Budget Solar 4KW system for £8000 fitted

[nbown]

i mean that in 10years time IF i needed to replace a panel, a 250W panel could be a cheap as chips, my piont is why pay the extra now, it's better to get the signed up with the 43.3p band fit before it goes down, component parts of the system will come down also, paying a lower cost for the install would give a quick pay back. IMO

Which trees am i barking up, please tell

 

[SolarCity]

Schill. Again, I had to google it, but I happen to agree.

 

[The Launderer]

Just in case there are any naive potential customers of Budget Solar reading this thread. It is blindingly obvious that this thread is being spammed by at least 3 new members (possibly all the same person) who think they are being clever by using this forum for free publicity.

Bad news guys - spamming doesn't work. There's a reasonable chance that anyone considering using you will do a search on google and find this thread and realise what you have been doing and very quickly look for somebody else.

 

[Energetic]

The nuts and bolts of it is this, PV is not the same as a new bathroom or kitchen, you are buying a financial product of 25years duration. You have to have confidence that it will work for 25 years. Would you put that much money into 'Budget Bank'?

If you want a system that is designed, installed and warrantied by qualified professionals you'll have to pay more than £8K. If not, good luck to you.

 

[MorganPVI]

i mean that in 10years time IF i needed to replace a panel, a 250W panel could be a cheap as chips, my piont is why pay the extra now, it's better to get the signed up with the 43.3p band fit before it goes down, component parts of the system will come down also, paying a lower cost for the install would give a quick pay back. IMO

Which trees am i barking up, please tell

Replacing a solar module after 10 years will be difficult, the panel will probably be out of manufacture and any remaining stocks long sold. You'd have to replace with a generic panel that is probably obsolete and cheap copy of the orginal.
Who knows what will be rolling off the manufacturing lines in 10 years time, but you'll not be able to plug and play modern kit with older installs.

Our firm along with most members fit kit to last 30 years - without the need for routine maintenance or swapping out components. You could save some money on a cheap install but you run the risk of paying out in the future for new parts and lots of maintenace.

 

[BillyH]

The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory


Buyer beware

 

[Sparkytlec]

I wouldnt touch a 4Kw £8000 system. You pay for what you get with solar pannels. I would like to see what a system like that produced compeard to the house next door with the same sized system with a Sanyo array and a SMA inverter. My guess is far LESS.

 

[Sparkytlec]

Ho! I've just rememberd that if you have a pannel pack up in 10 years you cannot just replace that one pannel! Over the years the modual preformance will drop so if it has droped to say 90% ther will be an imballance on the string if you just put one new pannel in at 100%. You would have to replace the whole array. would you be able to do that for the money you saved????

 

[grandfortune]

Ho! I've just rememberd that if you have a pannel pack up in 10 years you cannot just replace that one pannel! Over the years the modual preformance will drop so if it has droped to say 90% ther will be an imballance on the string if you just put one new pannel in at 100%. You would have to replace the whole array. would you be able to do that for the money you saved????

So if Sanyo bring out 10yrs garentee tomorrow and 1 panel goes down of your 18, they'll replace the whole lot, i doubt any company will honour that?.

 

[Sparkytlec]

They will have to! All MCS pannels have to have a 25year preformance garntee that say that they will not drop below 80% efficiancy. if one stops working then the system stops producing. There for it has droped below 80% efficiancy. Its in black and white.

 

[SolarCity]

I'm not sure that one panel dropping out would be a problem. It would only create a problem if you replaced the panel with a lesser panel - which obviously isn't what is happening.

 

[SRE]

I'm sure the warranty says it will replace or compensate at the manufacturers discretion. In 10 years it will be compensation methinks ......

 

[The Launderer]

They will have to! All MCS pannels have to have a 25year preformance garntee that say that they will not drop below 80% efficiancy. if one stops working then the system stops producing. There for it has droped below 80% efficiancy. Its in black and white.

What you are suggesting is that if a panel stops working it is going to be less than 80% efficient therefore the Manufacturers are in effect giving a 25 year guarantee.

Sanyo Guarantee certificate gives

1. 10 year limited guarantee on materials and workmanship
2. Minimum power output guarantees of 90% up to 10 years and 80% 11-25 years.

There is absolutely no way that Sanyo or any other PV manufacturer are going to accept that that a panel failing completely after say 11 years is not meeting the minimum power output guarantees. You can be sure that if you go through the fine print there will be clauses in place that means the 10 guarantee on materials and workmanship is the extent of their liability. It will only be if the panel is working normally but it can be shown that the power output is less than 80% that the guarantee would apply.

I don't think they will replace one panel if it completely fails after 10 years and if you think they are going to replace the whole array if one panel fails or isn't meeting power output I think you are going to be disappointed

 

[TedM]

Agreed. People should actually read the Sanyo (and others) guarantees to see what is excluded. For example, damage caused by ageing and continuous use are excluded. Isn't 'ageing' exactly what people are expecting to be covered by the 20 year power output guarantee? And quite how 'continuous use' is defined for a PV panel is a bit difficult to find. Does it mean 'in sunlight 24 hours a day' (ridiculous for something fitted to a house) or something else?

And it's also worth noting that Sanyo do not guarantee to replace any modules that are under performing. They may just give you an additional module to make up for the deficiency. That could mean that if you have a 240W module that has dropped to 200W, they will just give you a 40W module. How and where you fit it is then your problem.

I'm not saying this is what Sanyo will do - just that is what the wording in their guarantee allows them to do if they want.

 

[daytona600]

ja solar had riot last week at there factory for polluting the local river with very dangerous chemicals killing all the fish- see bbc website - cheap modules all have there drawbacks especially if you live nearby

results on good quality producers see SolarScorecard.com | 2011