kwhr battery if you can, for €6000-€6500

The hot water thing is a nice luxury, but in reality when you do the math it'll struggle to pay for itself. Also, you've more flexibility with how you use your energy with a battery than an EDDI (hot water). i.e. you can heat your water from the energy in a battery, but you can't power your telly from hot water!

That said, I bought an EDDI myself as well as a battery as for me it wasn't just about break even costs, but my advice is prioritise the battery over hot water

DrPhilG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118285674#Comment_118285674

Those top 3 quotes are all about €3k too high. As you say though, the EnnisKillen Boys are booked solid til April I think.

BanjoB

Hi all.

I've been very keen on solar for ages but my roof is really not optimum.

See below an arrangement in one of my proposals for a 4.3kWp system that given the orientation will only produce 60% of my current annual consumption of 5000kwh annually. I'm in Waterford.

So essentially I'll only be able to produce 3000kwh annually with this system.

The price for this is 9200 after grant. 4.3kwp, 2.4kw battery, inverter and eddi. Based on the guidelines here this is too much.

I'd like to hear anyone else's opinion. Should I be going for a 6kwp system and split accross East/West Side.

The target for me was to be able produce at least 80% of my annual consumption.

Thanks all.

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118293389#Comment_118293389

There are a number of approaches to increasing your potential capacity:

1) That quote seems to be using 390Wp panels. Lower wattage panels are physically smaller and would likely allow you to get better coverage on your roof. (The panel efficiencies are broadly similar cross A grade panels - Higher wattage panels are physically bigger)

2) You could install panels on three aspects - ENE, SSE, WSW. This will require optimisers across two aspects as there are no three MPPT input single phase inverters available in Ireland. You might need optimizers anyway on the SSE aspect - Is that a chimney at bottom left of photo?

DrPhilG

How did you come to the 3000kWh generation figure?

And yes, that's an outrageous price.

BanjoB

Yeah it is unfortunately.

Really affects the use of that south facing side.

bullit_dodger

You'd probably get 4 if not 5 on that south facing side if you swapped them to landscape instead of portrait. Row of 3 and then a row of 2 above.

slave1

Personally, I'd even spread the panels on all sides of your roof, even directly facing N will produce 50% of due S and the single regret you see here time after time is not putting up enough panels. When you have an installer out the incremental cost is low compared to getting someone out at a later stage.

Bif

Folks. I have a Puredrive battery and a Solis inverter. How do I set it up so the battery will charge on night rate? Thanks.

SouthWesterly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118285674#Comment_118285674

I went with them on panels only and bought 2 extra at 400 each upfront.

It's expensive when you go down the eddi and battery route with them.

See about paying upfront for the eddi and battery.

Gerhard is reasonable enough to deal with.

dmigsy

Latest quotes:

6.4 kw from 16 panels + Eddi @ €7,200 after grant. This seems to be in the right ballpark.

Also quoted nearly €12,000 after grant from the same company to get the same panels with a 5kw battery. This seems way over what it should cost but I'm leaning heavily towards going without a battery anyway. Not just the upfront cost - I'll likely get an EV in the next 2-3 years anyway so no point getting a battery as that would be the consumer/store of any excess at that stage.

MAULBROOK

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118311741#Comment_118311741

Thats to much just for panels on its own.

What size inverter?

dmigsy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118311907#Comment_118311907

Price includes Eddi water diverter and a 6kw inverter

Am I right in saying a 6kw system would produce say 20 kw per day x 7 days = 140 kw per week x 4 = 560 kw per month ?

Also during say November December and January how close to 20 kw per day would you get ?

Thanks

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312125#Comment_118312125

Throw your details in here for a reasonably accurate (slightly pessimistic) estimate:

https://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/#PVP

Bobeagleburger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312125#Comment_118312125

You'd easy hit 560 kWh per month May - August. April might not be far off, but not 100%. My 5.7kWp system was only installed last May.

You probably won't get 20 kWh any day in November, December or Jan.

I averaged 6 kWh a day in November. A handful of days near 15 kWh, but also a handful of days around 1 kWh!

There's a website that that gives a pretty accurate monthly estimate based on your system size and orientation etc. One of the others might link it, I don't have it on hand.

Theres also a monthly thread that'll give you a good idea what posters here are getting from their systems.

Ok so...4 months of the year @ 560 is 2240 kw ...that leaves 8 months left at say an average of 6 kw per day which is around 1440 kw ...that's 3680 kw for the year ...would that sound about right ?

We are using 11000 kw per year so 3680 kw is along way off my useage...that's if my estimates are around that figure....

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312318#Comment_118312318

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312180#Comment_118312180

If you use it the jrc link, that's quite accurate, I've beaten it every month so far.. well the pvgis Sarah!

With 11MWh a year, what sort of use profile do you have, is it mostly night or in the wintertime?

Bobeagleburger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312318#Comment_118312318

I've been generated 3622 kWh since May, so over 4000 kWh is easily doable. On a 6kWh system with a good orientation it should be easily achievable.

I only gave the 6kWh average example for November. For October my average was 10 kWh/ day September it was 13 kWh /day.

You should probably give a breakdown of your consumption. You'll get better answers then. Eg:

EV?

Heatpump?

Ratio of day /night units.

Mostly day time ...nothing after midnight...but getting an ev in January so will be charging on low night rate...

Most of my power consumption consists of shower ,washing machine and dryer going constantly..got four kids ....so fairly heavy useage on those items every day...

Would anyone have a link to people's PV performance ? Can't seem to find the thread.

Thanks

bullit_dodger

There's a couple of them, but the one which primarily should interest you is.

Solar PV Performance Thread - Post your monthly output - Page 32 — boards.ie - Now Ye're Talkin'

If you haven't done it already, I'd advise getting an energy monitor and having a look at what's using what in the house. you'd be sometimes surprised at some simple things which you can change to drastically cut down on your usage. Halogen spot lights at 50Watts each for example can be replaced by similar ones using 6Watts (or less).....just to give you an example.

MAULBROOK

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312318#Comment_118312318

This is a 6kw setup. Hope that helps.

DM if you want the installer details. No harm in getting some quotes so you can plan what to do.

yankinlk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118303194#Comment_118303194

Try searching solis in this forum. There is a Dedicated post and we posted screenshots.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118313057#Comment_118313057

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118313057#Comment_118313057

What orientation Is your house with that set up thanks .mine is east/west facing

poker--addict

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118313061#Comment_118313061

Searching on this forum is something from 2020!! The function is beyond useless now since "upgrade".

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118313165#Comment_118313165

Mine is east/west facing. (1.5 East / 3.7 West) , here is the expected yield from

JRC Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS) - European Commission (europa.eu)

I haven't had mine in long enough to give you actual yields for a year.

MAULBROOK

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118313165#Comment_118313165

South East, North Wexford.

I tried to DM you but its blocked. Send me a DM and I can send you some info

yankinlk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118313179#Comment_118313179

Lmgtfy https://www.google.com/search?q=boards.ie%20solis%20night%20rate&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-m

poker--addict

Yes, Googling is the only solution that half works. Not sure if google will show them all, rank them by date, or what. Boards search engine used to work fine until the upgrade

islander222

Hi, I've recently got a number of quotes for Solar PV system and all quotes have come in significantly higher than the recommended formula..

I'm in the Limerick/Cork/Kerry area and I'm looking for a quality install and system rather than the cheapest that some good folk on here with prior experience could DM me some recommended names of providers?

Many Thanks,

Bobeagleburger

Would it be a good idea to put a list of all providers and phone numbers /emails addresses in the opening page?

Posters could then refer to it and get as many quotes as possible, while still not actually recommending them and thus adhering to forum rules.

championc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118317734#Comment_118317734

Since most jobs are looking to qualify for the SEAI grant, this will somewhat ensure a decent job will be done by every installer.

In addition, the majority of components just click together, meaning a trained monkey could do a lot of it. I have said it before that the difficult part is in fact the adding of the brackets onto the roof.

Many installs are done in 2 days and some in a single day.

So, in my opinion, there is absolutely nothing to be gained by overspending with any installer.

simpsimp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118317734#Comment_118317734

I'm in Dublin and have reviewed five quotes. I won't go into detail, but all of them were above "formula" as follows...

18% -- 20% -- 25% -- 41% -- 45%

I think we can draw a few conclusions...

1. Prices are going up
2. The larger the system, the better the value
3. Finding the absolute lowest price takes time
4. And perhaps the lowest quote does not always equal the best value

If anyone wants to recommend a supplier for the Dublin area, I'm open to getting more quotes, but I'm keen to get my grant paperwork in before January 2022, in case the SEAI switch it all up!

bullit_dodger

#2 makes sense. It costs a fixed amount to get 2 guys out to go up onto your roof. Doesn't take much longer to install 12 panels as it does 10 panels. What your paying for is effectively the "call out charge" which is factored into the quote you get. They may not list it specifically, but I'm sure it's in their cost model. Same is true (mostly) for inverters and batteries. Double the capacity and you don't quite double the price. So the best "value" is in the bigger systems, course you have to have the need for the system as otherwise your wasting money. It's all big juggling game, isn't it?

But yes, prices are (and have) been going up.

Update: Jinko says it did not reduce PV panel prices in the last quarter – pv magazine International (pv-magazine.com)

The formula was/is never meant to be an exact price to pay though. It was a way to ballpark what a good quote should be - and more importantly help weed out the gougers. Can it be beaten? Yes in a few larger systems you might beat it, but if you are within 10-20% of it you're not being robbed. Do shop around......you may save a few quid.

Is this quote over the top ?

Option 1 - 17 Panel PV System 

Supply, Installation & Commisioning of a 6.2 Kwp PV System € 11,210.40

5.2 Kwh battery                             €  4,426.50

Total                                              € 15,636.90

Potential Grant Available                              €  3,000.00

Net Amount Subject to Grant                        € 12,636.89

bullit_dodger

LOL - ahh that's a good one. How I laughed!

(Just to be clear, I'm not laughing at you, but the quote. Let me PM you some guys to call)

Option 2 - 22 Panel PV System 

Supply, Installation & Commissiong of an 8 Kwp PV System  € 14,507.57

5.2 Kwh Battery                                     €  4,426.50

Total                                              € 18,934.07

Potential Grant Available                              €  3,000.00

Net Amount Subject to Grant                        € 15,934.07

bullit_dodger

You'll have to PM me.....

Battery's are v expensive