ᐅ Roof Covering and Choosing a Solar Installer – Making the Decision?
Created on: 10 Aug 2022 18:21
E
Elias_dee
Hello everyone,
I am about to decide whether to hire a solar installer. I am building a turnkey single-family house with a general contractor in the 84xxx area, featuring a gable roof with a 25° pitch, oriented north/south. There are no skylights, chimney, or other obstructions on the roof, so conditions are optimal.
I am having some difficulty even requesting quotes and now have at least two offers. I would appreciate help evaluating and choosing between them (both the company and whether to include the north side). I have not asked for a battery system but might consider adding one later if it becomes more affordable.
So, first I am facing the question: include north side or not? I can fit about 25 modules on each side, resulting in roughly 10 kWp. PVGIS estimates around 10,000 kWh for south and about 7,000 kWh for north.
Offer 1 comes from a solar installer with many years of experience, who not only works on single-family houses but also builds large-scale systems in the megawatt range. My general contractor, who is building the house turnkey, also has long-standing experience with this installer and recommends them.
Offer 1 details:
- 20.5 kWp
- 50 x Q-Cells Q-Peak ML G10 410 heat pump compatible modules
- 50 x SolarEdge Power Optimizers, S440 Worldwide (v1)
- SolarEdge StorEdge three-phase inverters: SE10K-RWS-EU-APAC/AUS (v1) and SE7K-RWS-EU-APAC (v1)
- SolarEdge Smart Meter for self-consumption monitoring
- All other materials, installation, and commissioning services included
- Cost: €31,980 net, which equals approximately €1,560 net per kWp — reasonable for today, not really cheap but not very expensive either
Now to Offer 2. This offer is from a very small and new electrical company I found through a neighbor's recommendation. The company does not even have a finished website yet because it is so new, but they have already done electrical work in the development area (not sure about PV though). Two different neighbors have told me this company is good.
Offer 2 details:
- 20.9 kWp
- 51 x JinkoSolar Tiger NE HC N-Type black solar modules JKM410N-54HL4-B
- 2 x SMA inverters STP10.0-3SE-40
- 1 x SMA Sunny Home Manager HM-20
- Other materials are not specified here, but all installation, planning, and commissioning services are included
- Cost: €25,570 net, equaling approximately €1,223 net per kWp
My questions now:
- What do you generally think about the materials used?
- Are the SolarEdge power optimizers in Offer 1 really necessary? I expect practically no shading from trees, chimney, or anything else given the location
- Company 2 is probably a bit risky, but the price is really attractive. Is it worth taking the risk here?
- Does installing modules on the north side make sense at all in the case of Offer 1? If I calculate north and south separately, south obviously makes sense in both cases. North seems worthwhile (based on my calculation) only with Offer 2... with Offer 1 I would be running at a loss.
I would be very grateful for a brief assessment!
Best regards
I am about to decide whether to hire a solar installer. I am building a turnkey single-family house with a general contractor in the 84xxx area, featuring a gable roof with a 25° pitch, oriented north/south. There are no skylights, chimney, or other obstructions on the roof, so conditions are optimal.
I am having some difficulty even requesting quotes and now have at least two offers. I would appreciate help evaluating and choosing between them (both the company and whether to include the north side). I have not asked for a battery system but might consider adding one later if it becomes more affordable.
So, first I am facing the question: include north side or not? I can fit about 25 modules on each side, resulting in roughly 10 kWp. PVGIS estimates around 10,000 kWh for south and about 7,000 kWh for north.
Offer 1 comes from a solar installer with many years of experience, who not only works on single-family houses but also builds large-scale systems in the megawatt range. My general contractor, who is building the house turnkey, also has long-standing experience with this installer and recommends them.
Offer 1 details:
- 20.5 kWp
- 50 x Q-Cells Q-Peak ML G10 410 heat pump compatible modules
- 50 x SolarEdge Power Optimizers, S440 Worldwide (v1)
- SolarEdge StorEdge three-phase inverters: SE10K-RWS-EU-APAC/AUS (v1) and SE7K-RWS-EU-APAC (v1)
- SolarEdge Smart Meter for self-consumption monitoring
- All other materials, installation, and commissioning services included
- Cost: €31,980 net, which equals approximately €1,560 net per kWp — reasonable for today, not really cheap but not very expensive either
Now to Offer 2. This offer is from a very small and new electrical company I found through a neighbor's recommendation. The company does not even have a finished website yet because it is so new, but they have already done electrical work in the development area (not sure about PV though). Two different neighbors have told me this company is good.
Offer 2 details:
- 20.9 kWp
- 51 x JinkoSolar Tiger NE HC N-Type black solar modules JKM410N-54HL4-B
- 2 x SMA inverters STP10.0-3SE-40
- 1 x SMA Sunny Home Manager HM-20
- Other materials are not specified here, but all installation, planning, and commissioning services are included
- Cost: €25,570 net, equaling approximately €1,223 net per kWp
My questions now:
- What do you generally think about the materials used?
- Are the SolarEdge power optimizers in Offer 1 really necessary? I expect practically no shading from trees, chimney, or anything else given the location
- Company 2 is probably a bit risky, but the price is really attractive. Is it worth taking the risk here?
- Does installing modules on the north side make sense at all in the case of Offer 1? If I calculate north and south separately, south obviously makes sense in both cases. North seems worthwhile (based on my calculation) only with Offer 2... with Offer 1 I would be running at a loss.
I would be very grateful for a brief assessment!
Best regards
S
SaniererNRW12315 Aug 2022 15:30Snowy36 schrieb:
But the large TV alone uses 40W in standby mode. What kind of old device do you have? Newer models are only allowed to consume 0.5 watts in standby – which, according to consumer reports, they more or less achieve.
Snowy36 schrieb:
Currently, we are at home and need 11 kWh daily. You should measure properly. I also have a high annual consumption like you, but daily (during vacation) it’s between 1.5 and 2 kWh. And that included power for an oil heating system (hot water generation/pump), garden pump, tenant’s basement electricity, and my controlled mechanical ventilation system. When at home, consumption is 4-7 kWh – without heating or an electric car.
The devices have the specified limits according to EU standards. However, they must also be set to that mode.
As soon as any background updates or similar functions are activated on the TV, the power consumption changes completely, even though the device appears to be in standby. This happens without violating any regulations.
10 kWh per day, without presence, is (was) definitely a lot. When away, consider the heating system so it does not produce hot water.
As soon as any background updates or similar functions are activated on the TV, the power consumption changes completely, even though the device appears to be in standby. This happens without violating any regulations.
10 kWh per day, without presence, is (was) definitely a lot. When away, consider the heating system so it does not produce hot water.
D
DaGoodness15 Aug 2022 15:59Hmm... I should also check exactly how much energy is consumed per day at my place.
If I look at my photovoltaic app, I usually have a consumption of 20-40 kWh per day. It also depends a bit on whether the car is charging.
We weren’t home over the weekend, and on Saturday we had a consumption of 12.3 kWh.
If I look at my photovoltaic app, I usually have a consumption of 20-40 kWh per day. It also depends a bit on whether the car is charging.
We weren’t home over the weekend, and on Saturday we had a consumption of 12.3 kWh.
But unfortunately, the TV drew 40W (65-inch OLED) before I changed the settings... and it is new. After adjusting the settings, it uses 18W. My single-group espresso machine uses 30W (!) in standby. It’s a Sage Oracle Touch and less than a year old. Just these two devices together already use quite a bit, right?!
E
Elias_dee15 Aug 2022 16:58A completely different question. If everything is installed but the electricity provider has not yet activated the connection, can I still use my own electricity inside the house? I am mainly concerned about the heating program for the underfloor heating… (this is about a new build). It would probably be ideal if the air-to-water heat pump runs on photovoltaic power from the start (even though in November/December, the solar panels likely won’t generate a lot of electricity).
Additional measurements (all older devices): 45 W for the TV in the basement with Xbox,
0.5 W for the Samsung TV in the fitness room, so that’s possible! … then a Teac 18 W and the second Xbox 15 W.
30 W go through the power strip in office 1, and through the one in office 2, 22 W where the laptop is on standby along with the monitor. The printer uses 0 W.
When I add all this up, the consumption becomes clear to me.
Can someone explain how this can be the case if this law exists? It seems this law has been around for a while, so new TVs and espresso machines should be included in it, right?
0.5 W for the Samsung TV in the fitness room, so that’s possible! … then a Teac 18 W and the second Xbox 15 W.
30 W go through the power strip in office 1, and through the one in office 2, 22 W where the laptop is on standby along with the monitor. The printer uses 0 W.
When I add all this up, the consumption becomes clear to me.
Can someone explain how this can be the case if this law exists? It seems this law has been around for a while, so new TVs and espresso machines should be included in it, right?
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