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

OO7FITZY · 18-03-2022 5:43pm

thx, my budget is 8k so even if I haggle I prob won't get close to it which is why I am asking if anyone can PM me a good installer that covers Munster area that is reasonable also.

And yes, the 2nd quote was binned on first view...the neck on some people!

SouthWesterly · 18-03-2022 5:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118802454#Comment_118802454

I don't think you'll do a whole lot better. You might save a few hundred. If budget is tight, maybe settle on 2.4 kW battery and add to it when you can.

DrPhilG · 18-03-2022 5:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118802267#Comment_118802267

I wouldn't call quote 1 particularly high.

5.9kWp = €6k

5.1kWh battery = €2k

Eddi = €500

Battery grant = €600

Total - €9,100

So your quoted €9,400 is fairly reasonable given the rise in prices of late.

If your budget is €8k, I'd ask for a 2.4kWh PylonTech battery or similar instead and try to get it done for €8k. You can always save up and add a second Pylontech later. They pop up second hand here at times around the €700 mark.

MAULBROOK · 18-03-2022 6:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118802267#Comment_118802267

Quote one is not to bad but prices have definitely gone up. Some companies include the BER.

mick121 · 21-03-2022 9:04am

Pmd you

Birka · 21-03-2022 11:31am

Have prices gone up greatly since October?

I wanted to upgrade an existing system to a 5kW hybrid converter and 5 kWh battery along with a small bit of additional wiring and was quoted €3,750 + vat last October. Stuff came up and I couldn't get the work done. The same supplier is now quoting €5,800 + vat. That's a 55% increase.......

MAULBROOK · 21-03-2022 12:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118813073#Comment_118813073

That's a lot but I'm not surprised, in normal times that would be outrages but sadly normal times are a distant dream at the moment.

If your on the DIY route a bit more shopping around will be needed.

Lads and lady's here might be able to help.

Birka · 21-03-2022 12:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118813232#Comment_118813232

Thanks - it was all supplied and fitted - I'm not brave/knowledgeable enough to try the diy route. I'd imagine that installers have seen a big hike in interest since energy prices spiked and aren't interested in smaller jobs.

RedJez645 · 21-03-2022 1:14pm

RX8, same again for me for Kildare area please, Thanks🌞

MAULBROOK · 21-03-2022 1:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118813344#Comment_118813344

From the 3 installers I know its gone mental.

Supply shortages and everything else that's going on hasn't helped.

Ginger83 · 21-03-2022 5:26pm

Got this quote... thoughts?

12PANELS 370 WATT 4.4 KW JA SOLAR

5 KW BATTERY PURE DRIVE

5 KW SOLIS HYBRID INVERTER

EDDI WATER DIVERTER

WIFI DONGLE

PRICE 10900 EUROS INC.VAT.

GRANT 2400 EUROS APPLY TO SEAI.

TOTAL 8500 EUROS.

OO7FITZY · 21-03-2022 6:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118802513#Comment_118802513

thx all for the feedback!

Guess it's now or never so will prob go ahead with it

some folks asking me to PM the installer name and I will get back to them tomorrow

smacl · 21-03-2022 7:21pm

Quoted €13.5k after SEI grant for a 20 panel 6.4kw systems with 5kw inverter and 2.4kw battery. Panels are 320w split across 3 roof faces on a semi-d and company reckons a larger battery would not add any extra value. Price seems on the high side and I'd be interested in hearing people's thoughts on the value of a larger battery.

bullit_dodger · 21-03-2022 7:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118815471#Comment_118815471

First off that system shouldn't be more than €8-9K (after grant taken off) .... max.

As for your question about the battery, well a lot of it depends on your consumption. You want the biggest battery that you consumption will allow, and be filled by your panels, but at the same time.....you don't want it TOO large that you can't "cycle it". i.e. use all the stored energy in there before the next day comes around and you start to fill it again.

Without knowing how much you use per annum, and other things like "Do you have an EV?" , "Do you have a heat pump", it's impossible to advise other than on a general level that most people on average would be well suited to a 5Kwhr battery. 2.4 Kwhr is a bit small for all but the lightest of home users.

championc · 21-03-2022 10:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118815471#Comment_118815471

NOTE TO ALL

Get a quote without the battery.

The battery will save you less than 2 units per day. So about 25c per day for about 250 to 300 days per year. So you are talking about saving €80 per year for a battery which has a lifespan of about 10 years or so.

My guess is that that battery is costing you about €1500 (maybe more) and so will take about 20 years to cover itself.

People need to forget about it and let the excess export UNLESS you can buy storage at the right price point.

bullit_dodger · 22-03-2022 12:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118816169#Comment_118816169

Not sure I agree with the math there. I did a fairly extensive analysis myself with my own numbers and was seeing an 8-9 years payback last summer before I bought my own. The reality after purchase has pretty much behaved according to forecast, albeit I do very much have an "unusual" consumption.

Two things have changed since then however...

The battery grant of €600 was removed.
Prices have in general gone up by 10-15%

meaning that payback timelines have invariably increased. I reckon ~12 years is about the norm now. That said, I think in general a 5Kwhr battery is the way to go. You might even cycle it twice on a good day with the washing/tumble dryer on in the morning.

That said, you do DEFINETELY need to crunch the numbers.

smacl · 22-03-2022 10:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118816169#Comment_118816169

What's the thinking behind the 2 units per day figure? In our household, I have a home office which will be drawing a certain amount during the day, but the larger devices such as cooker, washing machine and tumble dryer will more likely be on in the evening as the rest of the family arrives back into the house. Similarly kettle, lights, TV, etc... will only be morning or evening.

Also thinking that in the event of a power cut, a larger battery would be useful to keep lower power devices (e.g. laptop, LED lights, wi-fi router) running for the outage which would be a real boon for the home office. Had two power cuts last year and my suspicion is that this is likely to increase rather than decrease going forward.

AndyBoBandy · 22-03-2022 10:57am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118816169#Comment_118816169

Yeah, I'd disagree with this.

I couldn't imagine the system being half as effective without the battery.

For the last few weeks my system output has been peaking at around 2kW (increasing though to 3kW and even 4kW at times now though). From about mid January to mid February, I was peaking at ~1kW. This is all fine as the daytime load on the house is usually about 0.3 - 0.5kW, so the excess runs off into the battery, but when I turn on a dishwasher, or washing machine or even boil a kettle, the house demand will hit around 2.6kW for the few minutes here or there the appliance is heating water, so if I didn't have a battery I'd end up pulling all those little peaks from the grid as expensive daytime rate electricity, but with the battery, it acts the buffer to supply all those little peaks either from excess solar PV, or in the event of winter, from the night rate charged battery.

here’s my house load from Saturday;

And here’s my grid usage on the same day;

If I didn’t have a battery (which was full by 12), some of that house load would have spilled over to grid usage! Expensive grid usage.

then also on the same day the Solar production stopped at 6pm, but having a battery meant the house load was covered up until just before midnight, so again, there’s 5 hours of expensive day rate grid I didn’t need because I have a battery.

bullit_dodger · 22-03-2022 11:35am

To be fair to championc, the math isn't clear cut about payback of a battery. Everyone needs to crunch the numbers for your specific usage. For sure Andy in the cases you've listed above, a battery helps you not to import from the grid. At the risk of speaking for championc, what he's arguing is that the payback of a battery is (too) long, and for many cases that's 100% true. If you buy a battery which is too large (and you can't cycle it) then you've effectively bought a paperweight and wasted some money which you will find it difficult to hit breakeven. Similarly if you pay an outrageous sum of money from one of the big active players in the market, your payback will be long. Very long.

Where I disagree though is in the statement to simply blanket not buy one at all. Not sure that's the right advice. I think it should be more of a .... "it depends". Small batteries are expensive in terms of kwhr/€, but because they are small it's possible to cycle it multiple time easy enough in a day. Washing machine at 11am, and then tumble dryer at 2pm and then using the battery a final time at say 9pm when the sun is down to avoid day rate. Medium (5Kwhr) are better value for money, and large (8-10Kwhr) you really need to make sure you have the usage.

Me? With my 35Kwhr/day mining, I've yet to get to 11pm with any charge left. So I'm cycling 8-9Kwhr a day @ €0.24/unit from that. Right now that's €2/day. Let's say I get 150 days of this (let's be conservative), so that's €300/year. Battery cost me €2,800. So approx 9 years. This is EXCLUDING using it as a store for night rate in day time which drops it to 7-8 years. Seems like a good deal for me, and I'm helping smooth the grid and doing right by Greta.

But, I'm an edge case. Can't stress this enough, people need to look at your consumption , buy an appropriately sized battery and get it cheaply.

championc · 22-03-2022 12:05pm

Batteries make so much sense but the big issue that so many overlook is the actual benefit of what they are really saving vs their cost. People forget the fact that a kWh is only about 15c, and there is a huge amount of 15c's in €1500 or whatever is paid for a unit.

@smacl a 2.4kW Pylontech will have about 2kW of usable power

bifl · 22-03-2022 12:36pm

Hi, Getting a few quotes best proabaly this one at the moment. In the general ball park ?

14x 370w JA panels (Monocrystalline 5. 1 kwp system)

1 x 5 kw Solis Hybrid Inverter

WiFi dongle

1 x Emlite M19 Check meter

1 x Dyness battery 5.1 kwh

Isolation from grid in the event of a power outage (AC/DC isolator plus shunt switch).

Pice €11200 inc vat before grant

Deagol · 22-03-2022 12:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118818082#Comment_118818082

You're missing the bigger picture with a battery. I have a 5kw with 4kw usable, on an average from Late March to late September day it saves me around 6 units. Good days (and by good I mean our typical sun / cloud / sun pattern) in the summer with appliances on the go it save's considerably more.

Your maths is forgetting the times when the battery is covering the excess demand from the house that the panels can't manage. This is to me at least as important as the extra units I get at night when the sun is gone.

From the app: My battery charged (and by extension must have discharged) 1440 units in 2021. 1440*17.5cents=252euro. I paid after grant €1400 so payback is ~5.5 years. Even without the grant the payback would still be just less than 8 years.

And just to point out something else, batteries don't last 10 years. After 10 years their charge capacity will be reduced but that doesn't mean they are ready for the bin!

bullit_dodger · 22-03-2022 1:04pm

Probably not the thread for a debate on batteries - LOL. But it's good knowledge for people looking for quotes and wondering if they should/shouldn't include a battery in the quote request.

I'm very much in the pro-battery camp, but championc is right, the battery payback timeline isn't always a given. Esp with some of the cowboys out there in the market offering shiny baubles for outrageous sums of money. If your unlucky to get stung, you could be looking at 15-20 years for payback, if at all. Yeah, they still hold charge after 10 years, but like all electronic devices such as TV's, microwaves some do and will go defective (eventually), so it's not like they last forever. It could go defective before you see your wonga returned. Warranties are good generally, but it's worth thinking about.

There are of course other good reasons to purchase a battery such as improving your self-consumption and they help reduce "peak loads" - but again, it's not a given that it's right for you. I just think it's probably a mistake to advise people NOT to get one. It's not black/white. People need to do the math and see what makes sense to them.

For some, it'll be forgoing a battery. For others (like me) it's very much get one as it will save me money, but do the math.

MAULBROOK · 22-03-2022 1:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118818206#Comment_118818206

Price is missing

deravarra · 22-03-2022 1:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118818082#Comment_118818082

15c? Bord gais have announced price increases of 27%. And I would anticipate more to come. That 15c - a discounted rate - will not last very long, and batteries will be more appealing.

Taking your Pylontech US2000 example - it would take almost 14 years of usage for payback @ 15c. However, we know batteries have an effective lifetime of about 6,000 cycles, so that would leave it not paying for itself. However, factor in the increases coming down the road, and it will definitely pay for itself in just over 10 years, given a 19.05c unit charge. Let's add another 10% on before the end of the year and that would give almost 21c per unit. That payback time will be further reduced.

Batteries definitely make sense - even from a financial perspective. And more so now than before.