PowerSwitch

I know we should have done this some time ago but are thinking of a PVP system to compliment the solar thermal we currently have. Following a link to the telegraph from this forum I clicked on another link and eventually ended up at Project solar UK . We have had a visit from one of their reps and he quoted a little over eight and a half thousand for a 14 panel 4 KW system .
Being unsure of the costs and what have you involved we did a quick search and found again a 14 panel 4KW system for less than half with Eco cute. We also found several other companies with prices inbetween , but two such widely different prices for essentially the same thing seems at best confusing. Project solar do offer longer warranties , we were quoted 99 years and insurance cover of £200,000 as opposed to Eco cute's 30 year panel performance and 12 year panel product warranty and much lower £20,000 insurance cover.
To be honest it seems possible to baffle with figures and the rep left us with a 24 page email to go through. We don't class ourselves as particularly dumb but any advice anyone could offer will be gratefully received.
Two links ,
http://www.eco-cute.co.uk/specialoffers ... wwodFCABTA

http://www.projectsolaruk.com

99 year warranty? rofl Isn't the average small company life less than 30 years? Even 30 years is pushing it for something like this imo.

Yes it did seem to be a figure pulled out of the air , more bluster than practicality and whether the company will still be in existence in nearly a century's time is debatable . I certainly won't be.
Looking again at the Eco cute site there seems to be at least a couple of add ons that bump the price up a bit , things such as an extra £18 per panel for fixing to roofs with rosemary tiles which we have for instance.
We have had another quote from a local company that has worked on and fitted additional panels to a friend's system and that has come out more than Eco cute but considerably less than project solar .

In 99 years, civilisation will either have collapsed and nobody will care or solar pv will have become much cheaper and more efficient so today's panels will have been scrapped long ago for better ones.

I would be reluctant to recommend any particular supplier, but would suggest that personal recommendation is the best way to select a supplier.

Recommendation from ESTABLISHED forum members could be a useful guide also. Suggest ignoring any recommendations from new members, who may have joined simply to promote.

The 99 year warranty makes me a bit doubtful !

We were one of the first customers of Ethical Solar, almost five years ago. Our system has given no trouble and I think they are a good firm that fits the name on lid.
http://www.ethicalsolar.org/about/

The panels themselves probably only have a 40-50 year life expectancy, according to these folks:

http://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/life-exp ... lar-panels

Ours are guaranteed to retain 80% of the efficiency for 25 years. By that time the technology will probably have moved on so far as regards collection efficiency that it may be worth scrapping them and putting in new ones. (Or civilisation will have ended by then.)

I would avoid any company that advertises a lot or has reps in fancy cars as someone has to pay for the adverts and the cars and it isn't the company!

Hence Ethical Solar.


Meanwhile, here's something different: http://www.icax.co.uk/asphalt_solar_collector.html

Thanks for the replies. Good points about the lifespan of the panels especially with regards to anybody offering a warranty that could be anywhere from twice to three times that lifespan. Just makes us think of it as more of a gimmick.
I'm probably going to follow Adam's advice with regards to the personal recommendation .
Going off topic a little I feel I just have to tell you what happened this evening. My sister in law , who by the way works in a bank dishing out advice , suggested that for only three grand we could get a hot tub . Cheaper than the solar panels , she said, so we'd save money! I was pretty much speechless and couldn't even begin to explain how wrong her statement was.

Surely you need both. Connected together.

I suppose there's a certain logic there Biff.
Many years ago I thought of building one in brick or more likely concrete and heating with wood in a similar manner to a Roman hypocauste but then when I really thought about it , the cost , the effort involved just to have a bath in the garden the idea was shelved under "what was I thinking?" .
Last year we had a few days away just outside Welshpool and the place had a hot tub. We did use for about forty minutes a time once a day for about three days. Very pleasant but after talking to the owner very expensive to run. Financially viable for somewhere having paid guests but completely the opposite for a domestic single family installation.

Lurkalot wrote:....Going off topic a little I feel I just have to tell you what happened this evening. My sister in law , who by the way works in a bank dishing out advice , suggested that for only three grand we could get a hot tub . Cheaper than the solar panels , she said, so we'd save money! I was pretty much speechless and couldn't even begin to explain how wrong her statement was.

If that's the mentality of the people giving out advice in that bank I don't think I want to take any from that source. Which bank did you say it was, Lurkalot?

By the way, you could buy the family a few burgers each and save even more.

That'll be £50 for the advise, please!

Don't know if I should say really but why not , it's Barclays . We have money in ISA's with them so my wife was asking her sister about withdrawals to pay for the panels.
Good advice about the burgers too Ken , with the resultant layers of fat we could turn down the heating as well. Cheque in the post ....Barclays of course.