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

Please all read post #1. It has a pricing guidance.

14 Panels 5.6kw

Solis single phase 5g inverter

Eddi divertor

No battery

Ber

€10,200 Inc vat / €7800 after grant

Is the above miles off or if I can try haggle what should I be ideally looking at for the above?

hi both, both quotes are too high imo, post#1 has pricing guidance:

As a clueless newbie to solar, I really appreciate all the advice provided here, especially in post #1. However, there seems to be a lot of comments to the effect that quotes are excessively high, without guiding posters where they can obtain levels indicated in the original post. Am I missing something? Is it against the forum rules to name competitive installers?

correct, we can't recommend or diss installers, can just provide our experience regarding prices. after all, we're just punters like yourself.

It's a fair question Mick.

The naming companies issue has come up before and because it can generate into a tit-for-tat it's just better to leave it out. You'll have person x saying that they excellent service off "Pete and Dave" and another person refute that claim saying that they are rubbish and "avoid at all costs". Then you start getting into subjective opinions, which are very difficult to evaluate. "They did shoddy work" etc. While that maybe true, we all know muppets who NO amount of precision work would satisfy the customer and basically just an arsehole for lack of a better word. Then you can get good solid reliable companies names tarnished by one/two people who are vocal on social media. Or worse....a fake account tarnishing a competitor's companies good name.

Unfortunately this is just social media at work. This also gets into dicey legal grounds where you have boards.ie in the middle and groups "endorsing" some companies and knocking another.

No, it seems odd at first, but best leave it the way it is. Anyone who spends enough time here and reads enough posts will very quickly figure out who's worth their weight and who's actively to be avoided.

(Regular posters/readers will realize I couldn't resist above - LOL!)

I appreciate the situation you describe, but can anyone confirm if they have received quotes at the level described in post #1? I have 2 quotes and spoken to numerous neighbours and every figure is well above that. My head is fried 😫

I didn't get quotes as low as the 'rule of thumb' in post1. I paid something like €1600 per 1kWp panels after the grant. Small roofs on small house (4 of them) so took longer for installer than a large single facing roof. Can only fit 5kWp using every bit available.

And I've solar now for 2 months and glad I have it. Totally get you it's a head wreck finding an installer, I was there! But worth it once it's done. I got quotes from maybe 6 months ago and agreed the installer maybe 4+ months ago.

Personally, I think those 'rule of thumb' rates are like hens' teeth at this point. Great as a 'guide' to steer people away from the crazy quotes. And great if people can find them.

And for me the trust in the installer is important. So I was ok to pay a little more for a company that had done it for a family member who was happy with it. I know of sparks who are moving into solar and don't have a clue of solar. I don't want them to learn on the job and screw up my setup. Or for a roofer to subcontract in a sparks. I want a solar company who will be around.

People should try solar as a service too for costs - seems to offer best cost from smaller setups. But scanning here quickly it seems hard to get a reply - likely they are cherry picking work now as they can afford to turn it down.

I’ve gotten it in August and had two other quotes quite close from people on the installers page here. Still waiting on install but as bullitdodger said it’s on bigger systems mine is 8kwp with a 9.6kw battery. Economy of scale I suppose.

There does seem to be an upward trajectory in pricing however probably due to demand and availability. If you’ve got 6 months work ahead of you, you can afford to put a silly number on a quote and if you get it happy days if not what harm.

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Basically, you can run what you like. Solar generated power is MERGED with grid power

Would people recommend Tigo optimisers? Any idea on the real lifetime of those?

My chimney shades 1 to 2 panels out of 10 (410w) in the late afternoon (yet to determine how many hours at the moment) and considering calling back the installer and fit two of these.

Would it be worth the 75eur they cost?

That's yesterday at 16.20. I think it shades the second panel from 16.00

I feel like raising the white flag on this for the moment. The installers all seem to be booked out for months on end and are are looking for thousands as a down payment in advance - I'm certainly not comfortable giving a company 2 or 3 grand+ to book my place in a queue for 6 months or more into the future (e.g. what if they go bust in the meantime?). They are all starting to take the mick with quotes too. They've no interest now in spending any time discussing specs or inverter models etc, they just fire you a boilerplate quote and thats it. Lastly, if they're this busy I'd also have concerns about quality of install of railings etc on your roof if they're in such a hurry, they are removing slates and screwing into your roof after all and you're depending on lads under serious pressure to make sure each one is permanently water tight as they go along.

I think it's getting to the stage of a DIY install - it's just a shame the SEAI don't allow the grant for this if you go off and do it with your own RECI electrician signing off on everything. (End of rant!).

Justified concern and not a rant. But…after I saw the effort to get ours live from the installer, I don’t see DIY as easy (not for the 1st time in solar land). The rest explains why. The DIY videos make it looks simples of course 😊 But how many of these are doing it for the 1st time (few I expect). Or they are already DIY ninjas.

Ours took 6.5 days onsite (between 2 roofers and 2 sparks) and need to come back for a snag. Looking at it now (having mulled over the DIY myself) I would never have been able to do it, or would take me an age. That's just me, we're all different of course. And you’ll need a solar-aware sparks to connect it live.

That said, a low or flat roof would be a good place to learn if you had one that gets sun. Others here have done that on large shed roofs, or even at angled to a wall if the garden gets a lot of sun. Ground mounts seem to cost a lot more due to the cost of materials going up. That’s all very DIY’able. Go simple for now, no battery, no Eddi, no EV charger. Just as many panels as can fit and start to generate juice. Then it’s working and you have time to see how you can get more in time.

You could get that connected to 1 string on an inverter. Or go with microinverters.  

A lot of the crew doing DIY here are upgrading on what they have already so have a strong base knowledge. It's not 'Day1 of solar' for them. I'd be much more confident to take on a DIY myself now, or a small setup for my folks say, having seen our setup and knowing more.

A main roof is not the place to learn DIY in my view (unless people are competent DIYers) and up for a challenge. 20+kg panels needs 2 people who are roofers. Or likely 3 ordinary humans 😊. Would need scaffolding to be safe (for a newbie like we are). And if the main roof leaks if you don’t resit the tile properly….

Fairly awkward - 16 panels (all we can fit) over 4 very small roofs. They realised on install day (after the onsite visit) that could fit less than hoped so went PlanB and added more to a flat roof. Which worked for us.

I liked them as an installer. But (probably like most installers now) are too busy. So could have saved themselves an age if they nailed it down ahead of time. Tripped themselves up rushing, ran out of kit, didn't get it all closed out on 1st visit..... Not used to small house like ours either, do a lot of homes in the countryside that have larger roofs and lot of access. 'Measure twice, cut once' it was not :)