Solar Quote Review from Door to Door Salesperson

ShortyX on 14/05/2019 - 13:48
Last edited 14/05/2019 - 13:48

We had a solar salesperson (from Clean Power Australia) come to our door on the weekend. I've been thinking about solar so decided to meet with the specialist today to see what he had to offer.

We use about 12kWh per day normally and 14kWh in summer/winter months. We pay 25.298c/kWh (ex GST) plus 89c/day (ex)for service fee so bill is around $400-450 per quarter (inc GST).

(We live in a regulated area so only one choice of electricity provider).

He quoted a 6.6kW system (using 300W ET panels and 5kW Sungrow inverter with WiFi monitoring module) with no upfront costs for $77/fortnight over 5 years - ends up being $10k. Looking around at prices it seems that the offer is very expensive!

Some of the figures/assumptions used in the calcs:

-peak usage of 14kWh - assume 75% of usage is during the day (sunlight hours) to give 10.5kWh
-worse case scenario of 6.5 hours of daylight in winter
-buy back from provider is about 10c/kWh

Pricing aside, is the system a suitable size for our needs?

Side note - we have natural gas for hot water but may look into a heat pump.

Home & Garden Solar Energy System

Comments

  • Ocker on 14/05/2019 - 14:04

    What did they tell you the system would generate pa?

    • poboy on 14/05/2019 - 14:34
      +1

      On an ideally suited roof, I would estimate 6.6 x 4 = 24kW a day (average per year). Generally you multiply the system size by 4 to get the estimated generation.

      Personally, it's usually economical to oversize rather than undersize. Sure, it extends the payback period - but not by that much.

  • plmko on 14/05/2019 - 14:06
    +2

    $77/fortnight over 5 years - ends up being $10k. Looking around at prices it seems that the offer is very expensive!

    You cannot look at it like that, you are essentially on finance.

  • His_Holiness on 14/05/2019 - 14:11
    +6

    Avoid door-to-door solar salesmen like the plague.

    I used Solargain for my home in Perth last year. They have offices nationwide. $8,000 for a 6.6kw Jinko+Fronius+Heat pump. This including a complicated removal of the old HW system which increased the cost.

  • Ryanek on 14/05/2019 - 14:11
    +3

    That is way too expensive, you're paying a lot of interest on those repayments. A system that size should cost under 6K (typically with a better Fronius inverter).

    I suggest you check out Solarquotes. It gave me some pretty competitive quotes whens I used them earlier in the year.

    • Nikovegna on 15/05/2019 - 08:41

      I just used solar quotes last week. Very informative and easy to use.

  • steven6 on 14/05/2019 - 14:29

    I have a solar system with 2.03kW of panels and 3kW inverter in South East Qld. Average daily power generation is 4.65kWh per day over a year. Winter days are an average of 3.7kWh and Summer days average 5.4kWh

  • tictac242 on 14/05/2019 - 15:09

    Few months ago I had a system put in for $5500 installed consisting of 21 x 310W Trina panels with a 6KW Fronius inverter.

    To answer your question "Is this suitable for our needs?" What are exactly are your needs? What it comes down to is how much do you want to reduce you bill by?

    And on that point if you pay 10K over a 5 year period you would have paid 5K more than you should have due to finance interest blowing your ROI out and effectively negating nearly all the savings from the solar system.

  • trustnoone on 14/05/2019 - 15:14
    +1

    75% of usage is during the day (sunlight hours)

    Do you work full time (or have people that stay home), I'm usually out by the morning, and come back when the suns already starting to go down so my use feels almost opposite?

    • ShortyX on 14/05/2019 - 16:10

      Great point… didn’t even think of that. We’re all out for most of the day so definitely need to consider your point.

  • brad1-8tsi on 14/05/2019 - 15:21
    +2

    $10k is way too much. Either save up and pay up front or find a better finance deal.

    You refer to a "regulated area" but it seems odd there is only 1 retailer. Can you msg me your postcode?

    In Sep 2018 i fitted a 6kw system:
    20x Jinko Eagle PERC Mono 300W (Black) Solar Panel (probably in the top 5 of panels)
    Zever Solar Zeverlution 5000 Single-Phase Wifi Inverter (entry level inverter. Spend the extra $500(??) and get a Fronius)

    $3899 fitted and working (already had an interval meter). It's given no problems and appears to be a resonable quality installation.

    Panel placement isn't good - 12 panels face east; 8 panels west.

    Generation this year:
    Jan 798kWh
    Feb 695kWh
    Mar 573kWh
    Apr 504kWh

    To date instead of $900 in bills we are $390 in credit. We are on AGL's Solar Saver plan which is 20c NFIT but no discount on power used.

    Look at https://www.solarquotes.com.au/ and educate yourself before jumping in.

  • pformag on 14/05/2019 - 16:32

    It's about 60% premium on a system if you paid outright. 6.6/5kw should be around 3.8-4.5K installed.

  • moooz on 14/05/2019 - 16:40
    +1

    Your quoted system is 5 kW, not 6.6. Max output is limited by the inverter size. You can go up to 133% larger capacity on panels, but exceeding 133% will mean your STC claim will (highly liklely) be refused. Having more panel capacity is a very good idea, as outside of peak panel generation, you have more power being generated.

    What state are you in and who is your distributor? The reason I ask is if you are in VIC, and for example on the AusNet or Citipower/Powercor network, the max size system (based on inverter) is 5 kW for single phase. So asking if the system size is suitable is irrelevant, as the power network won't let you go larger.

    List of max system size per distributor can be found here:
    https://www.solarchoice.net.au/blog/solar-system-size-limits…

    Also, if you have the roof space, solar hot water with instantaneous gas boost is probably a better idea for high hot water usage scenarios, and could be better value than a heat pump, based on your already fairly high electricity usage.

    And check your daylight hour power usage - no way it's 75% during the day. The 9.9c feed in tariff is going to take forever to pay off the system. It's far better to offset electricity usage by using more power when you are generating and not paying the ~30c per kWh grid usage fee. Also, $10k is absurd, shop around.

  • star-ggg on 14/05/2019 - 17:29

    For those brands panels and inverter, that price is about 3x of the price you can get at a reputable installer.

  • trex on 14/05/2019 - 19:56

    Be sure to do a background check on the solar business, read this article from Choice

  • SBOB on 14/05/2019 - 21:05

    I'll join the chorus
    Way overpriced and likely terrible value being a door to door

    If you're serious, hunt out quality installer/companies in your area and get quotes.

    Quality installers/companies don't do door to door sales

  • pjcook on 15/05/2019 - 07:52
    +1

    Door to door…. run away, you have been quoted a mid tier system for a top tier price. Go to your local installers and get quotes. Ask them for references from current clients. Do research and ask hard questions. Look at roof and see if it is ever in shadow during the day, that will completely change the type of system you need. If you think you will want Battery at a later date ensure your system is battery ready. Ask the about optimised system and monitoring so you can ensure your system is working, They are no set and forget systems, you have to check yourself that it is working at it's optimum efficiency.

  • ilsan0 on 15/05/2019 - 08:47
    +1

    I just paid $10.4k for:

    20 x LG Neon R 365 panels
    Solar Edge - Invertor + Optimiser - 7w
    7.37 kW system

    • pjcook on 16/05/2019 - 08:03

      Tier 1, great price. I gave the same with 300 watt panels and LG Battery.

      • ilsan0 on 16/05/2019 - 12:16

        cheers. getting installed as we speak :)

  • gth on 15/05/2019 - 08:50
    +1

    Regardless of who you go with, get a detailed itemised quote (yours seems better than most) and more importantly get full details of what's been installed - including model numbers and serial numbers - along with the wiring documentation.

    The documentation should reflect what's present, all the way to the meter box and any relays/switches that were added there.

    Too many of these companies disappear, if your expecting to be able to ask them later on.

  • dimitryp on 15/05/2019 - 09:12

    I had a door-to-door guy from SmartEnergy come offering solar the other week. I've also been thinking about it so said ok for a specialist to come out. Specialist was just another sales guy, english guy with the gift of the gab. In the end ended up quoting me $12k for a 7.7kw system (outright, not finance), which i thought was very expensive. When i said so he was very offended and got a bit hostile, saying i shouldnt be badmouthing his company and anything cheaper will be bad quality.
    Also, their installations are "free". I challenged this, saying, how can it be free for a very difficult install and also free for an easy install, and the customer pays $12k anyway? There must be a lot of fat built into the quote. He didnt look at my roof or walk around the house or anything. I asked him to send me an itemised quote. It's been a week now and he hasnt sent it, probably assuming i wont be buying so he's not bothering. Awful service, dont go with SmartEnergy.

  • wako on 15/05/2019 - 09:17

    I Was just quoted this from Zen(in SA) for $7500
    Is this good value from a quality company?

    Component Quantity
    ZEN PREMIUM SYSTEM 6.20kW SA (Trina 310) 1.00
    Single phase meter isolator (supply & install) 1.00
    Trina Honey M Plus 310W Mono Panel 35mm Black Frame Tier 1 TSM-310DD05A.08(II) 20.00
    Fronius Primo 5.0-1 5kW Inverter SC 1.00
    Online monitoring (subject to Wi-Fi, see ‘Online Monitoring’)
    Complete supply, installation and system commissioning

    • tictac242 on 16/05/2019 - 13:16

      Check my post above, I paid 2K less got one more panel and 6KW Fronius inverter.
      The online monitoring is free with all Fronius inverters.

  • HeWhoKnows on 15/05/2019 - 09:29
    +1

    Only way to find out is to get a couple more quotes.

  • bamzero on 15/05/2019 - 09:51

    the specialist

    That's probably pushing the term…

    Anyway, to sum up.. that's bottom end gear for top dollar price.

    A good place to ask is the Solar Q&A group. Lots of installers on there.
    (You can also have a look at Crap Solar to see what you get from bottom end installers.)

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