Soldato
That 20 panel quote you got is good.
To give you an example we basically paid that for 15 panels and a ****** 5 kWh battery.
This was a few years ago mind you, prices have dropped considerably it seems.
Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?
- Thread starter GinG
- Start date
That 20 panel quote you got is good.
To give you an example we basically paid that for 15 panels and a ****** 5 kWh battery.
This was a few years ago mind you, prices have dropped considerably it seems.
This is spectras quote - cheapest yet for 20 panels, but they don't recommend it. Just need to see if the Inverter, battery and panels are OK or not - as this is noticably cheaper than anyone else.
The 10 panel system they quoted :
(not done the maths as yours is a north-south split system, so 6kw may well still do the job)
8kw inverter for that 20x455w pv setup would give peace of mind that you definitely won't clip too badly
i would get the 20 panel system. the ROI will be significantly quicker with that
Last edited:
![Pyr0m@nI@]{](/styles/overclockers/avatars/4.png){kind=avatar}
Associate
Did they say why don't they recommend the quote with a 6kw inverter, but they do the 3.6?
surely with over 9kw of panels, it would be better with a larger inverter?
the 3.6k is the 10 panel 4.55kw quote
that's basically there or thereabouts what i paid
8.3k for 10x440w
(but yes, as someone with that array, would still recommend getting a 5kw inverter...during that few days of pure unadulterated no-cloud sunshine, the 3.6kw inverter clipped quite significantly)
Spoke to a local company about batteries, my SolarEdge inverter doesn't have DC link to connect to the SolarEdge Home 10kwh battery they make, so would need a new inverter as well. That would be £7,100 fitted.
Seems quite a lot of money.
Or go AC coupled, GivEnergy price isn't too bad. Never heard of FoxEP or Alpha Smile, any good? FoxEP has decent power output capability, but I guess 3kw is mostly ok.
Seems quite a lot of money.
Or go AC coupled, GivEnergy price isn't too bad. Never heard of FoxEP or Alpha Smile, any good? FoxEP has decent power output capability, but I guess 3kw is mostly ok.
| Type | Price | |
| Tesla Powerwall 2 with gateway | £6,950 | |
| Tesla PW2 without gateway | £6,150 | |
| Tesla Powerwall 3 with gateway | £7,500 | |
| GivEnergy All-in-One | £7,588 | |
| GivEnergy9.5 3kW AC | £5,149 | |
| GivEnergy5.2 3kW AC | £3,999 | |
| Alpha Smile10.08 3kW AC | £5,518 | |
| Alpha Smile5.04 3kW AC | £4,038 | |
| FoxEP11 5kW AC | £5,030 | |
| FoxEP5 3.7kW AC | £3,813 |
Associate
DOH! That's what I get for skim reading @ work, lol
Thanks
Soldato
This is spectras quote - cheapest yet for 20 panels, but they don't recommend it. Just need to see if the Inverter, battery and panels are OK or not - as this is noticably cheaper than anyone else.
The 10 panel system they quoted :
£1181.39/kWp installed vs £1892.13/kWp installed for the smaller system. An absolute no brainer to go for the split system IMO.
My split is SE/NW so not quite the same scenario as yours but I am generating 695w off the 18 panels on the SE side right now, meanwhile the 11 on the NW side are generating 1kW. It basically makes the generation last longer into the evening for me and is definitely worthwhile. My SE panels have generated 1.1MWh since my install in July and my NW panels have generated 500kWh in the same time. So I'm under target on the NW panels in some respects (target is ~60% generation of the SE panels) but even so, that's 500kWh of generation I'd not have had without them. If all of that generation offset a peak rate import at 24.54p/kWh then I've saved £122.70 already which is 5% of the way to paying back the extra cost of them. In under 3 months.
You need to do some sums but at those prices the ROI is likely going to be too long.
Last edited:
These prices seem high
The Givenergy prices are as follows:
AIO + gateway is £4900 to buy, its a one day job for one person plus paperwork.
A 9.5kwh battery is £2482, say £900 for the inverter, 1/2 day job for 1 person to install plus paperwork.
A 5.2 battery is £1300, say £900 for the inverter, 1/2 day job for 1 person to install plus paperwork.
I wouldn't go with Powerwall 2 at that price, its basically obsolete now. Powerwall 3 looks expensive but not excessively so, It's £6,300 for the hardware.
The prices above are just for the hardware, there will be some sundry items but you are talking £75-£150 worth for a straight forward install.
Last edited:
Associate
The Fox EP11 is a 10.36kWh battery and is paired there with a 5kW AC charger. The battery itself can charge and discharge at up to 10kW but obviously you'd be limited to 5kW with the inverter. You can parallel up to 4 of these aswell so up to about 42kWh if required.
The prices shown are expensive though. The EP11 can be found for £2500 and the AC 5kW inverter for about £600, so its about £2000 in labour/profit for them added on.
Agreed.
Associate
Yep, potentially 60-65% more generation per year for only £2000 more, plus a bigger inverter which would maximise generation on the other panels. Absolute no-brainer, could be 75% more generation annually for 25% more cost.
No surprise to see them "recommend" the quote with a 3.68kW inverter. Easier for them I guess, but worse for the customer in most cases.
No surprise to see them "recommend" the quote with a 3.68kW inverter. Easier for them I guess, but worse for the customer in most cases.
I'm on the south coast, so I guess that bumps prices a bit, higher labour rates and business overheads.
They are installed prices, so no extras.
Sent my updated utilities spreadsheet to work, so can crunch some numbers tomorrow, but yes, agree it could be a long ROI.
They are installed prices, so no extras.
Sent my updated utilities spreadsheet to work, so can crunch some numbers tomorrow, but yes, agree it could be a long ROI.
Being in the south is one thing but being charged £1.5k+ for 1 days work is not a southern premium.
If you are happy to source an inverter and a sparky to wire it in, you could buy this battery and have it all done for £3500.
www.fogstar.co.uk
If you are happy to source an inverter and a sparky to wire it in, you could buy this battery and have it all done for £3500.
Fogstar Energy 15.5Kwh 48V Battery
A high-performance 15.5kWh battery designed for UK conditions, featuring intelligent heating, plug-and-play inverter compatibility, an intuitive LCD touchscreen interface, premium Grade A EVE cells, scalable energy storage,
www.fogstar.co.uk
Last edited:
MCS is for the solar, you don't need it for the battery. It's AC coupled so it will not touch the original install.
You just need to do a G99 for the second inverter.
Last edited:
Soldato
G99 is permission from the DNO to export, you can do it (I did mine) or you're electrician can, but if they haven't done solar/batteries they might not be familiar. Yes for a new circuit, which it will be they need Part P. No MCS required.