Domestic Solar PV Quotes 2020

slave1

Weather been perfect for the last 3/4 weeks, then we hear talk of Level 5 and now I look at forecast for Monday and it's a downpour....guess what day I'm getting the panels in, FFS

Caspero

BryanF wrote: »

The forum charter is clear:


Any threads naming specific companies/traders will be deleted.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055251276

It's this part that doesn't seem to serve the community because it prevents people from sharing who is a high quality supplier. A recommendation of a supplier you've used before is very different from an advertisement. I see from the link you shared that the charter has been amended before (post 4 says "Charter updated"). Why not update it to remove this line? It's not like it's the American constitution that is almost never amended. If there's a part that doesn't serve the community it can be updated.

SouthWesterly

Caspero wrote: »

It's this part that doesn't seem to serve the community because it prevents people from sharing who is a high quality supplier. A recommendation of a supplier you've used before is very different from an advertisement. I see from the link you shared that the charter has been amended before (post 4 says "Charter updated"). Why not update it to remove this line? It's not like it's the American constitution that is almost never amended. If there's a part that doesn't serve the community it can be updated.

It was acceptable to name names after the install was done in the 2018 thread. Thats not an advert just a statement of fact. That's how next gen was allowed be mentioned without any issue.
Time for a new charter. One 13 years old doesnt serve the current users. It's like banning links in Bargain alerts. Ridiculous.
Who do we talk to?

rx8

The other thread has now been removed.
It was going since June though.

SouthWesterly

rx8 wrote: »

The other thread has now been removed.
It was going since June though.

I noticed that. Reminds me of the influence absentee landlords had on the country

unkel

unkel wrote: »

We, the people, declare the charter changed as of this morning!

That worked well. :pac:

unkel

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

That worked well. :pac:

Patience, grasshopper!

Ha, doesn't bother me waterbug!

I think it's a bad idea, but at the same time if that's what the people want, let's try to accommodate (in fairness this is not a terrible lowest common denominator...some might disagree).
I'm building my own grid tied PV setups at €0.40 per watt so won't be hiring a "professional" any time soon.

You ought to see off-grid pricing. Triple setups costs and then some. I eat a lottov unpaid hours. If I charged a fair price I wouldn't be able to do business.

SouthWesterly

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

Ha, doesn't bother me waterbug!

I think it's a bad idea, but at the same time if that's what the people want, let's try to accommodate (in fairness this is not a terrible lowest common denominator...some might disagree).
I'm building my own grid tied PV setups at €0.40 per watt so won't be hiring a "professional" any time soon.

You ought to see off-grid pricing. Triple setups costs and then some. I eat a lottov unpaid hours. If I charged a fair price I wouldn't be able to do business.

So Sir mod... How do us mere mortals go about changing a charter?

worlds goodest teecher

With the amount of pm's that I have received in the past 24hrs coupled with a wide variance in quotes (one quote being over twice as expensive as the lowest) it proves to me that some of the SEAI "approved" installers are completely taking advantage of the scheme.

SouthWesterly

SouthWesterly wrote: »

So Sir mod... How do us mere mortals go about changing a charter?

Not my jurisdiction. I'm a civi like the rest of you.


Appeal to the mods (tried already got an answer)
Use another forum
Appeal to local mod's overlords (might not end well best be upfront and involve everyone)
Add "No PM's" after post

worlds goodest teecher

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

it proves to me that some of the SEAI "approved" installers are completely taking advantage of the scheme.

Promotional affiliation and price fixing.
Like the state making car insurance mandatory. There's no incentive to be competitive.
I have 4 vehicles. I can only drive one at a time. Guess how many insurance policies I have.

worlds goodest teecher

I even got a pm last night from an installer, inquiring where I got the low price and offering me a setup with an alternative brand of panels.

Sir Liamalot

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

Add "No PM's" after post

Or first 5 only and then request a PM from those 5, cascade load share etc...

worlds goodest teecher

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

I even got a pm last night from an installer, inquiring where I got the low price and offering me a setup with an alternative brand of panels.

Ha! Still sharks in the waters.
In my experience the panels make naff all diference. They're all tested to the same standard.
The power electronics & switchgear is where the rubber meets the road.

That and the install standards...

unkel

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

I'm building my own grid tied PV setups at €0.40 per watt so won't be hiring a "professional" any time soon.

Yeah, I'm around that cost too. To get there you'd need to either use second hand panels or have access to new panels at well below retail pricing. As we both know

I buy second hand almost everything. (Not panels because new ones are competitive and not batteries nor circuit breakers)
Used genuine OE is superior to new jank.
Those XTMs I got were ~one quarter retail. You won't find better. Not only are they the highest efficiency and functionallity but also built like over-spec-ed tanks. 15 years is a breeze to them.

Most of what I buy has low hours being of recreational vessel legacy. Niche applications and never pushed as hard as I do.

...unlike bottom hanging out tradey tools, scrap car parts. etc

unkel

Sorry for off topic, but link to any of those XTM (Studer?) and indication of what you paid for one? Will keep my eye out for one.

SouthWesterly

Guys. Does anyone know the rough cost of getting a spark to wire up and connect panels to the house if I were to do a ground based system and buy the hardware myself.
I'm east/west on the house but could comfortably face panels south in my garden or field.

Less than €200 I'd expect if you mount the Inverter, DC Isolator, AC Isolator and run the cables (but don't terminate....leave 5m of excess at the isolators, run both PV cables 5m passed the last panel) Should be buried SWA to the array or otherwise armoured in a rugged conduit.
Cable's cheap, skilled labour isn't.

For ease of install put the inverter and switchgear a coupla meters from your main consumer unit.

A lottov sparks won't entertain it. Most people don't like sloppy seconds.

unkel

I paid €150 to get an electrician hook up my inverter to the consumer unit. I supplied all parts, mounted and installed the inverter, did most of the wiring and the hook up at the inverter end (including disconnects). He did the final bit of cabling incl drilling hole into the house under the consumer unit and he used existing ducting inside the house. He also hooked up the cables with the clamps for PV and incomer inside the consumer unit.

championc

MAULBROOK wrote: »

I have been thinking about charging the battery at night on the cheep rate to have it full for use during the day.
Was only planning to do this during the bad winter months.
I have a Solis 5kw wit a 7 kw BYD battery.
My thinking is have it full for the morning and if its a good day the the water will heat via the Iboost.

Any thoughts would be welcome, good or bad.

This thread in my view has been a huge help to so many and hopefully saved a lot of folks time and money.

Cheers

Answered on the Solar PV Hints, Tips and Troubleshooting thread

MAULBROOK

MAULBROOK wrote: »

My thinking is have it full for the morning and if its a good day the the water will heat via the Iboost.

Disconnect the battery altogether and you'll get the same effect without energy import. :pac:
(*Waiver; No idea if your inverter will work without the battery*)

SouthWesterly

unkel wrote: »

I paid €150 to get an electrician hook up my inverter to the consumer unit. I supplied all parts, mounted and installed the inverter, did most of the wiring and the hook up at the inverter end (including disconnects). He did the final bit of cabling incl drilling hole into the house under the consumer unit and he used existing ducting inside the house. He also hooked up the cables with the clamps for PV and incomer inside the consumer unit.

I'd probably need to get one to wire it up and connect.
Just wondered would it make it a cheaper system.

BrendanD

Was looking at the -snip- site and 19.99 or 34.98 for solar and hot water and was wondering
could I just get solar and buy and fit an iboost myself ?
It would certainly be a cheaper option after year one or am I missing something ?

SouthWesterly

BrendanD wrote: »

Was looking at the -snip- site and 19.99 or 34.98 for solar and hot water and was wondering
could I just get solar and buy and fit an iboost myself ?
It would certainly be a cheaper option after year one or am I missing something ?

I asked him that Friday. They have no issue with anyone adding once inverter isn't touched.
His philosophy is to get the minimum and then see how much more you want.

Seems like a no brainer.

championc

I bet there are so many people out there thinking "is that all it took" to install a system and could suddenly wish they had oversized their Inverter so that they could add extra panels themselves afterwards.

That's possibly why some cute hoots will only barely sell you the bare minimum of inverter needed.

For any new upcoming installations, make sure that panels are put in top or bottom corners of roofs, to allow expansion later. There is no need for symmetrical installations. It's criminal the numbers of installations where panels are maybe one row right in the centre, when two rows could fit (or one vertical when the roof could fit two horizontal)

unkel

+1

We really should be incentivised to plaster all the roofs of our homes with PV. Like you see in the Netherlands / Belgium / Germany (our PV production is better per year than any of those countries BTW. Cold is good for PV)

citizen6

Hi all. Lots of interesting info on this thread. I have a quote as follows from a reputable company:

4.3kWp 12 panel system
2.4kW battery
Solis inverter
Multiple optimisers
Slate roof-mounted, mix of East, West and South facing
€12,700 less 3k grant = €9,700 to me. Includes vat and installation and warranty.

Looks significantly worse than DrPhilG's quote on page 30. Does it seem reasonable?

DrPhilG

citizen6 wrote: »

Looks significantly worse than DrPhilG's quote on page 30. Does it seem reasonable?

Didn't you just answer your own question?

€3k more than I paid, for a smaller system.

Plus if I'm not mistaken, putting panels on 3 different directions on a 2 string inverter is a bad idea.

garo

It's expensive. A slate roof will certainly add cost. Plus three different orientations means three sets of rails. That's probably why you need multiple optimisers too. Any reason why you are going for three aspects? Can you manage all the panels on E/W? Still I'd be looking at something closer to 8k after grant in your position.

Making the rails too long to accommodate more panels is a good idea.
Two sets of cables means you can run parallel inverters later.

championc

championc wrote: »

That's possibly why some cute hoots will only barely sell you the bare minimum of inverter needed.

I think you're probably giving them too much credit. After the grant the number of installers in operation exploded.
Who dya think trained them?

citizen6

garo wrote: »

It's expensive. A slate roof will certainly add cost. Plus three different orientations means three sets of rails. That's probably why you need multiple optimisers too. Any reason why you are going for three aspects? Can you manage all the panels on E/W? Still I'd be looking at something closer to 8k after grant in your position.

Max I can get East/West is 10 panels. And the most I can get South-facing is 2. I figured it was worth adding the 2 south facing while I'm at it, and to help justify the battery.

SouthWesterly

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

I think you're probably giving them too much credit. After the grant the number of installers in operation exploded.
Who dya think trained them?

Do tell?

Nobody.

Not saying they're all bad, and they were propably in similar fields before, but green team has a double meaning.

garo

citizen6 wrote: »

Max I can get East/West is 10 panels. And the most I can get South-facing is 2. I figured it was worth adding the 2 south facing while I'm at it, and to help justify the battery.

You should definitely price the system with and without those 2 panels. You may not need any optimisers if you have a E/W system - as long as there is no shading from neighbours' roofs or chimneys. So you get a 16% smaller system but save on optimisers and a third rail.

DrPhilG

garo wrote: »

You should definitely price the system with and without those 2 panels. You may not need any optimisers if you have a E/W system - as long as there is no shading from neighbours' roofs or chimneys. So you get a 16% smaller system but save on optimisers and a third rail.

Agreed. Extra rails, optimisers, lots of extra costs for just 700kwp extra. Doubt if it's cost effective.

championc

You also give the installer the "oh this is going to be complicated" opinion, whereas removing them, it becomes a more standard East / West setup.

DrPhilG

Just completed my switch to Energia. If you go direct to their site you can get the same rates as bonkers advertise, but with a €30 cash back instead of €25.

citizen6

championc wrote: »

You also give the installer the "oh this is going to be complicated" opinion, whereas removing them, it becomes a more standard East / West setup.

The two south facing panels are costing an extra €850 in total and seem to be improving my payback time. I think it's the right setup for me, just not sure on the cost.

If someone knows a reputable company they think are likely to do it cheaper, can you PM me the name. Thanks.

BryanF

Some posts edited and slanderous post naming companies removed

gomamochi1

citizen6 wrote: »

The two south facing panels are costing an extra €850 in total and seem to be improving my payback time. I think it's the right setup for me, just not sure on the cost.

If someone knows a reputable company they think are likely to do it cheaper, can you PM me the name. Thanks.

Just PM you there the crowd that did my setup.though I hammered them on price. You can use my quote to bargain.

Now look what we've started...




I've another 2.6kVA arrived today ofta play in the workshop.

I give out about Irish standards a lot, but it's the grey areas of enforcement I love about her so much.
I can talk my way outtov most problems...

...I tried that in Germany once....:rolleyes:

...I overtook a Garda Sergeant on the motorway once. He was doing 100mph....

MAULBROOK

championc wrote: »

Answered on the Solar PV Hints, Tips and Troubleshooting thread

Thanks, deleted now from this Thread.

WhoamI2022

Looking for some advice, have a GivEnergy system. I have tried to change the mode but it keeps going back to Mode 1 by default, no matter what I do, does everyone else have the same issue? have logged a call

DrPhilG

WhoamI2022 wrote: »

Looking for some advice, have a GivEnergy system. I have tried to change the mode but it keeps going back to Mode 1 by default, no matter what I do, does everyone else have the same issue? have logged a call

Try here:
https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2058101518/8/#post115013821

BrendanD

Just off the phone from the supplier that we can’t name that offers €20 a month payment , have to say really nice guy not interested in an up sell , am going to go with them and fit my own iboost (warning expect a lot of questions on this 😄) excited now 😊

SouthWesterly

BrendanD wrote: »

Just off the phone from the supplier that we can’t name that offers €20 a month payment , have to say really nice guy not interested in an up sell , am going to go with them and fit my own iboost (warning expect a lot of questions on this 😄) excited now 😊

Is he putting in the extra wiring for the iboost?