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

7k to 8k without battery ?

The panels would be installed on two roofs so I guess the doubling up of cabling would add a bit to the cost, but I assume not 2k+ ?

That's really useful, thank you. How are you finding the 8 panels? Are they enough or will you grow the system in the future?

Got the following quote and interested in seeing if it’s worth pursuing.

10 panels @ 400w

Solar inverter

Hot water diverter 

Total: €9k

After grants: €6.6k

Additional Zappi EV charger is €1.4K (€800 net), totalling €7,400.

5kWh Battery is additional €4k to the above, which I don’t believe to be worth adding at that price.

Personally I'd scrap hot water diverters unless people use a lot of how water from the tank already. But for those who use a lot of hot water, they are a god send. So each house decide for themselves. With them, you'll lose the 15+ cent of the FIT as all the excess will fill the hot water tank. So pre FIT they made sense to not send power back to the grid for free.

We use an electric shower so never use the hot water tank. And hot water tanks soak up a huge amount of electricity. I'd rather get paid the FIT. If you have a cheap night rate (lower than FIT), then it's best to use the immersion to heat the hot water on the night rate (granted the water will cool a little).

Deffo, it's close to a DIY job from what others have said - it needs power and WIFI. Any sparks can do it afaik. So you’re not losing anything to drop it now. I cancelled ours just before the install when FIT rates came out and were higher than people expected. And in summer if would makes an already overly hot bedroom worse again for us.  

Assume they need 1-2 hours labour to fit it and set it up (close enough guess I reckon).

Hi, New to site and Solar

Best of three quotes received

Jinko Tiger Neo N-type 54HL4-B 400-420 Watt All Black

4.98kW of Solar Power

12 x JKM415N-54HL4-B

415 Watt panels

Including Optimizers

Inverter

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

5 kW Total Inverter Rating

1 x SUN2000-5KTL-L1

€8400 after grant

I have geothermal heating so no need for hot water and holding off on battery. South facing garage roof. We use c 8.5k kwh per annum, installer quotes solar generating 4.2k kwh per annum. Is there an issue with Huawei?

Great thread with so much info and informed members. How does this quote look?

Hi,

I have been quoted for 10x400w panels on a roof facing south-west, says it will produce 3.8 MWh per year.

Is it worth getting an extra 4x400w panels on north-east facing roof for an extra 1.1 MWh?

I am not getting a battery.

Great thread, thanks to all for contributing their insights.

SK

Yeah i would echo this re the battery. A lot of folks say go solar and add battery later. The battery can offer significant savings on its own though. I'm seeing it already with our system and we only have it 3 weeks. If you can charge a battery at night at 12 cents a kwh (cheaper on some tarrifs) that will cover most of your day usage then you are saving a lot on current 40 cent day rates.. time your washing machine/dishwasher to come on during the cheapest night rate and you are winning again. Solar obviously will be a major contributor come spring/summer which can heat water, charge ev, and export excess with even less battery charging required at night... of course you will inevitably use a little of the expensive day rate if you are using something which has a consumption of over 2.6 or 3.6kw (depending on your invertor limits) like an electric shower but thats going to be minimal

have you looked at your current electricity usage? what orientation are the panels going to face? its about 6600? its probably not to far off in terms of price.. have you thought about any of the 'green' loans with an post or aib? might work out cheaper to finance it yourself and not go the solar as a service road?

3.2kWp is a small system. I've 5kWp and I'd like more but all the roof can take. So get as much as you can afford.

Many people here will likely want more solar than they got on install day. Our homes and cars are going to be very electrified in time and you have an EV already.

Most of the installers cost is labour for the roof and sparks. Panels are give or take 200quid each. A larger inverter is usual a few hundred quid more only. Some have said before than the solar as a service crowd agreed to add more panels at no cost. So if you added more, then might also give you some free. More revenue for them if you add more.

Have a look at this sheet that shows the setup for some users and the orientation. Then you can get a real world sense of output per month / year based on the orientation by size of the system. Jonathan (as an example) has 5kWp South, Dublin based, so can see his output and it will be pro rata is you're South too. Or find the orientation to match your setup.

Orientation matters. I've the same size 5kWp but I'm on E, S (tiny) and NW and I'll never get near that output. Shading also matters. It will hammer output unless you remove the shading (best option and approach I took) or get optimisers on all shaded panels.

Link: Boards.ie - Solar Capacity and production analysis - Google Sheets

And this thread explains what's in it if hard to read: Solar Performance Spreadsheet - Analysis and data sharing — boards.ie - Now Ye're Talkin'

Seems ok

the main benefit of a battery is being able to charge on cheaper rates during the night.. you wont be able to run the house on solar alone for winter months.. so it depends.. your usage doesnt seem that high but you are getting a ev.. the battery wouldnt necessarily help with that.. it makes sense of smart meter night rates though as you can avoid higher day rates.. of course some have day/night meters as well which can work out better.

Na, too much. Solar as a service was good value at one point but not now

Finally got a Solar as a service quote after several weeks of waiting and it doesnt look good.

2.4kwp that they say will deliver 1,758kwh per year. Its 6 panels and a solar inverter included.

47.65 per month x 120 months =5,718

6 'micros' for shading from the chimney stack- 9 euro per month x 120 months = 1,080

They say because the roof has a steep pitch I would need scaffolding for installation at a cost of 1,200. They get the grant which for 2kwp is 1,800.

So without grant it is 7,998 and when that is on top the grand total is 9,798

Going by the 1,200 euro per 1kwp formula a 2.4kwp system would be around 2,880.

Am I missing something here or is solar as a service vastly inefficient? If this system generated 1,780kwh x 10 years= 17,800kwh at say 30 cents a unit it would only come to 5,340 euro of electricity. So it seems it has a payback somewhere in the region of 18 or 19 years when all is said and done.

Also Im a bit confused on the scaffolding for 1,200, yes its a steep pitch but have seen roofers repairing a neighbours roof and they didnt use scaffolding only just ladders.