Domestic Solar PV Quotes 2024 - No PM requests - See Mod note post #1

"Gary does Solar" on YouTube has a good video that covers clipping that could be worth a look - think he does mention that inverters work more efficiently closer to their max rating so I guess that would be what the installers mean.

It all your panels were South facing, you would be more likely to hit that 5.28 (or more) of generation more often in the year so you would be losing out of some generation if you went with the smaller inverter (probably still a very low % of overall generation for the year) but if the panels are in a less optimal orientation or split orientation, it would be less like to hit the peak generation so the smaller inverter might be less of a limitation then especially if it was to be significantly cheaper.

The other aspect would be a battery or if you might ever plan to get a battery in the future, if you had a battery, you would still only be able to support a maximum throughput from solar+battery of whatever the inverter can manage so the smaller inverter would by a limitation there if applicable.

No worries I don't think there is any real ratio that works best - it would depend on each system and what was most important.

With my system, it's about 150% oversized - it's an east/west split - I have it since April but clipping has very rarely been an issue. I do have a battery so I try to not have the battery full on days that are looking good. That way, there could be for example 5kW going to load/grid and 2.5kW charging up the battery. I just do that as I like tinkering with the system rather than any real impact that it would have to overall generation for the year.

I found the Irish website below before I got my system - it has a figure of 6% losses for 150% oversizing but with mine being E/W, it would likely be much less again. There is a good bit of information on the page so some might be useful.

Thanks, went for the less expensive quote and a second battery ………

Thanks for the responses. Should clarify my original post and say I got a pretty reasonable quote for a 4.4kw (10 panel) system but after a site survey, looks like they can fit in an additional 2 panels for €250 each. Is the extra two panels worth it, especially considering they’re recommending a 4kw inverter for both? My layman view is I’m paying extra for a car with more hp but stuck with the speed limit!

I would wonder are they trying to offload some older stock.

Hi all, just got quotes for an 18 panel system (8.01kw) with 18 optimisers, 5kw huawei hybrid inverter for €8k net, one quote is for jinko 445 panels , the other for Bauer 445kw bifacial panels. The roof is hipped facing east/west, east side has 2 and 4 s panels on the east facings to the front and the balance of 12 panels on the west face. I have been quoted € 3.7k for a 6.9kw huawei battery as well.

Questions I have are : which panel type is the better given they are equally priced and is the battery size ok for the system.

I live in the west beside the atlantic and have been told the bifacials are better protected for the sea air ?

Any help would be much appreciated

ditch the optimisers they are 45 euro each so that should knock 810 euro off the quote.

That battery + control module costs 3550 so that’s a very good price for that.

The jinko 440 panels are 68 euro each and the 5kwh inverter is 630. So that’s 1224 for the panels plus the 630 so 1854 in total.

panels and inverters are stupidly cheep these days.

Bifacial are a heavier panel and are really only useful in the ground-mount role when installed at least 4m above ground to get the surface reflection, so my research has led me to believe

I just got a 3rd quote from another company and it's in and around the same as above. Am I missing something? I seem to be seeing much cheaper quotes on this thread. I'd appreciate if someone could give me some advice here! TIA

Using DavudHunt.ie/solar,

hi All,

Can anyone who has ground mounted quotes/ installs please comment .

Ive got one rough quote in . Before I look for more details .what I have at the moment is

10K PV panels. Fixtures and fittings

5.5 kv hybrid inverter.

5.3 KW battery

Ground mount for 22 panels. And all fitting .
prove for supply and install. 14400 excluding grant of 2100.
If you can possibly comment .
thank you .

I paid €12k for a reputable installer [ probably €1k or more over the price of other smaller outfits ] for 13 panels, sofar inverter and 5kWh Dyness battery for a new build.

Additional costs for install worth considering (cherry picker was required as house is 3 storey), flat roof so additional mounts required too.

Your quotes look in line with what I got installed (October).

Quote one , I would be actively😉binning the quote and all waffle from that salesman.

Also I've never heard of a smart meter in Ireland that can't record export.