Re: off grid solar leccy
Posted: Tue 24 Dec 2019 10:28 am
The reason why it is interesting to install, eg, a net metering system are the (in general) increasing electric prices and the decreasing solar module prices =the return of investment is now acceptable.
Iam willing to accept that I might be (a bit) more expensive as others…. good equipment IS more expensive… but I am sure that I have communicated that to all of my (potential) customers. A bit longer payback, but better quality equipment with, on the long run, more output, which very often “eliminates” the higher costs.
As usual, there are “cowboys” on the market, with low prices and doubtful equipment and many may get attracted…but when you ask for the really good stuff then, all over the sudden, iam not expensive.
In off grid systems the situation is more difficult… if in a net metering system a component does fail, you lose money, in an off grid system you do not have electricity! Quality is mandatory!
It is more than misleading when it is claimed that iam expensive and take a “generic” website as an offer, in which prices are usually higher, especially for solar panels.
I do remain on my opinion: the system of gillkens neighbour was bad designed with bad quality equipment. In this config and with this equipment, the system was running very low. If he is now (with minor changes) happy, this only proves that the system from the beginning was planned wrong and maybe too big, and a smaller, but better, system would have saved a lot of money. If this is the same (or maybe not as bad) case in gillkens system, who knows?
Iam willing to accept that, in more than 20 years, a customer is not completely happy with my work. Should not, but can happen. But it cannot be that I get blamed and shamed for a job I did not do!
I also do not want to be blamed that I “could have done the job” on spot… gillken has no clue whether I had my software with me or not. And… I do not know why gillken did not ask the guy, who was competent enough to solve the neighbours problem, to solve their problem as well, especially when gillken obviously had and has the opinion that I only contribute to this forum because I want (overpriced) business.
It will be difficult to determine a “winner” when not all facts are on the table. I guess it took many hours of research, communication, organisation and of course quite a lot effort for the DIY off grid installation incl. electrician, materials …and so on. That all has to be calculated as well.
From the intention to install a system (juli 2018) to the moment I was there (june 2019) it took nearly a year.
The “winner” most probably is the UK supplier, who also has competitors…. and therefore offered a “mixed quality” system, in which the Chinese solar panels, the Chinese AC grid inverter and the “unknown” batteries “saved” quite a lot. And when I say “a lot”, I mean a lot.
(again: the offer gillken posted here for 13 k was unacceptable.. rubbish for a far too high price)
Iam willing to accept that I might be (a bit) more expensive as others…. good equipment IS more expensive… but I am sure that I have communicated that to all of my (potential) customers. A bit longer payback, but better quality equipment with, on the long run, more output, which very often “eliminates” the higher costs.
As usual, there are “cowboys” on the market, with low prices and doubtful equipment and many may get attracted…but when you ask for the really good stuff then, all over the sudden, iam not expensive.
In off grid systems the situation is more difficult… if in a net metering system a component does fail, you lose money, in an off grid system you do not have electricity! Quality is mandatory!
It is more than misleading when it is claimed that iam expensive and take a “generic” website as an offer, in which prices are usually higher, especially for solar panels.
I do remain on my opinion: the system of gillkens neighbour was bad designed with bad quality equipment. In this config and with this equipment, the system was running very low. If he is now (with minor changes) happy, this only proves that the system from the beginning was planned wrong and maybe too big, and a smaller, but better, system would have saved a lot of money. If this is the same (or maybe not as bad) case in gillkens system, who knows?
Iam willing to accept that, in more than 20 years, a customer is not completely happy with my work. Should not, but can happen. But it cannot be that I get blamed and shamed for a job I did not do!
I also do not want to be blamed that I “could have done the job” on spot… gillken has no clue whether I had my software with me or not. And… I do not know why gillken did not ask the guy, who was competent enough to solve the neighbours problem, to solve their problem as well, especially when gillken obviously had and has the opinion that I only contribute to this forum because I want (overpriced) business.
It will be difficult to determine a “winner” when not all facts are on the table. I guess it took many hours of research, communication, organisation and of course quite a lot effort for the DIY off grid installation incl. electrician, materials …and so on. That all has to be calculated as well.
From the intention to install a system (juli 2018) to the moment I was there (june 2019) it took nearly a year.
The “winner” most probably is the UK supplier, who also has competitors…. and therefore offered a “mixed quality” system, in which the Chinese solar panels, the Chinese AC grid inverter and the “unknown” batteries “saved” quite a lot. And when I say “a lot”, I mean a lot.
(again: the offer gillken posted here for 13 k was unacceptable.. rubbish for a far too high price)