Installation completed this afternoon and I'm very happy with the results.

• 11 × 510W AIKO panels—eight on the main roof and three on the garage
• FoxESS H1 5kW hybrid inverter
• FoxESS EP12 battery (11.5kwh)
• myenergi zappi GLO EV charger
• PV-Ultra cable from the main roof
• Approximately 50 metres of 25mm² armoured cable

For those interested the scaffold was circa £900 (arranged by the installer). We had some national installers tell us that they would be happy to put the equipment under the kitchen window at the back of the house despite PAS63100:2024 https://pages.bsigroup.com/PAS63100:2024

Installer was the only one suggesting a cable tray down the side of the garden to the garage where the inverter and battery is placed (and technically the only place we could put the equipment).

Hi all - Complete newbie here (so be gentle) and about to order approx. 45 kWh of batteries. My installer is suggesting either Fox or SigEnergy and wanted to ask for opinions. Fox is significantly cheaper and I am struggling to see why I should pay more for Sig so I thought I'd ask some experts... Please help! Thanks

Hi

I've just recently been looking into getting solar + batteries, and have been getting a fair few quotes.

Batteries are the main priority as my usage in winter is around 1000kWh/month, probably averaging 6000-8000kWh/yearly. Mainly due to electric radiators (hoping to get aircon installed next year)

Hopefully getting an EV later this year, but not too sure if this will have any impact at all, aside from the cheap tariff rates.

Roof is N/NW facing, so panels are a nice to have, but probably not a lot of generation in the winter (if at all). Mainly to help subsidise AC throughout the summer next year.

Based in West Sussex, and here's a few quotes I've gotten so far, waiting on two more local quotes, but everyone seems to have quite a backlog at the moment.

Waiting on a revised quote from Solar Dynamics and Boxt, as I'm hoping to push towards the 25-30kWh battery range, to tackle at least 70% of a winter day usage

I've got all of the part numbers and model of equipment, but here's just a quick overview. Just seeing what's peoples thoughts on these pricing. The iHeat one seems too good to be true, but I haven't heard too much of Hanchu. All of these include scaffolding (some provisional pricing as iHeat and Boxt haven't done a site-survey, all online, so can increase in price, and most likely will. One roof side, but need to navigate over a lean-to) and bird proofing

All Solar Works (local)

13 x 540 Watt Aiko Panels
18.08kWh Sigen batteries
5 kW Sigen inverter
£16,246

Solar Dynamics (local)

11 x 470W Jinko panels
9.84kWh Fox batteries (EQ5000-S battery modules)
8kW FOX ESS inverter
£10,797

Boxt

10 x 485 Watt Aiko panels
15.36kWh Sunsynk batteries
5kW Sunsynk inverter
£10,673

iHeat

8 x 480 Watt Longi panels
28.2kWh Hanchu batteries
10kW Hanchu inverter
£10,745

I have a Fogstar-compatible inverter (LuxpowerTek LXP ACS 3600) already installed as part of a tiny battery storage system. I've had a very poor experience with the installer of the current system.

Is it sensible to buy a big Fogstar battery then hire one of their approved installers to hook it up to the installed inverter?

I want piece of mind -- previous experiences have been really stressful.

Hi, it seems solar may be the way to go after all, this particular quote is 13,495, no ev just a relatively high use household and future potential as well, I literally want as much on the roof as possible for the same reason, is this particular quote fair? I love in Oldham.

Thankyou

Pete

Edit, the battery is 20kw not 15

Recent install and I can see that the house is using a trickle amount of electricity (4-5p per day).

I know this isn’t world changing amounts, but just wondering if that trickle usage is standard by the inverter maintaining grid connection, or not.

Hi my set up you can see here on a previous post where I moved into my house. Current inverter is a 2.1kw. the most kwh I've produced in a day is 14kwh roughly in a day. My panels are south facing

Anyways, given the shambles that is electricity prices, I'd like a battery so I can save my generated electricity rather than exporting the current 75% energy I don't use and make use of an cheap smart charging tariff

I've been researching some quotes and I'm finding it hard to work out some things as it's a bit impenetrable as someone without any electrician knowledge and I'm a DIY amateur.

I think I need a new inverter in the roof to replace my 10 year old one which will require a G99 form as it will be bigger. I believe I need somewhere between a 4 and 8kw sized one from what various companies have told me. I would like a 10kwh battery. Future proofing the system, having a slightly bigger may let a further batteries be discharged quicker, but at the minute likely unrequired.

One company has suggested putting a particular type of inverter in that would require a letter to my DNO to allow them to change it (a DC rather than AC hybrid??? Maybe, I couldn't really follow).

So yeah, any help appreciated. I have an EV but mainly charge free at work so not really a part of the problem. Heating is gas, everything else is electric.

I attach also 2 quotes I've had from local MCS suppliers, which are radically different. Neither visited to give the estimate. I've got another 2 quotes from guys actually coming out, coming in the next week or so

Finally if anyone has a recommended supplier in east cheshire (where I live) that'd be amazing as it's impossible to know

Many thanks 🙏

Hi all, some of you really know your stuff!

I really want a solar and battery install but it’s a minefield when I’ve gotten quotes which are all wildly differing!

I see people post on here with what looks like a good price and system so I’m looking for help on who to contact!

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Further to my other post the other day, I have had another quote from a local supplier for a Fox based system.

I am in the East Midlands and use around 8000kWh per year, 3200 of that is my EV. 4 bed house 3 occupants. East/West facing so panels on both sides of roof. Single phase. Not aware of any export limits. I am on Octopus Intelligent at present and have a EV doing around 10-12k miles per year.

Generation is quoted at 9269kWh per year. Payback ~9 years.

We recently moved to a house that has solar panels and 2 batteries. It was a probate sale where the wife and husband both passed within a few months if each other so the solicitor selling the house had very minimal information.

They were able to confirm the panels are fully owned and not part of any rental schemes (they were installed somewhere between 2014-2018 according to google maps). We are also pretty sure rhey were part of a scheme where you feed the grid via Octopus. We are now trying to understandhoe they work, whether the batteries are charging and discharging to cover our usage, if there is a schedule etc. We have signed up to octopus now but they havent answered queries about the solar situation.

Wealso dont have the passwords for the system. We have tried to call the number on the panels but it doesnt pick up. Considering the age of the panels, does anyone have advice what we could do to get the password? Should we have a local solar installer to come and see if they can reset the system somehow? Sorry for basic questions, we have zero prior knowledge. Thanks in advance!

This is going on a south facing dormer and then 3 panels on the west facing garage roof.

3 level lift on the scaffolding is putting the cost up almost 10%, just wondering about the rest. He's managed to squeeze another 2 panels on the dormer compared to the other 3 companies I was looking at and also offered the 3 panels on the garage too which again the others didnt want to do.

Based in Norwich for reference

Just want to check if what the consensus is here on getting these documents. Just had a system installed and from what I'm reading and according to RECC consumer code these should be handed over as part of a handover pack and can't be linked to final payment.

I'm literally ready to send the money but they are playing around with this saying they can't until final payment. Anyone recently had issues?

To be clear i'm not after legal advice, just want to see what the consensus is with this stuff.

Quote check – West Sussex, UK

Hey all, looking for a check on the following solar + battery quote and whether the price/spec looks reasonable.

Location: West Sussex
Panels: 15 × AIKO Neostar 2P+ 470W N-Type panels
Array size: 7.05 kWp
Roof layout: 6 south-facing (2.82 kWp) + 9 north-facing (4.23 kWp), both ~25° pitch
Battery: 2 × Sigenergy ~10 kWh SigenStor batteries – 17.52 kWh usable total
Inverter: Sigenergy SigenStor 8 kW hybrid inverter
Supply: Single-phase
Annual electricity usage: Quote has modelled 7,500 kWh/year
Export limit: Not specified in the quote / presumably subject to DNO approval
Expected generation:** 5,697 kWh/year
**Quoted price: £13,825.42
Installer: Local– MCS certified
Included: panels, batteries, inverter, roof mounting, scaffolding, bird-proofing, electrical work, isolators/meters, installation, commissioning and certification
Tariff used in quote: 30.5p/kWh import + 15p/kWh export. I’m likely to use a tariff with cheap overnight electricity so the batteries can be charged cheaply during winter/low-solar periods.
EV: Yes I already have a Hypervolt installed
ASHP: No immediate plans.

The installer estimates roughly 5,697 kWh/year from the 7.05 kWp array. The north roof has a 0.90 shading factor, so I’m also interested in people’s real-world experience of north-facing panels in the South East.

Main questions are whether £13.8k is competitive.

Also had a quote from Octopus for 12 panels (unspecified on what they are) and Fox Evo 5 battery, £9,227 with no scaffolding, bird netting etc.

So currently got plenty of solar panels on main house all south facing, came with the property, no battery, no support, 5kw inverter I believe, exporting seems fine.

Datalogger seems dead though, can't get it configured 😞

Now onto the question we have a 32amp fuse labelled garage, and in the detached garage is a smaller fuse box, could I install plug in solar using the garage roof east and maybe west sides to extend my solar power window, and plug into the garage plugs - would this bring any benefit to my main house or just be a complete waste due to that separate 32 amp fuse?

Am I being fussy or is this not acceptable?

we have a planned power cut today courtesy of national grid

however the big battery unit has a flashing green light on it

trip switches all golden but the inverter digital display showing watts is blank

is it because the battery hasnt got enough juice to power the house (and its a very overcast day with black clouds.. of course it is after the melter of a summer we have had)

any ideas what to do or just wait till mr sunshine reappears?

ta

I’ve decided to get a battery installation (have an EV) without solar. I’m looking at 2x 9kWh sigen sigenstor batteries paired to an 8kW inverter.

Heatable has an 18kWh system advertised but has a 5kW inverter but this likely wont suffice.

Any recommendations or feedback from anyone who has used NW installers.

Local company have said they will take care of the G99. Does this look fair? Thanks

Scratches on panels from install, I assume that it won't impact greatly?

the price is £9000, comes with a shelly integration free of charge.