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

A friend sent me a quote to look at today, at first it looked really good to me, but with the recent vat removal is it still?

14 X 425w Jinko panels (5.95kWp)

Kstar hybrid inverter (didn't give size but expect it to be 4.8/5kW)

Hot water diverter.

WiFi monitoring kit

Total cost €7800 after grant.

Optional battery +€2400

Using the David Hunt Solar Quote Analyser

The value of the grant for this size array would be 2400. Using the rule of thumb of €1000 per kW of panels, €420 per kWh of battery, and say €600 for the Eddi, that should be about €6550 for that system (after grant). But it's only a rule of thumb. Just don't go above €1300 per kW of panels and €550 per kWh battery (ex VAT), which would give you €8335 after grant. Your quote of €7800 is at the upper end of the recommended range. Get a few more quotes.

Assume that battery is 5kwh so €2400 is again slight over recommended price

Pretty sure Solar edge systems are designed in tandem with their own brand of optimisers. ie you can't install the inverter on its own without panels having optimizers. Not 100% if that applies to all their inverters though.

Cheers for the reply trying to get my head around the solar needs and general do's and don't's.

I wasn't sure what to expect for the quote as I've a large roof and the fact they quoted for 17 panels so I thought it was par for the course. I will definitely query the amount of optimisers though I just assumed I'd need everything listed.

I have another quote coming next week so not going to rush into anything.

Drop the eddi. That will save you 650 euro.

13550-2400-650 (with grant and without eddi) leaves you at 10500 (1436euro per kWp of panels.)

SolarEdge is solution that requires each panel to be optimized; it’s just how it works. You get visibility of each panels performance. This is ideal if some of your panels are pointing in different orientations. It’s a quality product the company is listed on the NASDAQ.

Solar edge 5kW inverter is 1020 euro.

energy meter is 185

17 solar edge optimisers are 880 euro .

17xjinko 430W panels is 2400

cables and isolation switches 400 euro

racking 500

total 5385 (round up to 5500 euro) in materials.

so the installer is grossing 13550 - the 5500 in materials; leaves them with net 8000 euro for 1-2 days work.

the material costs for other systems will be very similar; but most other systems won’t require the optimisers (so will be 880 euro less on materials) Tell us a little more about your roof to allow us make a determination if any are needed at all. Get more quotes.

cost price of the 10kWh SolarEdge battery is about 6k. FYI.

For general do's and don't.....there is a FAQ (which probably doesn't get referenced or read enough). Have a read of that, even without solar it will give you a good grounding.

Interested in Solar PV? Read this FAQ first. — boards.ie - Now Ye're Talkin'

7Kwp of panels is on the larger size, but not the biggest. The biggest you can get, without going outside the normal kit, is about 9.6Kwp. (24 panels x 400w). While you can get systems as low as 400w, usually the smaller systems are about 3-4kwp, with 5-6Kwp being a solid average spec. If your an average house of 4500Kwhr/year you'd be pretty well served by 5-6Kwp. If your above that which you say you are, then 7Kwp wouldn't be a bad marker.

Basically as many panels as you can fit/afford is the advice. The reason is, is that there are many "marginal" months like Feb or Nov where your panels will only be giving you like 30% of the production in May/June.

When is the last time someone posted a 1000 euro per kWp quote here? I honestly don’t remember seeing it. Not being smart; would love to see it to see what kind of system they were supplying.

ok. Do you have any shading on any of them roofs? Dormer windows? Trees? Chimneys?

In this case where you have panels pointing in 3 different orientations; you would benefit from the solar edge system. It’s designed for these exact situations with its panel level optimisation. So I don’t have any issue with this supplier quoting this system in this case.

I don’t agree that if you get a bad quote you should just abandon it; that’s not how business works in my opinion. Ask them to remove the eddi and see what the price drops to; and then use the information that I have provided above to negotiate a better price to get to a better euro / kWp ratio.

get more quotes and see what they come back with; I bet most will avoid putting panels on all 3 roof surfaces.

I’m terms of driving down the price of the quote drop it. You can always ask them to add it back once you figure out if they are charging a reasonable amount for it. What if they drop the price by 800 euro for example; you could get better value for money from someone else. It’s a very easy job to fit an eddi and it can be done anytime by any electrician; or even a DIY job if you fancy it with a tiny bit of research on YouTube.

And to be honest with the feed in rates they are at the moment; it’s better to export the excess units and get paid for them than using them to heat water. If you use the credits you get from feedin (you will have a lot of feed in with a system that size in May-Aug 4-5 euro per day on average) to use gas or oil to heat at the moment. If feed in rates drop you can always reassess and get the eddi.

to be honest your situation seems like it’s really well suited to a SolarEdge setup. If you had of came back and said I have a massive south facing roof with no shadows and that’s where all the panels are going it would be different. But with 3 different orientations and chimney shadow on south facing roof it sounds like SolarEdge is a good fit.

if you have a aerial photo of your roof (dm it to me if you don’t want to clutter up this thread I’ll give you a better opinion having seen the roof).

get some more quotes and report back with what they are saying. Good luck :)

Well said. I'd agree. I expect to get well paid for my day job. So I can't expect my installer to throw up extra panels on the day just paying for the panels.

And they need a sales team, admin, invoicing...Not just the 2 roofers and a sparks.

People can go DIY if they feel they are being ripped off. I paid an installer.

Surely “active” @bullit_dodger should have been in bold!!

Down to these

Quote 1

Inverter Alpha 5kWp Inverter

Panels 17 x Bisol Premium 400W Monocrystalline modules (All black modules)*

6.8 kW Total Solar Power (If they can't fit all 17 each panel is -€300)

Battery Alpha ESS 10.1kWh storage

1 x Projoy Fire Safety Switch

AC Switchgear

€11,600 Final Cost after Grant Incentive

Additional Extras MDF Fireboard Wall: €180

OPTIONAL EXTRAS

1. Warranty Extension for the Alpha Inverter from 5 years to 10 years (Recommended): €350

2. EDDI Hot Water Diverter: €650

So in total cost to me of €12,430 (€12,780 if i go with the longer warranty) + BER

Quote 2

Inverter Solis 5kW Hybrid Battery Inverter

Panels 17 x Longi 405W Black Frame White Backsheet

6.8 kW Total Solar Power

Battery Weco 5.3KwHr with wifi/bluetooth + Solis adapter cable

1 x Projoy Fire Safety Switch

AC Switchgear

Eddi

€10,492 Final Cost after Grant Incentive + BER

a Second battery looks to be €2,250

So in total cost to me of €12,742 + BER for a comparative quote to the first

I'm inclined to go with the first quote, as with the longer warranty on the inverter they're very close

So they were charging 800 for the eddi?

Btw, any warranty on kit will be from the manufacturer, not the installer unless you have that in writing. That said a longer warranty is a positive sign the manufacture believes they are keep their kit working that long. So might indicate it’s better than others. Or could be a marketing way to sell more.

And in the ~1.5 years I’ve been active here I don’t see much kit failing. Several inverters have died but due to mistakes on DIY setups. Possible others have failed but people haven’t reported it here of course. Solar panels can’t really break unless there is physical damage (tile falling in a storm). No moving parts in the panel. 

Hi all, this is a great thread.

Which of the following three quotes would you consider the best? All prices are after the grant has been taken off. For quote 1, I didn't think optimisers would be necessary as the panels will be on one roof with little to no shading. I can always have them excluded (9 x €60 = €540).

Quote 1 7.5kW (18 x 420W Jinko), Huawei inverter 5kW, 9 optimisers, BER Included €9140

Quote 2 7.4kW (18 x 410W Jinko), Solis Inverter 5kw, BER Included. €9970

Quote 3 6.88kW (16 x 430W Jinko), SAJ H1-6K-S2 Inverter, No BER. €8391

Each and every comment on the above will be appreciated.