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Greetings from Northumberland
Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 4:43 pm
by richbee
Hi All,
I'm new to the forum - pointed in this direction from 'The Green living Forum'.
I'm looking into having solar PV installed possibly with a battery too, but I'm pretty new to the subject.
I'm a mechanical engineer by trade, and I've installed a small 12V solar system on my campervan, but I'm really looking for clues on what to look for and what to avoid - particularly brands of cells, inverters and batteries etc.
Thanks in advance, I'm sure there will be other areas I'm interested in too - like growing veg and stuff
Re: Greetings from Northumberland
Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 4:50 pm
by Joeboy
Welcome onboard Rich!
Re: Greetings from Northumberland
Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 5:27 pm
by Bugtownboy
Hi from me too
Re: Greetings from Northumberland
Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 6:41 pm
by Fintray
Welcome to the forum.
Re: Greetings from Northumberland
Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 9:27 pm
by Stinsy
richbee wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 4:43 pm
Hi All,
I'm new to the forum - pointed in this direction from 'The Green living Forum'.
I'm looking into having solar PV installed possibly with a battery too, but I'm pretty new to the subject.
I'm a mechanical engineer by trade, and I've installed a small 12V solar system on my campervan, but I'm really looking for clues on what to look for and what to avoid - particularly brands of cells, inverters and batteries etc.
Thanks in advance, I'm sure there will be other areas I'm interested in too - like growing veg and stuff
Welcome!
Not much to avoid! Panels/inverters etc all reliable these days. Depends what you can find in stock and what fits in your roof. Batteries are essential in a post-FiT world Pylontech seem to be the sweet spot for price/performance/reliability but there are other good choices too.
What is your budget? How much space do you have?
Re: Greetings from Northumberland
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2022 10:19 am
by richbee
Stinsy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 9:27 pm
richbee wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 4:43 pm
Hi All,
I'm new to the forum - pointed in this direction from 'The Green living Forum'.
I'm looking into having solar PV installed possibly with a battery too, but I'm pretty new to the subject.
I'm a mechanical engineer by trade, and I've installed a small 12V solar system on my campervan, but I'm really looking for clues on what to look for and what to avoid - particularly brands of cells, inverters and batteries etc.
Thanks in advance, I'm sure there will be other areas I'm interested in too - like growing veg and stuff
Welcome!
Not much to avoid! Panels/inverters etc all reliable these days. Depends what you can find in stock and what fits in your roof. Batteries are essential in a post-FiT world Pylontech seem to be the sweet spot for price/performance/reliability but there are other good choices too.
What is your budget? How much space do you have?
Thanks for the feedback - sounds quite good.
I'm not sure how much space - it's a fair sized roof, but the main pitched roof is facing pretty much east/west.
I'm getting a couple of quotes for 5kW of panels around the £6k mark without batteries and £9 to 11k with batteries
Re: Greetings from Northumberland
Posted: Fri May 06, 2022 1:26 pm
by richbee
Right - I've pressed the button on Solar PV + battery - ~5.5kW panels with 5.1kW battery & hybrid inverter.
Likely to be 4-6 weeks, have to see how it goes - fingers crossed
Re: Greetings from Northumberland
Posted: Fri May 06, 2022 1:59 pm
by Joeboy
richbee wrote: ↑Fri May 06, 2022 1:26 pm
Right - I've pressed the button on Solar PV + battery - ~5.5kW panels with 5.1kW battery & hybrid inverter.
Likely to be 4-6 weeks, have to see how it goes - fingers crossed
Nice one! Off to the races. You'll never look back.
Re: Greetings from Northumberland
Posted: Fri May 06, 2022 2:35 pm
by nowty
richbee wrote: ↑Fri May 06, 2022 1:26 pm
Right - I've pressed the button on Solar PV + battery - ~5.5kW panels with 5.1kW battery & hybrid inverter.
Likely to be 4-6 weeks, have to see how it goes - fingers crossed
What was the spec (brands) and price in the end, if you don't mind ?
My mate had a recent quote for a Sunsynk (never heard of them before) system from a national company.
4kW of panels (JA Solar) and 5.1kW sunsynk battery and 3.6kW sunsynk hubrid inverter for almost £11k. I pointed out to him you could buy the whole lot as a kit with everything except the panel mounting kit and installation for £4.6k (without VAT). I reckoned should of been about 7k or 8k, maybe 9k at a push if scaffolding was required. The quote underpriced the installation costs but wacked 100% markup on everything else.
Re: Greetings from Northumberland
Posted: Fri May 06, 2022 3:10 pm
by richbee
nowty wrote: ↑Fri May 06, 2022 2:35 pm
richbee wrote: ↑Fri May 06, 2022 1:26 pm
Right - I've pressed the button on Solar PV + battery - ~5.5kW panels with 5.1kW battery & hybrid inverter.
Likely to be 4-6 weeks, have to see how it goes - fingers crossed
What was the spec (brands) and price in the end, if you don't mind ?
My mate had a recent quote for a Sunsynk (never heard of them before) system from a national company.
4kW of panels (JA Solar) and 5.1kW sunsynk battery and 3.6kW sunsynk hubrid inverter for almost £11k. I pointed out to him you could buy the whole lot as a kit with everything except the panel mounting kit and installation for £4.6k (without VAT). I reckoned should of been about 7k or 8k, maybe 9k at a push if scaffolding was required. The quote underpriced the installation costs but wacked 100% markup on everything else.
This is also for JA solar panels (but 5.6kW) and 5.1kW Sunsynk battery & 3.6kW Sunsynk hybrid inverter - £9k fitted including scaffolding