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

I’m not disputing the laws of physics :) what you say is correct. But only if you’re heating the water with 100% efficiency with something like an immersion.

Combi Gas boilers have efficiency curves; they will have reduced efficiency as your flow temp rises.

And if your storing water at 60C vs 40C in a tank it’s going to loose more energy as the difference in temp between the 60C water and the ambient room temperature is greater than the difference between the 40C water and the ambient temp. So depending on how your system is configured your boiler will be firing more often to keep the tank at 60C than it would to keep the same volume of water at 40C.

Or if you’re using a fixed time strategy; your tank of 60C water will be closer to 50C or lowerby the time you go to use it; Vs your tank of 40C water might only drop to 37C.

I think that poster said they had plenty of spare ones if needed. Post #5231

There's no tank with direct HW from a combi, hence your original idea to lower the flow temperature is generally OK as legionella is not an issue. I was supporting your temperature suggestion as there was no risk of legionella.

If use a combi to supply a cylinder or tank, that defeats the purpose of DHW. 100% efficiency from an electric immersion is a contradiction in terms, as this requires a tank, and the losses you descibe for higher, or any temperature tank storage. DHW is straight to the tap, and DHW heat exchange is extremely efficient, in the mid 90s percentage wise.

Modern highly insulated and double enclosed tanks have very low losses, unlike in the old days of bare copper tanks and lagging jackets, and if you must have a cylinder, it's one of the best return on investment upgrades you can make. No-one on the continent uses HW cylinders, its a peculiarly Irish and UK thing.

Just popping in to thank everyone for their guidance here and in other threads.

"Thunderbirds are Go" at the Fingleberries household. Just went live today.

A 2.1 kWp system (5x420W panels), South-facing (North Dublin area), 6.6kWh battery (6kWh usable).

Now, is there a 12-step programme to wean me off watching the PV graphs all day?

This happens in my house. I'm blue int the face telling people to either wait for the hot, or just use the cold tap. I've become such a grumpy old man.

I actually swapped my kitchen taps sides because the hot tap was easier to reach so everybody used it to just turn on a splash of water. Now people default to cold tap.

Firstly this appears to be expensive. You'll have an 8kW array with that many panels. Do you know the size of the inverter? If it's over 5kW then you're unlikely to be able to export power to the grid and in turn benefit from the feed in tariff. Without that benefit the pay back period will be elongated.

Look back at previous quotes posted on this thread to get an idea of what the market is like.

P.S. I'm doing DIY. My 8kW ground mount array, 5kW hybrid solis inverter, 4.8kWh battery and all the cables, DIY ground mount etc. plus the sparky to commission will cost me roughly €6k. Bear in mind this is me doing all the setting up of kit with the electrician coming to do the easy part. An SEAI supplier probably has similar costs plus the install labour they need but as you can see there's a fair gap between my €6k and your €15.8k quote AFTER grant!

Thanks, the inverter is 5kw. Our annual usage is v high, roughly 15,000kw (electric underfloor heating!)

The one problem with solar when it comes to heating it's not generating enough at the time of year you want heat so be aware of that if your purpose is to reduce heating costs.

Below is an example of my first 6 months of this year and last year. Its a 7.2kWh system with 10kWh of battery storage but use gas to heat the house.

Was that something that you installed? Something you’ve done recently? Can I ask why? That’s a lot of electricity.

True although clipping in shadows case is the least of their issues as pointed out by deezell.

I prefer to use this tool, parts estimate down to the last bolt. Subtract from quotes, add €2400 for grant and decide if the installation cost is worth the amount, especially if they're in and out in a day.

Installers will have a further discount off these prices, anywhere from 10% or more.

Use this link for comments and comparison http://davidhunt.ie/solar/

Got 3 quotes, getting a few queries answered bythe vendors before making the decision this Friday.

Quote 1

24 x Phono Solar 420W N-Topcon All Black Bi Facial Panels

Sungrow SH5.0RS Hybrid Inverter

6.4KW Sungrow Battery

15060 after Grant

Quote 2

24 x Phono Solar 420W N-Topcon All Black Bi Facial Panels

Huawei SUN2000 5KW Hybrid Inverter

5KW Huawei LUNA2000 Battery

24 Huawei Smart Optimisers

16796 after Grant

Quote 3

28 x 410W Kingdom Solar KD-M410 Mono Panels

Sungrow SH5.0RS Hybrid Inverter

6.4KW Sungrow Battery

16500 after grant.

No quotes include a BER.

The calculator says either go for it or get more quotes, and simply adding or subtracting as little as 400watts from a quote can change between the 2 responses without tweeking the cost. Any thoughts on the above would be appreciated. My preference is the Sungrow as thats the inverter I specifically requested due to its oversize capacity and built in blackout cover. Little uncertain about the panels as I spent most of my time researching the inverters.

Just really what do you want?. You have run the quotes through the best minds on the thread, who are basing everything on the average/usual/normal but you are throwing in your own personal opinions and complaining that the answer is not what you want. Really?, is that how you think it works?

That calculator is no chatgpt, it's very simple. It multiples your kw request by €1000, adds 300 for BER. €600 for Eddie, €520/kw for battery, knocks off the kwh related grant if applicable, capped at €2400, and compares that total to your actual quote. If your quote is close or less (or if you leave the field blank, effectively 0), it rates it as worth going for, otherwise get more quotes. I haven't tested its table of responses, but it's a just a rule of thumb calculator, in a nice little script. It's the same mental arithmetic a roving roof and driveway pressure cleaning operator uses when he rocks up to your door.

It does prove though that installers are using a figure far higher than €1000/kw (about €400/panel) to calculate their quotes, and are generally trousering the grant.