PV panels - advice needed.

D

discovery101

Registered User
Messages
62
Hi Guys, got three quotes for PV panels, can you give me advice what i should be looking out for ?

Only one supplier is offering a battery pack, the other two advice is the fact that its a small house I wouldn't benefit from it.

any advice would be great.

S
 
My advice is that you check out the Renewable Energy section under construction and Planning on Boards.ie. Lots of discussion and detailed advice on all aspects of PV installation.

If you wish to get advice here you should give the details of each quote, number of panels, size of inverter, roof aspect, annual energy usage and related information. Very difficult to advise in any meaningful way without this information.
 
Here are a few threads worth having a read of on the topic -

My experience with installing SEAI grant aided solar PV

Hi all, Just said i'd put this up as it will be of interest to some. I won't have all the answers and my maths may be a bit dodgy but I will do my best to answer some questions you may have about the whole process. I installed 4.2kw of Solar PV East /West array along with 4.8kwh of lithium...
www.askaboutmoney.com

Solar Panel Query

Im looking for some information on whether or not the installation of solar panels for hot water are worth it or not. I was contacted in June and received a quote for 8 panels including hot water diverter. The quote was 8k approximately. Our house is 140sq m and I thought 8 panels seemed...
www.askaboutmoney.com

Activ8 solar panels

We have just had a salesman around regarding the installation of solar panels, we were quoted €8000 for 5sq mtr of flat plate (turn key service) Not only seems alot of money but I was not overly impressed with the salesman, seemed to rely on scare tactics regarding spiralling energy costs and...
www.askaboutmoney.com

Highlights are that it makes financial sense to get a small battery as you're then entitled to a larger grant, but beyond that you're unlikely to make a return on the cost of the battery. Diverters to your immersion are generally too expensive to ever make a financial return on. If you're more interested in reducing the amount of oil/gas you use or are putting this in because it's a cool technical gadget to have then ignore the previous two points :). Panels are cheap, installation is expensive, so go for the largest number of panels you can get on the roof while they're up there.
 
discovery101 said:
Hi Guys, got three quotes for PV panels, can you give me advice what i should be looking out for ?

Only one supplier is offering a battery pack, the other two advice is the fact that its a small house I wouldn't benefit from it.

any advice would be great.

S
Click to expand...
Difficult to answer without some details.

The main questions is what do you want the panels to do? I recently had a set installed (8 panels). The purpose was to charge out PHEV cars plus provide hot water to the immersion. We opted against battery storage and the cost/benefit was pretty poor here for us.

I also believe that at some point in the near future we will be able to sell unused power generated back to the grid so for that reason also we opted for no battery. Also most systems will allow you to reconfigure at some point to either add a battery and add more panels if required.

If you would like more details I can pm you info on our system. You need to specify what you want the panels to do and give details of each quote for better/more advice.
 
Leo said:
Recommendations via PM is not allowed here, you can post them publicly.
Click to expand...
Apologies. Not meant to be a recommendation just an explanation of what we have installed (no company or brand mentioned)

details
2.56 kwp Solar PV system

8x 320 w panels
High efficiency inverter
Hot water diverter
Car charger
Wifi stick for sending info to app
Full installation and warranty

the whole system was €9k but we re received a grant of €1.8k for solar panels and €600 for car charger from SEAI.

There is an app that shows exactly what is being generated at any point in the day and it keeps a record of generation figures.

For example. Today it was very overcast and raining for most of the day. It generated 4.10kwh. This was not enough to heat our water. It was tepid at best.

Yesterday however (hot and sunny all day) it generated 17kwh. Water was piping hot (we have a large water cylinder)

On average over the last two months it has generated 13-17kwh per day.

It also shows the monetary value of the power generated. On average about €1.50 per day which doesn’t sound like a lot but if you tot up the monthly/yearly it shows the kind of savings you could make if storing it in batteries or selling it back to the grid.

It is a big cost/investment for what seems like a small return. Our electricity bills are down alright. There is also the positive environmental impact to consider.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Leo
rustbucket said:
Apologies. Not meant to be a recommendation just an explanation of what we have installed (no company or brand mentioned)

details
2.56 kwp Solar PV system

8x 320 w panels
High efficiency inverter
Hot water diverter
Car charger
Wifi stick for sending info to app
Full installation and warranty

the whole system was €9k but we re received a grant of €1.8k for solar panels and €600 for car charger from SEAI.

There is an app that shows exactly what is being generated at any point in the day and it keeps a record of generation figures.

For example. Today it was very overcast and raining for most of the day. It generated 4.10kwh. This was not enough to heat our water. It was tepid at best.

Yesterday however (hot and sunny all day) it generated 17kwh. Water was piping hot (we have a large water cylinder)

On average over the last two months it has generated 13-17kwh per day.

It also shows the monetary value of the power generated. On average about €1.50 per day which doesn’t sound like a lot but if you tot up the monthly/yearly it shows the kind of savings you could make if storing it in batteries or selling it back to the grid.

It is a big cost/investment for what seems like a small return. Our electricity bills are down alright. There is also the positive environmental impact to consider.
Click to expand...
Very expensive system for what you received unless you had a very complex install. I'd urge anyone considering solar PV to take my advice listed in the first reply.

My own setup

16 350w Panels on a 2 storey Slate Roof. East West Orientation
5 kw Solis Inverter (10 Year warranty)
WiFi Dongle
2 2.4KWh Pylontech batteries
Hot water diverter

5.6 Kw Generation Potential and have generated over 4,000 kwh in the last 10 months since install.

€7,300 after grant
 
User1970 said:
Very expensive system for what you received unless you had a very complex install. I'd urge anyone considering solar PV to take my advice listed in the first reply.

My own setup

16 350w Panels on a 2 storey Slate Roof. East West Orientation
5 kw Solis Inverter (10 Year warranty)
WiFi Dongle
2 2.4KWh Pylontech batteries
Hot water diverter

5.6 Kw Generation Potential and have generated over 4,000 kwh in the last 10 months since install.

€7,300 after grant
Click to expand...

1500 of that was for the zappi car charger.
9k in total less grants.
€6600 in total.

setup was tricky but not a complete nightmare.

perhaps I paid slightly over the odds. It was similar from 3 other companies though. I went with the one I felt offered the best products with the best experience customer service wise.

anyway you are of course correct. Anyone considering it should do the research.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top