Looking again

[cmdrew]

I did look a few months ago at Solar PV but didn't end up going down that route - the cost was just a little too high at the time at around the £12K mark for a 4KW system.  Just received a brochure from tesco (they gave me a quote originally) which reminded me that I hadn't done anything yet so looked again.

I see on Ebay that some companies are offering 4KW systems as low as £8400 using JASolar 250w panels and a Fronius inverter which sounds very good value.  Not heard of the panels though as my original quotes centered on Sharp 240w panels and an SMA inverter.  Has anyone experience of these 'cheap' systems, are they cheap because they use cheap/unreliable components or cheap because costs as a whole are coming down?  Any comments welcome!

[M]

Wowza that's cheap. Didn't think anything like that would be landing on the forums for another 12 months. Do you know if that's a final all in price, or just a bare bones start to draw you in before vat and scaffolding etc?

Martyn.

[ecotrician]

I believe that this could be for the KIT only, i have seen these adverts on ebay as well, be very carefull, I know of at least one that sells you the kit, then supposadly comes and 'commisions' the system after completed, breaks all the REAL and MCS rules, advertises as installed price even though you have to fit it      

[cmdrew]

Not sure - I didn't want to even call before getting some opinions - certainly I have seen a few now for <£10K which was unheard of just a few months ago...

[MikeD]

You can definitely get 4kW installed all-in for £10K from a pukka company. I'd be distinctly wary of the eBay merchants myself unless they've got a proper website, certifications, installed user base etc. It's worth sacrificing the potential £1600 for the guarantee of a pukka job and a FITS certificate at the end of it IMHO.

[ecogeorge]

I believe that this could be for the KIT only, i have seen these adverts on ebay as well, be very carefull, I know of at least one that sells you the kit, then supposadly comes and 'commisions' the system after completed, breaks all the REAL and MCS rules, advertises as installed price even though you have to fit it      

What is wrong with the installation being sub-contracted  to you to install?
The final connections and commissioning done by the accredited company. AFAIK the MCS certification will apply to the company not every member of staff involved on the install.
If you have installed it to their standards / specification before they inspect/test/sign off what is the problem?
gets down behind the parapet