Impressive that
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mplayfield
Site Supporter
Best take the guarantee on solar with a pinch of salt . My inverter packed up 5 years in so I dug out the warranty,the firm had gone bust 5 days earlier.Not to worry I thought I have an insurance backed warranty, and yea I did but after a long chat with the call handler I discovered it only covered bad workmanship. I ended up buying a new inverter and fitting it myself.
Shame to hear that. How much did the replacement inverter cost? Was there any technology upgrades you could now take advantage of?
For my install, the inverter cost was a small amount of the total cost, about 10%. Solar panels were the largest and then the cost of installation next.
I had the same warranty issue with a double glazing company who appeared to still be in business but pointed out they had a slightly different name from the company who I had the warranty with.
I take @Colywobbles guarantee to be that the manufacturer, Project Solar, commit to the panels losing less than 20% of their efficiency in 25 years. If they don't exist then that is a meaningless warranty and as a company, they have only existed for 11 years but their technology is only an evolution on other technology.
To a customer, this is saying that the panels won't degrade to a point where they are no longer returning on the investment within 25 years. I really think most people will struggle to see the loss of 17.5% as our weather is so variable daily and which panel is doing what, and then losses at the inverter, would make it hard to spot over 25 years. But imagine you use to get a peak of 5.6kW and after 25 years it gives a peak of 4.62kW.
For my install, the inverter cost was a small amount of the total cost, about 10%. Solar panels were the largest and then the cost of installation next.
I had the same warranty issue with a double glazing company who appeared to still be in business but pointed out they had a slightly different name from the company who I had the warranty with.
I take @Colywobbles guarantee to be that the manufacturer, Project Solar, commit to the panels losing less than 20% of their efficiency in 25 years. If they don't exist then that is a meaningless warranty and as a company, they have only existed for 11 years but their technology is only an evolution on other technology.
To a customer, this is saying that the panels won't degrade to a point where they are no longer returning on the investment within 25 years. I really think most people will struggle to see the loss of 17.5% as our weather is so variable daily and which panel is doing what, and then losses at the inverter, would make it hard to spot over 25 years. But imagine you use to get a peak of 5.6kW and after 25 years it gives a peak of 4.62kW.
mplayfield
Site Supporter
Inverter was really cheap.Under £400 so less than a year’s export.in fact I worked out I lost £90 in the time it was broken. The cost of the batteries is what i would worry about guarantee wise .Panels and inverter cheap in comparison.
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OP
OP
Deleted member 2463
So I just got this from octopus
Inverters have a life of around 5-10 years, replacement after 5 is pretty common.
3/4kw inverter is indeed around £400.
3/4kw inverter is indeed around £400.
I paid a bit more for an SMA inverter in 2011, and its still going strong. Same with the Sanyo/Panasonic panels. Its no guarantee, but like the two Vaillant boilers Ive had that are both in their second decade, quality can be worth the reduced hassle of replacing or constantly repairing stuff at least.
Bloody hell Neil I know you produce a lot of hot air at times but I would have a coronary if I received that!
To me that says they have charged you -£4.5K so are they giving you £4.5k back?
I saw it as a refund too.
It needs to be relative. What were you paying for 4 months.
It needs to be relative. What were you paying for 4 months.
OP
OP
Deleted member 2463
100 a month roughly but no this isn’t a refund sadly.
Yeah that’s a lot, should we have a whip-round for him?
Just messing, crazy crazy times and this is only the start of it
It doesn't really make sense - I know gas has gone up in price, but an increase of 11 times the price since Jan seems excessive?!? I think I'd be checking the volumes used in that calc, and/or looking for other potential mistakes.
You started this whole thread, I assumed you had locked into a good tariff, but that price increase sucks.
My supplier wanted to lock me in on 5x what I was paying. Yours looks like 10x. So I am in agreement with @JT, what else has changed or gone wrong??
My supplier wanted to lock me in on 5x what I was paying. Yours looks like 10x. So I am in agreement with @JT, what else has changed or gone wrong??
OP
OP
Deleted member 2463
Lol no - the bill they have sent me is compleyely wrong and I believe the meter is ****ed. The good news is I have a lot of detail on how much gas I’ve used through this period and thru other periods.
Octopus have been good at keeping me up to date and informing me of their work to move my tariff to the Tesla Energy Plan.
I switched to them on the 9th. My SMETS1 meter was migrated to a secure communication network yesterday. They sent me the final T&C’s just now. I move to the plan tomorrow. I can’t fault them so far for action and communication.
11.5p import and export. This makes the grid my battery and my battery becomes storage for the grid.
For those that only care about cost, at current capped prices, my investment will be paid off in under 10 years. But that ignores all the other benefits like not having to stress about rising electricity costs.
Next project is heat pump but need to work on the house to reduce heat loss.
I switched to them on the 9th. My SMETS1 meter was migrated to a secure communication network yesterday. They sent me the final T&C’s just now. I move to the plan tomorrow. I can’t fault them so far for action and communication.
11.5p import and export. This makes the grid my battery and my battery becomes storage for the grid.
For those that only care about cost, at current capped prices, my investment will be paid off in under 10 years. But that ignores all the other benefits like not having to stress about rising electricity costs.
Next project is heat pump but need to work on the house to reduce heat loss.
Good news.
Knowing how you use your energy is key to surviving these prices rises. We use to just pay if we could afford it and not pay attention until we couldn’t.
Was due to get my battery system installed today but with Shangai port being shutdown nothing is moving out so it's now delayed until who knows when.
No doubt this is going to affect whole rafts of consumer goods so the effects could be enormous
No doubt this is going to affect whole rafts of consumer goods so the effects could be enormous
Sorry to hear that. I hope the delay isn’t too long.
There were delays for orders last year due to covid. Then demand increased and all the other things now causing disruption and additional demand.
There were delays for orders last year due to covid. Then demand increased and all the other things now causing disruption and additional demand.
Will be huge knock on affects, people do not realise how much stuff comes from china!Was due to get my battery system installed today but with Shangai port being shutdown nothing is moving out so it's now delayed until who knows when.
No doubt this is going to affect whole rafts of consumer goods so the effects could be enormous
Potatoes are the way forward, I gave up on Carrots.Yep, pain in the a**.
Maybe I should buy local instead - not to sure how good carrots are at storing electricity though
In seriousness I have just signed up on a full system that uses Solax modular battery’s. My setup will have 11.2kw but can be added too at a later date using slaves to about 23kw should the cheap nighttime feed in tariff be the way forward but I’ll wait to see how things work out.
Paying cash puts me on the priority list should cancellations come up but ATM they are quoting 2-3mth before installation.
My 5.6k setup isn’t the cheapest but they use 400w panels and have been around over 10 years now and offer 25yr guarantee on parts and labour inc replacement inverters ect should they be required.
They came highly recommended and I had no sales pressure or bul**** about feed in tariffs advising I use everything I produce.
Savings were calculated on last years energy prices with a 7.5% increase year on year but as we all know there is little chance it will be that and a more realistic figure will be double I guess.
Good part is nothing changes here on a day to day basis so I will be able to monitor my usage and savings realistically for good or bad and report back.
OP
OP
Deleted member 2463
Octopus are morons.
And I'm moron for not noticing until now.
They've been assuming that my SMART METER measures in ft cubed. WTF.
If you have a meter and you've changed providers, CHECK that they are using the right formula. Check your meter has either metric or foot cubed.
So I'm in for a big refund after all!
And I'm moron for not noticing until now.
They've been assuming that my SMART METER measures in ft cubed. WTF.
If you have a meter and you've changed providers, CHECK that they are using the right formula. Check your meter has either metric or foot cubed.
So I'm in for a big refund after all!
Smart meter