Advice please! :)

[AndyStewart]

Hi there,

I'm looking at getting solar panels fitted to our house (south facing, tiled, no shade coverage, all good), but we've had wildly different quotes from 3/4 different companies, so looking for some advice?

Company 1
16x245W Sharp Panels
Aurora Inverter
Generation Meter
AC/DC Isolators
Roof mounting kit + Cables etc

Quoted £14,900 (summary price, no breakdown so can't see cost of panels, labour etc)

Company 2
16x245W Sharp Panels (sent same data sheet as above)
Sunnyboy Inverter
Generation Meter
AC/DC Isolators
Roof mounting kit + Cables etc

Quoted £11,800 (detailed price, so can see breakdown of panel costs, inverter, labour etc)

16x245W Sanyo Panels
Sunnyboy Inverter
Generation Meter
AC/DC Isolators
Roof mounting kit + Cables etc

Quoted £13,800 (detailed price, so can see breakdown of panel costs, inverter, labour etc)

Company 3
16x250W Sanyo Mono Crystalline Panels
Sunnyboy Inverter
+etc...

Quoted £15,800

Why are there such differences in prices? Also, we're getting different information from each company. One says the panels are 25yr guarantee, the inverter is 10 year, but another company says panels & inverter are both 25 yr guarantee? Can anyone shed some light on these?

(PS all the firms are MCS and REA accredited)

Have asked those suppliers with the summary quote to do me a breakdown to see if I can see where the differences are.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MarkieSparkie]

Hi Andy, Welcome to the forum. Sorry, I'm not a solar specialist so I'll leave the answers to your questions to those on here that are.

 

[northernsun]

From looking at that I would be staying away from company number 1. Company 2 looks good, with details of the job and a choice of options that both seem to be reasonably priced, although I would probaly recommend staying away from the Sharp panels- is this someting you have asked them to quote for?
The inverters have a range of warranties- they do not come as standard though, they are extras- sometimes a very good buy but still an extra. the standard warranty wil be 5 years free with extensions available.

The differences in price are there for many reasons. Mostly legitimate, size of the company, overheads, buying power and often the amount of work the installer will put into your job. Often the difference is down to greed, unfortunately, and a hope that the customer accepts what they are told- especially when so many customers are interested.

 

[AndyStewart]

Hi Northernsun,

Thanks for the quick reply. Is there any particular reason to stay away from the Sharp panels? We didn't ask for any specifics as, like with most newbies to do with this, we have no idea what to ask for, hence why I'm on here (now if you're after any help to do with PC;s, programming, home entertainment systems, then I'm your man )

We also had a quote similar to company 2, but with Suntech 250W Black Pearl but as yet have had no written quote from the company as yet...any comments on these panels in comparison?

 

[MorganPVI]

I'd have company 2 with the Sanyo.

We no longer offer Sharp panels to our customers because the frames are imo very poor, when the panels are mounted the frames deform, quite badly on our last job with them earlier this month.

The panel manufactures offer a 5 or 10 year warranty on the frames of the panel. The 25yr warranty is on the power output. 90% after 10yrs 80% after 25yrs. There maybe extra warranties on top, however you will pay extra for them, perhaps that explains some large prices you;ve been quoted.

We would offer our customers Hyundai 250w panels in black frames with a 10 year guarantee in place of the Sharp panels.

 

[budwozza]

Hi Andy,

I have just had a system installed, 16 x 250w Sanyo Panels and a SB4000TL.

I had many quotes varying from 12.9k to 14.8k - all for pretty much the same system. - I am very impressed with the Sanyo panels, they not only look good but have performed very well so far - I am amazed that they still generate power even when the sun is setting (albeit only a few watts but it all adds up) - bring on some decent weather

Where are you based ?

 

[SolarCity]

Company 1 seems a little on the high side and as everyone else has mentioned, stay away from Sharp.

The other quotes are good but don't just go for the cheapest option. I am seeing more and more diabolical installs and it would appear that the cowboys have well and truly arrived.

 

[AndyStewart]

Thanks for this so far guys - all good info

Went back to Company 1 to ask for a breakdown of the price quoted to see what the differences were but he seemed reluctant. Said he was quoting for the full system including “passive energy” (to do with the boiler?) and the remote monitoring hence the price.

When I mentioned Sanyo panels, he said it would be about £1000 more, but he hadn’t heard of any issues with the Sharp panels.

Also for the Sunnyboy he asked why, said the sunnyboy used “forced convection cooling” and needed occasional “filter changes”, had a fan in it that the Aurora power 1 doesnt and said they use the Aurora as it runs at lower voltage whereas the sunnyboy needs to be min 200v

Sounds like I'm getting the run-around?

 

[MorganPVI]

The Aurora uses forced air cooling as well, it has a fan in it like the Sunny. The lower voltage sounds like he is confused - the Aurora can be set to "switch on" at a lower voltage 120V if you have a few panels in the 2nd string.

Where are you in the country? I'm sure there will be "respected" member of the forum nearby who would be very pleased to offer an informed and comprehensive quotation.