Domestic Solar PV Quotes 2020

idc wrote: »

How would that involve changing the water tank ?? The diverter is connected to your immersion.
Yes a more fancy tank might have immersion elements better positioned - ie one near the top and one at the bottom in which case a diverter can be configured to heat one first and then the other. My installer just connected the diverter before the bath/sink switch as he said the temperature gauge in most immersions with the two coils at the top won't really tell the difference between the two.

The tank isn't exactly huge and I feel that the hot water would be wasted anyway as we have electric showers.

championc wrote: »

Not necessary - you can buy a Sofar ME3000 Storage Inverter later on. It is basically like a Tesla Powerwall - a standalone storage unit, which can also be controlled for charging and discharging unlike hybrids which are uncontrolable

What do you mean by controlled for charging and discharging ? how come hybrids can't/don't do this ?


My inverter has two time periods where i can charge from grid to a set % of battery.
And if i so wish i can also set 2 discharge periods where it will also discharge to a set % percentage of battery.



Does the Sofar ME3000 do something much more than that ?


(admittedly I'd prefer if the 2 time periods had separate % values if i end up eventually on a smart meter with the cheapest period between 2am and 4am, and not wanting to start charging between 11/12 and 2am)

Have had a few quotes and about to choose a supplier, so glad to find this thread. Hope you can shed some light on what we've been offered and steer us in a better direction if possible!

We're a mid-terrace SW facing central Dublin property, so lots of sun, not lots of roof... Hot water and heating is driven by a heat pump, so PV Solar is intended to drive the heat pump itself, and appliances.

QUOTES (All quotes ex SEAI grant, inc VAT)

Supplier #1:-
8 Peimar 310w panels / 2.48kWp Array
No Battery
Huawei Hybrid Inverter
€7,895

Supplier #2:-
8 Longi 355w panels / 2.84kWp Array
2.4kWhr Pylontech Battery
Solis String Inverter
€7,680

Supplier #3:-
7 Longi 360w panels / 2.52kWp Array
3.6kWhr Solax Battery
Solax String Inverter
€7,835

Any thoughts or recommendations?

I did not feel that Supplier #1 gave us a realistic system design...
So suppliers #2 and #3 are contenders.
But from going onto solar product supplier websites, e.g. solartricity.ie / midsummer.ie, I'm estimating around €3,000 inc VAT for the panels / inverter / battery in each setup.
Of course there's more bits and pieces that I'm missing, but that seems like a lot for labour and overhead?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

championc wrote: »

You can get 7 panels via Solar as a Service supplier (s). They charge €20 per month over 10 years - so €2400. You could buy out the system straight away and then add whatever bits you want later

I may have asked already, but can you pm me details.
Didn't realise you could buy out the system before the 10 years was up.

My*****.ie Google it. They advertise on the radio too I think.

I did a self install but if starting again, I would get this and add to the max panels afterwards.

graememk wrote: »

Do consider a battery-less route, with a 2.8kwp, and your restricted roof space, Its hardly worthwhile for the extra cost. - If you have both quotes to hand you can compare the two.

Sure you'll be exporting on good days, but on the less than perfect days, there wont be much excess to put into the battery.

We were debating this point. One reason to go with the battery is to power the heat pump when it's doing its late night thing. But that might be needed at a time of year when there is less sun to power the battery. On the other hand, we do have a very sunny aspect, so we're kind of sold on the battery thing, albeit a small battery.

graememk wrote: »

If the heat pump is doing its thing late at night it would (should?) be on night rate, and then also the battery would need to last until then too.

We're not using night rate electricity, as we were waiting to see how our usage patterns emerged, and we weren't sure it would balance in our favour, as most of our usage is still in the day.
Regarding battery - I assumed that a modern l-ion battery would not self discharge in such a short period?

graememk wrote: »

Do you have any idea of your current base electricity load of your house.

Over the past two years we're averaging 6,500KW per year.

graememk wrote: »

I'm also assuming that you aren't eligible for the grant as your house is most likely newer than 2011 if you have a heat pump.

Our house was built in 1934, but we brought it up to an A3 in 2018, so yes, we're eligible for the grant.

Deagol wrote: »

So you are paying around €3600 in labour for 3 people for a day. Not exactly good value for money is it?

But if you want to have Solar PV installed by an SEAI approved company, is there any alternative to paying this overhead? Are there any companies who install at lower margins? From reading through this thread, and from my own experience, it doesn't seem like it...

Deagol wrote: »

I'll answer that by telling you that you could buy the parts for about €2700 and it's a day's work for 3 people to install.

So you are paying around €3600 in labour for 3 people for a day. Not exactly good value for money is it?

Hi Deagol,

I got a quote from wholesaler for all of the equipment and it came to almost exactly €2700.
However I don't have the capability to install it myself, and the grant is only available via registered SEAI installers.
Obviously the installers are factoring in the grant into their margins, but as a consumer I don't have any other option but to go through a registered installer.
Really just trying to get a feeling for what I can expect this to cost via an installer.
Initial quotes I received were in excess of €7,000 for same system which I knew was madness, €4,300 is the best I have been quoted across 4 separate companies.

Thanks.

SouthWesterly wrote: »

People are getting too hung up on the grant money going to the installer as additional profit.

When it goes this summer we will also see a shed load of sun power solar pv eco energy green power vans disappearing off our roads too..

Exactly, my installer charged €200 per panel installed. I could find the same panel at the time for about €135 so he was probably getting them for about €100-110 I suppose. So he made about €1800-2000 on the panels for my install.

There were 3 lads at it for nearly 2 days, bear in mind I had 11 on the house and 9 on the garage. The rain stopped them for a while on day 1.

I don't think that's an unreasonable figure for him to pay them and make a few quid himself.

If I decide to add 5 more on the garage (most likely will) then that'll be another €1k fitted and given that they'll need to move the current 9 down a bit to fit the additional 5 I don't think that's a bad price.

phili_g wrote: »

Hi,

Have been getting quotes for a while now and best I have as follows:

10 x Suntech 390W panels
5 kW Badger PV invertor
Solar iBoost immersion diverter
Installation, brackets & mounts, safety switches & wiring etc

€4,300 after grant

Is this about right for above system?

If it includes the BER, I think that's no to bad.