Solar Power - Why people ignore your advice

STG

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Hi All,

Don't you just love people who ask you for advice on xxxx (because you have done xxxx etc) then they completely ignore what you said and do something else only for them to come back later all snooty and expect you to help fix their problems.


So, the other month a snooty neighbour came and asked about my Solar Panel setup as they are thinking about getting a system to help reduce their costs as they also run an airbnb from their granny annexe so electricity usage is quite high. I explain my house has 6.7kW roof panels and a 20kW battery system. I explain the local restrictions on power export and what the costs and expected solar generation are with my setup because they really need the same as me.

Yesterday, a scruffy white van appears outside their house, 2 chaps climb up a ladder on the roof and install 4 solar panels etc and a bit of wiring and they were gone 9 hours later. The neighbour sees me outside in the evening as comes and tells me their great investment and how apparently I don't know nothing according to the sales person, you see modern houses don't need battery systems as it's a waste of money, also with today's modern 300w panels (which he has 4 by the way!!) he now has enough electricity to supply his house, the granny annexe and also export all the same time and it only cost £10000, much much cheaper then mine (which was £15000)

I put sigh and walk away, I did not have the heart to tell the snooty neighbour he obviously been ripped off because if I did I am sure he would become abusive as he has done with other neighbours and tell me again I know nothing. He is a member of the Dunning Kruger club!!!
I don't have a clue what inverter they used or if he has access to the generation stats etc, so I'll let him find out the hard way when he still paying massive electricity bills in a few months time. No doubt it will be my fault somehow, it always is.....

For comparrsion, on a good sunny day in Summer with mynear south facing 6.7kW panels I can generate approx 48kWh so his (1.2kW system of 4 x 300w panels ) will produce approx 8kWh.
 
Don't you just love people who ask you for advice on xxxx (because you have done xxxx etc) then they completely ignore what you said and do something else only for them to come back later all snooty and expect you to help fix their problems.

I explain my house has 6.7kW roof panels and a 20kW battery system. I explain the local restrictions on power export and what the costs and expected solar generation are with my setup because they really need the same as me.

the sales person, you see modern houses don't need battery systems as it's a waste of money, also with today's modern 300w panels (which he has 4 by the way!!) he now has enough electricity to supply his house, the granny annexe and also export all the same time and it only cost £10000, much much cheaper then mine (which was £15000)
Oh dear, salesman had a field day. There are still some awful people/companies out there, though most in the industry seem ok.

Always get three quotes and go with reputable suppliers!

Were they with MCS then? (Necessary for export payments). As MCS suppliers they should provide predictions etc?
 
Well, hear me out here. I went to my neighbour, who is an engineer, and asked him if he was happy with his (year-old) PV installation, and with the guy who installed it. He said yes, and presented me with a couple of closely-typed pages about costs and time to recoup these. I said, in that case I'm going to skip the summer spent learning all about it and getting quotes from multiple suppliers and breaking my brain over it.

I contacted his supplier and within about six weeks I had an installation more or less identical to his. I have since learned "on the job". Occasionally I think, I might have done this or that a bit differently, knowing what I know now. But then I realise that this would have incurred extra costs, and at the time I was at the limit of my comfort zone for capital expenditure.

It has worked out extremely well. So all neighbours are not brain-dead idiots.

Your neighbour has been ripped off big-time. £10,000 for four panels and no battery? That's insane. (My 18 panels, 9.5 kwh battery, inverter and Zappi all came to £13,700 last year.)
 
These solar companies are having a right laugh. I installed 8 x 415w panels, a 7.2kwh inverter with a 15kwh battery. Including all solar ground mounts, wiring, breakers, fuses, trunking, Solar Assistant software etc it cost me €3845 and I have the satisfaction that I know how it works 😂😂
 
The neighbour came round this morning as I was washing the MG, he said he had a great first day and he generated 2263w in his snooty voice, I just said that sounds great, good for you.

He then kind of asked how much did mine generated in comparrison. So I got my phone out and and looked it up and said, just over 15kWh as it was a cloudy day mostly, he smiled and said nowhere near my 2263 then and walked off happy. I just smiked to myself wondering how this guy who has a Degree in IT Infrastructure does not know the difference between watts and kilowatts.
Oh well, still let him find out the hard way when his bills arrive
:)
 
Oh well, still let him find out the hard way when his bills arrive
:)
Sounds like a very objectionable character.

Shame you didn't get the opportunity to ask what his house used in that time to compare that as well. Might have led him to twigging a bit sooner.
 
8 x 460w panels for £8500 plus a 5kW home battery for £3334
Prices include scaffolding, installation and a 25 year warranty
OMG! That's a lot. So, 460W panels are about £55 trade each at the moment, mounting rails will come to around 50%-75% of price of panels. A 5kWh battery is sub £1000. You don't mention what size of inverter, but a 6kWh hybrid inverter will be around £1000. So, a large premium for scaffolding and installation and who knows if the company will be around in 25 years' time?

He then kind of asked how much did mine generated in comparrison. So I got my phone out and and looked it up and said, just over 15kWh as it was a cloudy day mostly, he smiled and said nowhere near my 2263 then and walked off happy. I just smiked to myself wondering how this guy who has a Degree in IT Infrastructure does not know the difference between watts and kilowatts.
Oh well, still let him find out the hard way when his bills arrive
He probably doesn't even know the difference between Watts and kiloWatt-hours :(
 
OMG! That's a lot. So, 460W panels are about £55 trade each at the moment, mounting rails will come to around 50%-75% of price of panels. A 5kWh battery is sub £1000. You don't mention what size of inverter, but a 6kWh hybrid inverter will be around £1000. So, a large premium for scaffolding and installation and who knows if the company will be around in 25 years' time?
I've been quoted £4k for 5 panels with optimizers on the garage and a simple inverter. (We already have hybrid inverter and battery for the roof solar.)

Would need a new consumer unit for it though.

The labour is getting to be the expensive thing, rather than the equipment. Perhaps particularly so in the South of England.
 
Scaffolding isn't cheap. When I had the flat roof done front and back the scaffolding was nearly £2k
The labour is getting to be the expensive thing, rather than the equipment.
Totally agree. Plus all the paperwork and everything is done for you.
Totally agree and not everyone can/wants to DIY like ourselves and @Barrie.

My point though was the seemingly high price of @Ian Key's quote. Even allowing for £2K for scaffolding (which I suspect is not the price solar install companies will pay due to their bulk deals with scaffolding companies) and another £500 for cabling, RCD, distribution box, isolators, fuses etc. then that comes to £5270 for parts and scaffolding. With a quote of £11,800, that means the labour and profit is over £6500. Sounds poor value to me, if you compare to say @Rolfe's installation of 18 panels, 9.5 kwh battery, inverter and Zappi for £13,700. Or one of our relatives who this year had 14 panels, 6kW inverter and 9.6kWh battery installed for under £10,000.
 
So many considerations when looking at solar. EVM has a few videos on his channel discussing differences, here are a couple...



 
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