Solar PV offer. Please can someone give advice on this offer

A question about : Solar PV offer. Please can someone give advice on this offer

Hi everyone.
I have been thinking about fitting solar panels for a while now and have just had a quote from a company Euro Energy Services in Harrogate. Here are the details:
I live in a 4 bedroom detached single,work 4 days a week(house vacant during the day.
The quote has the following points
4 KWp estimated to yield 3336 WKH
feed in tariff 13.88p
export tariff 4.77p
16 x 250w enphase solar panels black
40 degrees from south ,no shading
total order price 10,999
Total repayments of Ј143.43 per month for 10 years,total repayment Ј17211.60 with 9.90% interest.

The salesman estimated approx 60% reduction in my electricity bill from Ј40 to approx Ј15 per month.
He mentioned that the minimum amount I would gain from the feed in tariff would be Ј169 per month which would be higher in summer months,possibly up to Ј200-300
He claims after 10 years I would keep the feed in tariff.
He also claimed that the solar panels would increase value of house by 10%.
He claimed that this was subject to being approved by the government free energy scheme.

I am not an expert in this field but I wondered if people could comment on this deal.
1) Is this a good,decent,bad deal in your opinion?
2) Are these claims justified?
3) Should I consider buying these solar panels myself?
4) Has anyone who has had a similar scheme to this one , would you recommend it or not.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Best answers:

• Run away very fast.
  That price is massively inflated, compared with what it should be. Knock about two thirds off, and it might be about right.
  You won't save anything like 60% off your electricity bill.
  You won't earn anything like Ј169 a month in the winter - that's about what I get in the three months over winter, and I'm on a old feed-in tariff that's higher than you would get now.
  If you got a sensibly priced install, it should pay for itself in about ten years, with pure profit after that. But at that price, there's no chance of breaking even before the panels wear out at about 20 - 25 years.
• The price quoted is almost as much as I paid over three years ago (when it would have been a good price). People writing here have reported sub Ј5k prices for similar installations.
  3336 'WKH' (suspect that should read kWh !) is a reasonable estimate for a South facing 4kWp setup in N Yorks but perhaps a bit optimistic when roof is 40 deg off South. At the tariff quoted, that would produce Ј542 per year or Ј45 per (average) month.
  With house empty in daytime, you'd be very lucky to make use of a third of the power you generate (a saving of Ј177 in a full year or Ј15 per average month if you're currently buying units at 16p).
  In short, walk away !
  
  I'm sure someone here from a similar area should be able to PM you with a recommendation for a firm that can offer a more competitive quote.
  If you need to borrow the money, consider doing so with an additional advance from your mortgage company (so costing something like 4% pa rather than 10%)
• Thanks for your replies. I have money in the bank to purchase solar panels if I wanted to so I dont need a loan or an expensive one for that matter! With my current circumstances I think I would be lucky to save 20% on my electricity bill as the house is usually vacant on weekdays. The feed in tariff would be the most significant addition for me.
• This trash (by the salespeople) is really starting to bug me! More and more folk this year seem to be posting similar stories/info and it's simply not fair.
  Hiya Tiger, not having a go at you whatsoever, you're trying to learn about a subject new to you, and the salesperson should be helping, not confusing the matter.
  I suspect the Ј169 figure was spoken, whereas the generation, FiT and export are written down?
  I should have read Eric's post before reaching for the calculator, but as he says those numbers give an annual return of Ј542 or Ј45pm on average. So 'they' gave you the correct building blocks, but then gave you a totally bogus monthly return to draw you in.
  Sorry for the rant, but these packages/prices/finance etc seem to be popping up a lot now and it's "just not fair".
  I suppose if I'm being ultra fair, it's nice to see that they quoted the 1/1/15 FiT rate, so I'll score em 1 out of 100 for that.
  Back to PV in general. Your situation doesn't sound bad at all. Get some good quotes (sub Ј6k, and as Eric says, there have been some even lower recently) work out your returns and see what you think. As you have the cash that makes it much better.
  Not being home 4 week days isn't so bad. PV will still contribute to baseload, and you can use timers for some items like washing machines/dishwashers.
  Have you had a nose at the PV FAQs for basic info, you can also check your generation estimate in section 5. [Edit: quick check for Harrogate, would suggest a generation of approx 100kWh in Dec & Jan, which is less than Ј20 in FiT and export pm. May/June/July would be about 4 times more. M.]
  I'm off for a lie down in a dark room now.
  Mart.
• Just phoned the salesman and told them I am not interested in taking up the offer. He wasnt happy but maybe he will be more honest next time and save 2-3 hours. What annoyed me most was that at no point was there any mention during the meeting of a 10% interest loan. In the small print.there was also no mention of minimum payment of Ј169 per month for feed in tarriffs. I am glad I have wasted his 2-3 hours
  I will look at buying the panels myself. Thanks to those who have helped me .
• Eyeofthetiger we had our panels fitted in January this year by a local installer in Leeds.
  We narrowed it down to two in the end both local installers with a passion for Solar.
  Please pm me if you would like the details of both companies.
• Hi Martin
  You are correct. The salesman claimed the Ј144 would be taken from a minimum payment of Ј169 per month. There was no mention of loan or interest payment until I read the contract later. The contract had no mention at all of a minimum income I would receive. What I also found was his claim that it increased the value of homes by 10%. That is plainly BS. My house has a value of 260k. Does that mean by installing solar panels my house would increase in value by 26k(even though they are selling their panels for 17k!).
  I will ask a local homeowner with solar panels on their experiences.
• Can anyone recommend any solar panel fitters in manchester area and surrounding areas?
  Thanks
• EOT999,
  I'm not too far away from you & my roof has a similar orientation. It's a 4kW system & last year earned Ј621.51 (3457kW) in FIT & deemed export.
  The house is empty most days & the saving was only about 20% of the bill (c Ј1000). To achieve that we had to make full use of the delay timers on the dishwasher, washer & dryer.
  The system was Ј4K for black panels (June 2013) plus the cost of a scaffold to span the conservatory (The soffit facia & gutter needed replacing so I don't really count that).
  Similar installations from the same installer are now just under Ј5K.
• Thanks for all the info and advice coming in guys.
  An update:
  I have now had 2 quotes in addition to the one I have stated in my post. One company quoted me:
  Ј4750 for 4kw system,
  Sharp panels
  Inverter SMA 4000 TL Multi track
  He recommended fron roof panels with 12 facing 108 degrees(SE but more towards E) and 4 placed on an inverted V shape on my roof which will face 197 degrees(almost fully south).
  I had another MD of a company today who quoted me Ј5400 and told me his company use the the best inverters, and that all other companys were dodgy blah blah blah. BUT what interested me most was that he mentioned that he would place all 16 panels on the back side of my roof which would mean that all panels would face 334 degrees(NE but closer to North). His point was that in summer you will ger more sunlight in the west then the east and that WEST IS BEST(OR BETTER THAN EAST). He also stated it wasnt a good idea to split up the panels and that the 4 panels facing S would not be generate any electricity.
  Can someone please clarify the best position on which to place the panels? Is it better to have 12 panels face E and 4 South or all 16 panels facing NE??
  Any comments on the quotes so far?
  Thanks
• I have had had the solar panels fitted for 1 week now.
  Used a company called TP solar down south.
  The amount of variation is incredible. 1 gloomy cloudy day I generated 0.5kwh and today I made 7.70Kwh!.
  I have been given a solo 2 pv viewer and bridge which is a great tool to show how much you are generating and compare and it is about 99.5% accurate to the junction box.
  No regrets so far but its only been 1 week!