PV Cost Update Query

[SRE]

Can anyone find out what the £1,333 fixed costs for under 4kwp in the cost report by Parsons Brinkerhoff comes from? What does it include? Is it an overhead cost, does it include some labour, scaffolding costs etc.

 

[TedM]

Purely from memory of reading their February report:

They decided that each PV install comprises fixed and variable costs, where the fixed amount applies irrespective of the kWp size of the system and the variable amount is £ per kWp. (you knew this I'm sure)

So it should cover all the items that apply to every job, I guess scaffolding as such would itself be made up of some fixed and some variable amount - i.e. the bigger the job the more the scaffolding will cost.

But I can't remember seeing anything in their Feb report that included any detail of exactly what was what though.

In the Feb PB report they said:

For the <4kW band, costs were split into a fixed cost per installation and a variable cost per kW, based on the proportions used in 2011 report and supported by anecdotal evidence received for this report.

But I haven't found any 2011 report that they are referring to - I doubt it would contain any detail.

 

[TedM]

I'm guessing that this is the 2011 report they are referring to:

http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/...-review-p1/3365-updates-to-fits-model-doc.pdf

It doesn't contain any breakdown of costs.

Again I'm guessing but I think that their fixed/variable split is most likely just calculated backwards from the various market prices that they have gathered. So it could just be something really simple like 20% (or whatever) of install price for a 4kW system is for fixed costs. And then apply that as a fixed cost figure for all sub 4kW systems.

 

[SRE]

Well they have shown on one of the graphs shows the following:

32% for panels
14% for inverter
10% for other components - all of this together is about £400 less than I pay on cheap Chinese when I look at my prices
21% installation - again about £200 less than our costs
23% overheads - this is about right for us.

So before profit and vat when I look at my costs it's about £600 less than we charge and we can only just cover our costs with a bit for the winter if we're lucky. At those prices they are assuming that you're buying in kits at around the price PV direct reckon they'll be selling them in August - but not at today's prices.

I think I might be losing the plot.

 

[TedM]

I think you're just not average. There has to be outliers - and perhaps you are one of them.

 

[SRE]

Well we are very rural, our mileage costs are 9k a year to start off with, but no-one can be paying the prices they have for materials I haven't seen a kit for £3,300 yet although I'm sure it's going to come in August.