£10,500 for 3.5kw system?

[Trimglafix]

I need some help quickly please.
Some friends of mine have signed up for a 3.5KW Solar PV install at a cost of £10,500 + loan to pay for it.
They have been told it will have paid for itself within 3.8 to 5 years.
I have Solar PV myself so have some knowledge about them but not enough to convince them that they have been overcharged & told incorrect information. I believe the install is way over price (based on current adverts I've seen) & the payback time impossible to achieve.
They are within the cooling off period until Monday & I want to convince them to use it.
Can you please give me some useful information to persuade them to cancel (or correct me if I'm wrong)?
They are based in West Yorkshire & if I can convince them to cancel I would no doubt be required to recommend an alternative; therefore rough quotes will be useful too.
Thank you, in anticipation.

Details:
Install Cost : £10,500
Total amount payable: £15,700 (Inc. loan interest, set up fees etc.)
String 1/ String 2
Number of Panels: 8 / 6
Panel Output: 2000 / 1500
Peak Output: 1600 / 1200
Annual Solar Irradiation: 698 / 893
Shading Factor: 1 / 1
SAP Calculation: 1116 / 1071

String 1 is facing roughly South, String 2 roughly West.
Panels: Sharp polycrystalline
Inverter: Power 1 Aurora

Customer Age: 65 plus
Monthly electric bill in region of £80

Any more info required, please ask. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

[telectrix]

bloody hell. way over the top. payback period is generally around the 8 - 10 year mark. sounds like a salesman on huge commission. having said that, i'm no expert on solar. wait till this evening when the PV lads are on. bet they ripp that quote to bits.

 

[lazyIH]

I had salesman visit last week for a 4 kW system, he couldn't tell Me details of panels or inverter, i.e. makes and models, so I asked for a ball park figure - £ 9,000. He was in the house approx. ten minutes.

I am still awaiting a quote, but most of the ones I've had are around or under £ 6,000 for a 4 kW system, so yes to this amateur the quote seems excessive.

Ian

 

[Gavin A]

cancel immediately, and name and shame and report to RECC please.

That is more likely to take 15 years to repay than 5 years. To give an idea, most of our genuine payback times for domestic customers are in the 7-8 year region, but that is for systems at around £6.5k for 4kWp, not £15k for 3.5kWp, so this is straight out fraud IMO.

 

[Gavin A]

I bet the payback times were only given verbally as well?

probably 13.8-15 years was what it actually would be.

 

[telectrix]

cancel immediately, and name and shame and report to RECC please.

That is more likely to take 15 years to repay than 5 years. To give an idea, most of our genuine payback times for domestic customers are in the 7-8 year region, but that is for systems at around £6.5k for 4kWp, not £15k for 3.5kWp, so this is straight out fraud IMO.

that's what i thought, and i know bugger all about solar, except what i have read on the forum.

 

[Berneray]

that's what i thought, and i know bugger all about solar, except what i have read on the forum.

Then when you add on the cost of the loan I bet it will take the real cost to well over £16000.

 

[SolarCity]

Way overpriced and overpricing tends to go hand in hand with disastrous installs.

West Yorkshire is well represented on these forums. Get them to call one of these guys.

 

[telectrix]

it's not that arsehole talked about in the other thread about a bad installation is it? if it is, then all the more reason to cancel.

 

[Gavin A]

Way overpriced and overpricing tends to go hand in hand with disastrous installs.

West Yorkshire is well represented on these forums. Get them to call one of these guys.

west yorkshire you say?

That'd be our patch then, I hadn't actually clicked about that bit. OP if you want a sensible quote for your friends please get them to get in touch over the weekend / next week. www.leeds-solar.co.uk/quote

Our team will be happy to assist, I hate seeing these companies ripping people off like this.

 

[Trimglafix]

Thank you all for your useful comments.
I am happy to name the company if that is the general consensus of those replying.
I have presented a link to this thread to my friends, so hopefully they will accept your offer of a quote Gavin.

 

[Trimglafix]

As I've received a PM about who this company is, I may as well make it available to all to view.
I've not gone on hear say about any of this (I have the paperwork) therefore the company involved can have no complaint about their name being linked to anything I have previously stated.
The company is Mainframe Group (Company number 06134099).
I hope naming them will encourage comments from others who have dealt with them (either good or bad).

 

[HandySparks]

Here's an ad from their Facebook page:



Love the free fitting offer, classy!

 

[Sunshine777]

The SAP figures look reasonable but also suggest the property is good but not ideal for solar PV.

if we round the SAP figures to 2200 kWh per year the system will pay:
2200 x 14.38p = £316.36 for generation
2200 x 50% x 4.77p = £48.07 for deemed export

that's £354.43 per year.

if we ignore indexing for inflation and estimate the total system cost at £15K their stated 5 year payback would require FIT payments plus eleccy bill savings of £3K per year. Your friend's eleccy bill is only £960/year. 50% savings on the bill from a PV system is already good going so that's £354+£480=£834. Where is the missing £2164/year going to come from!?!?

Ii'll venture a guess that the FIT and bill savings will just about cover the interest payments on the loan and not much more, if anything.

My take is this is an over-priced system touted as reaching an impossible payback rate with a very pricey loan attached. The salesman is probably poised to book his holiday in the sun off the commissions and kick-backs on this. Sounds like dodgy double glazing salesman meets Wonga - steer well clear!

As a friend taught me 30+ years about: figures don't lie but liars can figure.

 

[Trimglafix]

Thanks to all again; especially "Sunshine777" for the figures. All your comments have helped
The good news is that the contract cancellation is now in the post (within 7 working days of signing) & I will telephone the company involved on Monday to inform them verbally.

My friends have access to these comments & are still interested in Solar PV so any further hassle free offers to quote will be welcome.