Is my Solar quote decent?

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Uber Geek

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#3297225 14-Oct-2024 13:57

dazdaz:

Bifacial panels are not just mono panels unpainted on the bottom side. Bifacial have glass on two sides, mono do not. And generally they are rated to the wattage on a single side, any extra wattage gained from the back side is a bonus. There are plenty of comparisons on YouTube.

Thats not 100% correct any more. There are some mono panels with glass on both sides.

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3297643 15-Oct-2024 13:37

fastbike:

RobDickinson:

$30k for 11kw panels and an inverter + green catch is $4k shy of what I paid for 9kw+ PW3 + green catch

Ak roof and 3 phase may make that a lot more spendy tho

I would def recommend more quotes and talk to a sparky about more diy

Thanks for the intel. Do you know roughly what the PW3 (installed) would be out of your system cost ?

And yes, I think I need to just work with a sparky given the significant input I'm already making. If I supply the panels then I will buy a pallet (36) to get a better price and after the house is done and connected (there is a 10kW export limit) then either sell the panels or put the other 10 on the garage. There is some shading there so optimisers or micro inverters might be required, but that is a problem for next month, not this month LoL.

I have a sparky that I know coming around this afternoon, he doesn't do solar but can refer me to an inspector that is happy to help home owners. I've secured some decent 440W panels at $181 each (incl GST and delivery to site) so that is less than $5k for panels, I'll allow another $5k for a decent 3 phase inverter like the Solis S6. There's plenty of fat left for breakers, cables, trunking, a few days labour, inspection etc. I think the price will end around $17k if this becomes the plan.

Otautahi Christchurch

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3299017 19-Oct-2024 07:09

fastbike:

I have a sparky that I know coming around this afternoon, he doesn't do solar but can refer me to an inspector that is happy to help home owners. I've secured some decent 440W panels at $181 each (incl GST and delivery to site) so that is less than $5k for panels, I'll allow another $5k for a decent 3 phase inverter like the Solis S6. There's plenty of fat left for breakers, cables, trunking, a few days labour, inspection etc. I think the price will end around $17k if this becomes the plan.

So I spoke to the electrical inspector, he only does packages. However he referred me to an installer who is happy for home owner involvement. The installer visited yesterday, checked out rail mounts I'd installed (said they were better than what they would normally do) and has told me to order the panels (done).

800kg of panels are being delivered to my driveway this week ! Total cost will be around $15k for 12kW panels and 3 phase 10kW Solis inverter.

Otautahi Christchurch

MikeFly

150 posts

Master Geek

#3299030 19-Oct-2024 09:31

I see the 3 phase 10kW Solis inverter is about A$1700 in Aussie, whats the price here?

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3299035 19-Oct-2024 10:10

MikeFly:

I see the 3 phase 10kW Solis inverter is about A$1700 in Aussie, whats the price here?

I'm waiting for the price - the installer says he will put a 20% margin on it. SolarQuotes Aus shows it as AUD$3500, so I think NZD$5k will cover it.

The model is the hybrid inverter with 4 independent MPPT inputs. S6-EH3P10K-H-AU

Otautahi Christchurch

MikeFly

150 posts

Master Geek

#3299147 20-Oct-2024 09:17

fastbike:

MikeFly:

I see the 3 phase 10kW Solis inverter is about A$1700 in Aussie, whats the price here?

I'm waiting for the price - the installer says he will put a 20% margin on it. SolarQuotes Aus shows it as AUD$3500, so I think NZD$5k will cover it.

The model is the hybrid inverter with 4 independent MPPT inputs. S6-EH3P10K-H-AU

Ah, I missed it was a hybrid inverter.

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3299439 21-Oct-2024 12:15

MikeFly:

Ah, I missed it was a hybrid inverter.

Next problem is getting my hands on one. Importer has a shipment arriving mid November,

Otautahi Christchurch

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RobDickinson

1524 posts

Uber Geek

#3299508 21-Oct-2024 15:27

Ah New Zealand..

One reason I jumped on the PW3

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3304242 2-Nov-2024 06:35

fastbike:

MikeFly:

I see the 3 phase 10kW Solis inverter is about A$1700 in Aussie, whats the price here?

I'm waiting for the price - the installer says he will put a 20% margin on it. SolarQuotes Aus shows it as AUD$3500, so I think NZD$5k will cover it.

The model is the hybrid inverter with 4 independent MPPT inputs. S6-EH3P10K-H-AU

Just to close the loop on the pricing, I have been quoted $3900 + GST, no extra for collection from their Chch warehouse.
So within my $5k budget.

Initially when I was roughing out the project I had specified a Deye 10K 3 phase hybrid inverter SUN-10K-SG04LP3-AU which was a spot under $5k from MicroMall but there was some extra to ship it from Auckland. And it only has two independent MPPT inputs where my roof needs three.

Otautahi Christchurch

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3314408 30-Nov-2024 16:44

So ... just about there. The inverter arrived late but I got that installed onto the wall last weekend, and core drilled through the concrete wall so wiring between the distribution board and inverter would be hidden. Installer sent two guys on Wednesday to run the wires, install the switchgear and do the connections.

Man it was hard not to flip the switch on after they left - haha - but I resisted.

Installer arrived Friday morning and did the commissioning - a few gotchas:

Inverter was set to a European country, needed to be set for NZ voltage levels etc
meter had been wired incorrectly by his guys so that stumped him for a while
inverter could not connect to the Solis cloud via wifi, but a hard wired network cable to the switch fixed that problem.

I'm amazed at what the system is putting out even with some shitty weather, will output 2kW even with heavy cloud cover.

I'm just waiting for the inspector to turn up and complete the paper work so I can get Meridian to configure the meter for export credits (at least I'm not being charged for day time usage atm, but would be nice to get the $$ having exported 80kWh in a day and a half).

Otautahi Christchurch

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3317433 6-Dec-2024 07:41

So I sent Meridian a message on Monday to say I had the CoC and was awaiting the inspection. They acknowledged this around 2pm on Wednesday saying they had raised a work order to convert the meter. 30 minutes later I was outside and opened the meter box - to my surprise and delight the meter now shows three readings: day, night, export ! Obviously there was no site visit, just somebody sending a update message remotely to the meter. Not bad work for them at $150.

Anyway, yesterday was an epic solar day here in Christchurch. Total PV generation was 91.7kWh (from a 10kW inverter), and 78kWh was exported at 17 cents per unit. That's over $13 in credits.

This coming weekend my nephew is helping me install a 6kW array onto the garage roof, this will give me another 5kW of generation (inverter limited) for a total of 15kW. I have lodged the paperwork with the lines company for the additional generation as they allow up to 15kW across a 3 phase connection.

Otautahi Christchurch

cddt

1556 posts

Uber Geek

#3317436 6-Dec-2024 08:11

fastbike:

Anyway, yesterday was an epic solar day here in Christchurch. Total PV generation was 91.7kWh (from a 10kW inverter), and 78kWh was exported at 17 cents per unit. That's over $13 in credits.

Incredible!

My referral links: BigPipe | Mercury

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3317534 6-Dec-2024 12:07

cddt:

fastbike:

Anyway, yesterday was an epic solar day here in Christchurch. Total PV generation was 91.7kWh (from a 10kW inverter), and 78kWh was exported at 17 cents per unit. That's over $13 in credits.

Incredible!

Yes and outperforming the modelling compared to a close by reference site :) The reference site output 44kWh yesterday, according to my correction factor (that accounts for inverter size, azimuth, panel tilt) of 1.82, I should have generated 80kWh, so the 91.7kWh is a really pleasant surprise (effectively I'm getting 2.0 times the reference site).

Otautahi Christchurch

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3317916 7-Dec-2024 23:16

So a big day today on the roof - 14 panels on the garage but we got there. I'd done the rails a few weeks ago and did a roof was down last night along with check all bolts were torqued up.

This morning I mounted the Enphase micro inverters and mounted the IQ cable with all the attendant cable ties.

Enphase need to update their IQ cable as the one made for portrait mode specifies it is for panels 1,000mm wide. Not that you can find any panels that width these days, they are all wider. So I needed to get creative with the spacing to make sure the cable bend radius was within spec, and the DC leads from the panels could get to the inverter. TBH, if I had to do it again I'd just live with the degradation from some shading, as the wiring and installation was a lot of mucking around. Not to mention the additional cost. Tomorrow I will finish running the last of the earth wire between rails and then hand back to the sparky for his magic touch. He's been mucked around with the SolarZero fiasco so probably is looking for some additional cash jobs before Xmas.

Then we get another 5kW of feedin tariffs at 17c :)

Otautahi Christchurch

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3317917 7-Dec-2024 23:17

Forgot to say the lines company approved the additional connection within 24 hours - well done to them.

Otautahi Christchurch

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