pv salesmen?

[sandblaster]

hi
new to this forum,but iam posting this hopefully to get a clear view about solar panels.i have had a number of sales men around to get prices on a 4kw system(near perfect south facing,no shading,big slate roof area)iam told by each one that i should not buy this or that make of panel!!as all panels come with nearly the same spec and are mics cert,whats going on as there is a vast difference on prices.all companies use the top three inverters.i have been looking at black panels to go with the slate.looked at the following panels:

sunlink sl220
sharp nu/u230f3
hyundai his-250
centrosolar

prices range from £10500 to £14395!!
What are your views on this and also the monitoring systems some companies offer with them.the companies i have had around so far are as followsv solar uk ltd,sds,bms solar,g.r.e.e.n,aquila solar,evo energy.
thanks

 

[SolarCity]

£10,500 for a slate system is incredible.

Take a look at some of the threads on this forum about slate roofs and this should give you an idea of how the systems mount to a roof. There are two commonly used methods and you may want to ask the installer which method they are intending to use.

Panels aren't all equal. The differene in performance can be quite dramatic. A 250w panel should produce 250w in STC (standard test conditions) but there are many variables that affect performance in non test conditions. Some panels perform very well in low light (perfect for UK conditions) and some panels perform well as they get hot (which they will).

Monitoring systems are a personal choice and will have no effect on the system.

 

[sandblaster]

thankyou.are there any companies/panels to stay away from!!

 

[SolarCity]

I wouldn't say there are any panels to stay away from - there are certainly some panels that are better than others though.

As for companies so stay away from, I'd advice that you consider how they treat you during the quoting process. If all they seem interested in is selling you a system then this should tell you a lot about their attitude. If they take time to design you a system that suits your requirements and can show a desire to do the best for you then it's worth paying the extra.

Take your time and make the right decision.

 

[SRE]

hi
prices range from £10500 to £14395!!
What are your views on this
thanks

We fit on slate roofs approximately 70% of the time, if we charged £10,500 we couldn't cover our costs let alone make a profit. Ask yourself this question - what money is there left in the "pot" to cover call backs, proper design work, appropriate H&S requirements, correct tools, quality roof kit, support for making your Fit application, time for the sparky to route cables so you can't see them, support if you're unlucky enough to be in an area where over voltage becomes an issue etc etc. If there's no money in the pot to cover this then are you getting that service?

Our black panels on slate roofs are coming in at around £13k for a 4kwp system, taking 2 days to install. That means that we can take our time and do a decent job and we're not screwing local tradesmen. All of our work comes from personal recommendation a testament to the quality of work we produce. It's a long term investment, calculate the real difference in the prices.

 

[trevor79]

We fit on slate roofs approximately 70% of the time, if we charged £10,500 we couldn't cover our costs let alone make a profit. Ask yourself this question - what money is there left in the "pot" to cover call backs, proper design work, appropriate H&S requirements, correct tools, quality roof kit, support for making your Fit application, time for the sparky to route cables so you can't see them, support if you're unlucky enough to be in an area where over voltage becomes an issue etc etc. If there's no money in the pot to cover this then are you getting that service?

Our black panels on slate roofs are coming in at around £13k for a 4kwp system, taking 2 days to install. That means that we can take our time and do a decent job and we're not screwing local tradesmen. All of our work comes from personal recommendation a testament to the quality of work we produce. It's a long term investment, calculate the real difference in the prices.

Totally agree with what's said.
The company I work for has done much to promote safe and proper training in PV. Installing to best practice on slate is time consuming and you would be well served if you went with
a company who has decent experience in this work.
On your type of roof we fit LG 250w mono x panels and the price of £13k quoted above is a fair price for a job done well. Our prices are similar.

 

[SolarCity]

They are expensive and not quite as efficient as 'normal' panels. I'd only suggest using them if you were doing solar for purely environmental reasons and aesthetics are a major concern. Personally, I have seen many roofs which have been improved by a Sanyo array - in my opinion of course.

 

[SolarCity]

Comparing panels by efficiency isn't really a great indicator of a good panel. An efficiency of a module is simply a measure of how many watts per square metre a panel produces - for example, a more efficient 250w panel would be smaller physically than a less efficient 250w panel. Efficiency is important if roof space is limited.

The temperature coefficients of a panel along with the performance in lower light conditions are more important - particularly when the FIT bands are based on kWp and not overall output.

 

[sandblaster]

I wouldn't say there are any panels to stay away from - there are certainly some panels that are better than others though.

As for companies so stay away from, I'd advice that you consider how they treat you during the quoting process. If all they seem interested in is selling you a system then this should tell you a lot about their attitude. If they take time to design you a system that suits your requirements and can show a desire to do the best for you then it's worth paying the extra.

Take your time and make the right decision.

yes i have already noticed a different attitude when asking them questions regarding after care or backup.in your opinion what panels should i be looking at so i can at least go back to these sales men and say these are the panels i want you to look at,give me a quote on them(iam not limited by roof space,shading and near perfect south,roof angle is 30 degree) .i will also look at the fixing systems on forum.thankyou.

 

[SolarCity]

If your installer can get them, then I'd personally ask for Suntech panels. They are like rocking horse **** at the moment though.

 

[sandblaster]

If your installer can get them, then I'd personally ask for Suntech panels. They are like rocking horse **** at the moment though.

thaNKS FOR THAT,do they do black panels?
what is your view on transformless inverters?

 

[SolarCity]

They do do black panels but they are very hard to get hold of and you will get a loss in yield if you use them. If you want panels with a black frame then REC panels are a good option.

I'd definitely go for a transformerless inverter if you can - they tend to be a lot more efficient than standard inverters.

 

[sandblaster]

thankyou again,that was quick?

 

[SolarCity]

Not as quick as this reply. I'm having an office day and I have two computers in front of me. This forum is on in the background of one of them - if I'm printing things out then I usually have a spare few mins to post messages ;-)

 

[sandblaster]

If your installer can get them, then I'd personally ask for Suntech panels. They are like rocking horse **** at the moment though.

hi again
can you check this black panel:sunlink seg240-20mb,give me your opinion on the make,spec etc.
kind regards
chris