Solar panel maintenance & repairs

Bruce Almighty

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Warwickshire
We've had a 26 kW system since 2011, the installers (Green Earth) folded a while ago

A local company has done some repairs since, but I consider them expensive.
We have 2 inverters doing half the array each, so they should perform similarly, but one is producing significantly less than the other.

To get them out recently to inspect & advise was £200

The advice was to check connection boxes behind the panels and repair / replace which is fair enough.
However, a days work for a man to come out & fix is £760 + VAT

I think that's plenty, does that sound fair or are we being stung ?
The panels earn about 8 grand a year & the repair will cost a grand

Advice welcome please
 

akaPABLO01

Member
We've had a 26 kW system since 2011, the installers (Green Earth) folded a while ago

A local company has done some repairs since, but I consider them expensive.
We have 2 inverters doing half the array each, so they should perform similarly, but one is producing significantly less than the other.

To get them out recently to inspect & advise was £200

The advice was to check connection boxes behind the panels and repair / replace which is fair enough.
However, a days work for a man to come out & fix is £760 + VAT

I think that's plenty, does that sound fair or are we being stung ?
The panels earn about 8 grand a year & the repair will cost a grand

Advice welcome please
Depends on type of repair. But sounds like they haven’t fixed your issue??
We never really charge for call out to inspect but that’s us

Your set up to 1 inverter is
Solar panel> dc isolator> inverter

How many dc isolators do you have?
If you have 2 for example; and you have equal panels on each, then switch 1 off and see if the power alters on the inverter display. I’m assuming you don’t have an sld or string map?
 

f0ster

Member
do you know how many strings are on each inverter, I would guess there will be two per inverter minimum, you should be able to interrogate the dc inputs on the inverter display and view the live data, look at the string voltage and the string current and compare them, have you looked at the panels, are they dirty. is there any shading late in the day when the sun is going down
 

akaPABLO01

Member
Simple question , can any sparky work on solar systems? i.e. replace an inverter, change damaged panels.
I don’t see why not, I’m not advocating the work though. Check with your insurance that they are happy with a qualified electrician doing this.
 
Location
UK
We've had a 26 kW system since 2011, the installers (Green Earth) folded a while ago

A local company has done some repairs since, but I consider them expensive.
We have 2 inverters doing half the array each, so they should perform similarly, but one is producing significantly less than the other.

To get them out recently to inspect & advise was £200

The advice was to check connection boxes behind the panels and repair / replace which is fair enough.
However, a days work for a man to come out & fix is £760 + VAT

I think that's plenty, does that sound fair or are we being stung ?
The panels earn about 8 grand a year & the repair will cost a grand

Advice welcome please


Your 26KW that earns £8000 a year, can be earning £13,747 yearly.

At it's peak,

A 250 watt Solar panel in the UK will receive 4 hours of sun daily = 1 KW.
In 30 days = 30KW.
In 1 year = 360 KW.

A 26KW system = 26,000 watt system.

26,000 watt divided by 250 watt = 104 solar panels.

A 26KW system in the UK, should generate yearly, if clean :

104 x 360KW = 37,440 KW in a year.

Feed-in-tariff for standard 10-50 KW system SEPT 2011 - MARCH 2012 on OFgem website = 40.8 PENCE / KWH.

TOTAL PEAK EARNINGS EXCLUDING EXPORT GENERATION = 37,440 X 40.8 PENCE = £15,275.

ASSUMING 10% LOSS IN EFFICIENCY YEARLY = £13,747.00


Your 26KW system, if installed with our ( Coating + Sprinkler ) Maintenance system should generate yearly at least £13,747.00.

How much will it cost to install the system ?

Estimated Cost At £35 per panel ==> 26KW = 104 Solar Panels x £35 per panel = £3640 plus vat.

Increase in earning = ( £13,747 Expected ) - ( £8000 presently generated ) = £5,747.

Within a year of installing the ( Coating + Sprinkler system ) - you should not just get your investment back, you should actually make a profit. ( £5747 - £3640 ) = £2000 in profit. Please correct me if i am wrong !

Please stop losing money.... install our ( Coating + Sprinkler system ) NOWWWW !

More information at www.nanotreat.co.uk
 

akaPABLO01

Member
Your 26KW that earns £8000 a year, can be earning £13,747 yearly.

At it's peak,

A 250 watt Solar panel in the UK will receive 4 hours of sun daily = 1 KW.
In 30 days = 30KW.
In 1 year = 360 KW.

A 26KW system = 26,000 watt system.

26,000 watt divided by 250 watt = 104 solar panels.

A 26KW system in the UK, should generate yearly, if clean :

104 x 360KW = 37,440 KW in a year.

Feed-in-tariff for standard 10-50 KW system SEPT 2011 - MARCH 2012 on OFgem website = 40.8 PENCE / KWH.

TOTAL PEAK EARNINGS EXCLUDING EXPORT GENERATION = 37,440 X 40.8 PENCE = £15,275.

ASSUMING 10% LOSS IN EFFICIENCY YEARLY = £13,747.00


Your 26KW system, if installed with our ( Coating + Sprinkler ) Maintenance system should generate yearly at least £13,747.00.

How much will it cost to install the system ?

Estimated Cost At £35 per panel ==> 26KW = 104 Solar Panels x £35 per panel = £3640 plus vat.

Increase in earning = ( £13,747 Expected ) - ( £8000 presently generated ) = £5,747.

Within a year of installing the ( Coating + Sprinkler system ) - you should not just get your investment back, you should actually make a profit. ( £5747 - £3640 ) = £2000 in profit. Please correct me if i am wrong !

Please stop losing money.... install our ( Coating + Sprinkler system ) NOWWWW !

More information at www.nanotreat.co.uk
This is bulls**t. I’m calling it out as bad advice.

Let’s say realistically 810 solar hours /annum

26x810 = 21,060kWh annually

WTF are you finding this sun or extra 4 months of summer or 16,380kWh? This ain’t the equator sunshine!
 
Location
UK
This is bullpoo. I’m calling it out as bad advice.

Let’s say realistically 810 solar hours /annum

26x810 = 21,060kWh annually

WTF are you finding this sun or extra 4 months of summer or 16,380kWh? This ain’t the equator sunshine!


According to https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/how-do-i-calculate-sun-hours


The average sun hours by month have been calculated by the Met Office in the UK, based on averaged data from 2000 to 2010, and are shown below:


  • January - 2 Hours
  • February - 3 Hours
  • March - 4 Hours
  • April - 6 Hours
  • May - 6 Hours
  • June - 7 Hours
  • July - 7 Hours
  • August - 6 Hours
  • September - 5 Hours
  • October - 4 Hours
  • November - 3 Hours
  • December - 2 Hours
The average daily = 55 hours monthly divided by 12 months = 4.5 Hours daily YEAR ROUND
 
Location
UK
The fact remains un-deniable.

DIRTY panels will always produce far less than CLEAN panels.

A report online https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/solar-pollution
has found that ( even if you clean panels once every 2 months, lose in efficiency can be up to 35% ).

Individual results will vary due to ( amount of sunlight, shade, angle of panels etc ) but CLEAN PANELS WILL ALWAYS PRODUCE MORE THAN DIRTY PANELS.
 
Location
UK
Educate yourself before you wreck yourself
https://www.microgenerationcertific.../Irradiance-Datasets-for-MCS-Website-v2.0.xls

Son

Find me 1000hours

Whether your solar panels receive 100 hours or 1,000 hours or 10,000 Solar hours per year is not the point we are trying to make.

THE POINT WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE IS :


“DIRTY PANELS WILL PRODUCE FAR LESS THAN CLEAN PANELS”.

By how much will dirt affect panel performance ? See the report here :

https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/solar-pollution


Our system ( Coating + Sprinkler ) ensures Panels are clean 365 days in a year - BOOSTING YOUR FEED-IN-TARIFF.

How long will it take to pay back our system, we estimate 2 to 5 years.

For a more specific quote, contact us.
 
Location
UK
Educate yourself before you wreck yourself
https://www.microgenerationcertific.../Irradiance-Datasets-for-MCS-Website-v2.0.xls

Son

Find me 1000hours

According to the energy savings trust website at :

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/about-us/our-calculations

We got this information below :

Solar electricity
Savings are based on a well oriented unshaded 4kWp system. Savings for the South of England are based on a system in Westminster, generating 4,220 kWh of energy per year. Savings for the North of England are based on a system in Manchester, generating 3,690 kWh of energy per year. Scottish savings are based on a system in Stirling, generating 3,370 kWh of energy per year. Welsh savings are based on a system in Aberystwyth, generating 3,800 kWh of energy per year. The rate of the electricity generated that is used directly in the home (‘self-consumption’) is estimated based on Loughborough’s self-consumption model which accounts for different occupancy archetypes. The energy that is not used directly in the home is exported to the grid. Householders will get export payments only for 50 per cent of the energy generated regardless of their actual self-consumption (export payments are assumed to be deemed, not metered.

This means :

(1) For south of England e.g. Westminster London, expect :
4220KWH divided 4KWP = 1055 SOLAR HOURS YEARLY.

(2) For North of England e.g. Manchester expect :
3690 divided 4 = 922.5 Solar hours yearly.



Please bear in mind that, those panels might not be cleaned regularly as is usually the case. Most probably, they are just left on the roof as is the situation with most panels.


Using those figures above for a 26KW system :

(1) For South of England, e.g Westminster expect :
1055 Solar Hours x 26KW = 27,430 KWH.

EARNINGS AT generation tariff 40.8 pence per KWH = £11,191.44
Export tariff at 3.72 pence per KWH AT 50% export = £510

Total earnings = £11,701.

(2) For North of of England e.g. Manchester expect :
922.5 Solar Hours x 26KW = 23,985 KWH

EARNINGS AT 40.8 pence per KWH generation tariff
= 23,985 x 40.8 = £9785.88

Export tariff added at 50% at 3.72 pence per KWH = £359

Total earnings = £10,144

IF THOSE PANELS WERE TO HAVE A WEEKLY CLEANING SYSTEM INSTALLED, THEY WILL SURELY PRODUCE MORE.

With our system installed, we will not be surprised to see the two locations producing around £15,000 yearly.

DIRT AFFECT PANEL EFFICIECNY MORE THAN PEOPLE REALISE.
 

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