New system quote with a Fox-ESS inverter/battery - thoughts?

[dan_b]

Hi chaps

A friend of mine is going solar and he's just had a quote and he's asked for my advice - so obviously I'm asking for the greater wisdom of Camelot!

He's got a SW facing house in Chelmsford with some interesting roof bits. They're saying they can put 9x panels on the flat roof on the loft conversion dormer, and 3x more on a ground floor extension (which you can't see in the photo) - so all panels on flat roofs essentially.

Anyway they've quoted supplying 12x 445W "Aiko NeoStart" panels (never heard of them)
a 5kW inverter
an 8.6kWh battery

Both the inverter and battery made by "Fox-ESS" (never heard of them either)
https://uk.fox-ess.com/


He's been quoted £11k. Obviously I've told him to get 2x more quotes - but Octopus won't quote him as they don't supply flat roof systems at the moment.

Anyonen got any thoughts? Is 11k good value? The inverter/battery ok? Will a 5kW system be ok as far as the DNO is concerned?
They're in the process of getting an EV and already have an Ohme Home Pro installed for that part of the story.
Any installers local to him that could be recommended?

[Colin Deng]

Fox-ess is kind of famous in USA, And it's battery quality is good.

[dan_b]

Thanks - I assume they're LFP batteries?
I'm also assuming it's a hybrid inverter, but I've made a double assumption there.

Will they play nicely with Octopus?

And could anyone recommend any installers in the Chelmsford area?!

[nowty]

Aiko are Tier 1, they are new to the UK but they are now sold in most of the usual places, ITS, Trade Sparky, etc. In fact 625W panels are available which I believe are the highest wattage panels you can currently get in the UK.
https://pswenergy.com.au/tier-1-solar-panels/

The inverter won't be a problem under G99 fast track if the export is limited to 3.68kW. It will be a hybrid as its cheaper that way.

Pricewise, you might get £1k or £2k off it but for Chelmsford, sounds like the going rate. I go off £1k per kWp installed plus £0.5k per kWh of battery storage. That is of course for a pukka installation and an MCS certificate.

I'd want to know more about how they are mounting them on the flat roof.

[dan_b]

Thanks Nowty and Colin very useful info.

[AGT]

Some of the fox inverters only charge at 27amps

[AGT]

You get a fox battery and inverter for a bit over £2k if memory serves