Ikea

[SRE]

Any thoughts on the Ikea solar installations. We're quoting against them this afternoon. Tbh I didn't think we'd be asked to after I'd advised the customer that if all they were interested in was a cheap installation that was black then we weren't the installers for them. (It had been a long day!)

Anyway, got a message yesterday for a survey this afternoon and because we're nowhere near an Ikea haven't really heard much about them, other than they are using thin film and offering 15% discount for family card owners that brings them down to a pretty normal price for a cheap system. How on earth do they get away with that?? Let me collect your data and market to you and I'll allow you to buy at a normal price!

Any thoughts welcome.

 

[jason121]

I thought they prices were for 2-3kw installs. If they use thin film panels they will have to have 33 panels.

 

[SRE]

£6,200 for 4kwp apparently and I think about 28 panels - all weighing 18kg! I'm going to make a decent argument about weight ;-)

 

[JulianC]

There's a few Ikea victims on one of the pv user sites I dip into occasionally. It appears to me that many of them have been sold a system based on number of panels, not amount of kWp. When other users pipe up with the usual "you could have got 4kW on there with normal panels", they don't seem to quite grasp it. One or two seem to have also been given wildly optimistic generation predictions too (2kWp north east facing system supposedly outperforming my 3.7kW S/W system for example). Not sure if the installation company do their own surveying or sub it out to freelancers, but standards seem to vary.

As far as I can tell, despite the Ikea name behind it, it's the same old same old. And I continue to maintain that thin film is a ludicrous choice for the majority of UK roof tops. And I believe you don't get a free Allen key to fit the panels.

 

[SRE]

Wot - no allen key :-( That was the deal breaker!

 

[whinmoor]

IKEA seem to have a permanent solar display stand near the checkouts in my local branch which is about 5 miles away. I decided to go over and have a chat when I was in the store a couple of months ago. The salesgirl was pretty clueless and simply read a script to me. I presume training is minimal and the key focus is to get customers to agree to a survey from someone with more technical knowledge. They did have an SMA inverter (probably just the case) on display but she didn't appear to know what it was or how it worked. I asked if they did a "white one" because this is Leeds (Yorkshire), not Manchester (Lancashire), but she wasn't sure about that.

Seriously though, the main focus has to be on the panels and IKEA have certainly chosen a non-standard partner. Price-wise, I think they are a bit more expensive than we are but the brand will hold a lot of weight. I'm not sure how the installations are arranged but we've not been approached to get involved.

 

[The Solar King]

If you want the low down on thin film, speak to Andy at Sibert.

This is horses for courses. If there is available roof space, they are a very good choice. They are a good choice in low light, where shading is an issue, where the array is facing more east or west.

If roof space is restricted, go for high output crystalline.

Going for the biggest system possible isn't always in the best interests of the customer. If someone is using less than 2000kWh of electricity a year, the only benefit a 4kW system will give is higher FITs payments. Self use may increase by as little as 60-80kWh/a going from a 3kW to 4kW system.

 

[Somecamel]

IKEA use Hanergy as their installation company.

Came up against them once, we won the job btw.

What was better is that the customer sent me their quotation which I must say was a marketing genius which I've kinda copied over as my quotation template.

 

[Worcester]

What was better is that the customer sent me their quotation which I must say was a marketing genius

Care to share, all that new year good will and whatever
Scan an image / pdf

 

[sedgy34]

Any thoughts on the Ikea solar installations. We're quoting against them this afternoon. Tbh I didn't think we'd be asked to after I'd advised the customer that if all they were interested in was a cheap installation that was black then we weren't the installers for them. (It had been a long day!)

Anyway, got a message yesterday for a survey this afternoon and because we're nowhere near an Ikea haven't really heard much about them, other than they are using thin film and offering 15% discount for family card owners that brings them down to a pretty normal price for a cheap system. How on earth do they get away with that?? Let me collect your data and market to you and I'll allow you to buy at a normal price!

Any thoughts welcome.

Bit late joining this thread but
ikea thin film and the Sma 3000 hf has been re salvaged as it wasn't being made again until they did a deal with sma
the install cost is crap and ikea use a company who soak up the market anyone going in ikea wanting solar will walk out with the crap system they are selling happy days lol (price driven)