PV solar array set up

[acuteanxiety]

Hello all

Wondering if anyone could let me know how much they have paid in the last few months or been quoted for this?

We live in a 4 bed semi detached 1930s house with one bathroom.

We have a combi boiler but my husband is a gas safe engineer so we can change our heating system

Possibly we would continue with a combi and then also have a solar unvented cylinder

There's 5of us in the house, 3 children under 6

We are south east,

In Thanet so any sort of price guide would be fab

We got a quote for 12k

Wondering on any ideas.

Thank you

Surely your husband is better qualified than most of mumsnet to advise? I'd expect a switch to a hot water tank system for bath water, heat using solar during the day. Fall back to gas condensing boiler over winter.

Very helpful

Think you'll find it's an electrician you Wally

Asking about installation cost of panels

Bit rude, OP? I would expect that my gas engineer would be able to tell me some of the cost of switching from combi boiler to condensing boiler and unvented cylinder. I don’t know how much panels are to install but we have solar PV and solar thermal - it’s the solar thermal that does the water, I think heating water by PV is inefficient? We use the PV to power the house and sell surplus back to the grid.

What size system was your quote for?
Does it detail which inverter you'd be getting?

You can get devices that divert any excess solar to your hot water cylinder which are very efficient.

Also, does your quote include scaffold?

It would be a bit mental to keep a combi and also have a hot water tank heated via solar as a totally separate system.
Solar installs are currently massively Inflated for obvious reasons.

I'm not entirely sure if this is your question but we have just been quoted £13k to have 13 panels and a 9.5kwh battery fitted on a 4 bed detached house.

Would use a valve to heat the tank and then also send the electric around the house

I'm not a gas engineer, but I know my husband understands the plumbing part.

The quote didn't include scaffold, I thought he should just buy some because it will be helpful for him with flues and soil stacks in higher places as he sometimes has to hire scaffolding for the job.

@Needcoffeeimmediatley yes it did I will have to check the quote because it's not really my thing.

Sorry if I sounded rude I felt a bit offended by the comments my husband would be best to advise. He knows how to use all the systems I am a stay at home mom and I just want to know roughly what people paid for their panels to be honest

I don't understand a thing about the panels at all just that it's expensive and energy consuming to keep the water hot but we can use a combi for when the tank isn't on a timer to be hot and so we don't use the energy generated to store the hot water

Sorry for being rude I don't know why I felt offended I'm a bit defensive about his work

I don't know about the plumbing side of things but here's a link to one of the solar PV water options.

www.marlec.co.uk/product/solar-iboost/

Unless your having a battery as well £12k seems a little steep (I work for a solar company)

Can you post what the quote includes? How many panels? What output?
Is it with a battery or not?

Otherwise it's a bit like saying 'is 100k reasonable for an extension ' without saying if it's one metre square or 100

Thank you so much here is the quote

I drive a petrol car and because of the ages of my children an electric vehicle is out of my reach for now to fit them all in safely- also because of the fact we will drive very long drives a few times a year through Europe it's not a car on our list so I wouldn't need that extra £900

Plumbing and gas part my husband will do

I did even think about him doing the course to install to develop the business but this would mean he needs his NICEIC I think it's called which is a rather heavy course to take on whilst he single handedly works

He's a good guy and a great plumber, has Part P etc but not the full electrical qualifications

Thank you so much for this help I'm sorry for being rude I felt a bit insulted by the first post

Thank you for coming back to help me even though I was rude to someone.

I will help you with any cooking tips 😅😊 this is soo outing

Ah yes, I can see that includes a 4.8kWh battery and optimised solar panels - that is a good price, I would bite their hand off if I were you.

The iboost could be added on at a later date if you wanted and is something your husband could do very easily.

You seem really concerned about what people think of your husbands trade, please don't be.
There is nothing wrong with being a tradesman!

Hope this helps

@Needcoffeeimmediatley I hope you don't mind me jumping on but you seem in the know! Please could you let me know if our quote seems reasonable? This is what we are getting and it includes scaffolding. Quote is 13.7k

Is that for a GivEnergy battery and inverter by any chance?

It is important to know which manufacturer they are offering, hybrid inverter or PV inverter and separate AC coupled battery inverter.

If what you screen shotted (don't think thats a real word!) if the extend of your quote, I would ask them for a bit more information before you make up your mind.

Also, where are you based?

We are in the SE.

Make sure you have DNO consent for anything over 3.86 kw as a system. We have had issues because we can only get permission for 5kw. The inverter required for the optimise panels plus a battery meant that we were not left with much tolerance for the panels themselves.

we ended to having to effectively choose between having a battery or having optimise panels

Yes, it's GivEnergy hybrid inverter. We are in Yorkshire.

Good point Lemonblosson, the installer should do this once you've accepted their quotation but before any panels go on the roof.

I would say that 13.7k for a GivEnergy hybrid inverter, 5kW worth of solar panels and 9.5kWh battery is a little on the high side (unless that also includes scaffolding.

Around the £12k mark for a system of this size, plus the access costs (or at least that's what we would charge)

Super super super helpful thank you

Don't know the brand of the bits I will email and ask for details

I want a fall arrest system as well

Husband has a ticket for working at heights and is aware of the kW too

Is Iboost to send back to grid?

Sorry I'm a novice

I'm Thanet to be totally precise

Margate

I boost is to send excess into the immersion heater to heat water. Selling back to the grid is the last resort since they pay peanuts. In fact if they actually paid real peanuts it would probably be worth more.

look at eon. They also offer interest free credit.

@Lemonblossom who do you sell back to I've heard a few things about octopus and agile?

Peanuts are a popular choice in this house 😘😅