Solar Quote Melbourne VIC - 3021

Solar Quote Reviews
1

Hi All,

I am new to solar and would like some help and expertise as my newly constructed home will be complete soon. I’ve been told by several companies that a 6.6kW system is the biggest than can be installed on the house and it is ideal anyways for the requirements I have:

  • Double storey house
  • All electric except for stove and ducted heating system
  • Concrete tiled roof
  • 3 occupants
  • Average daily use of ~ 15kW with an average quarterly bill of ~ $350-400
  • 3 phase underground power

At this stage, I’m just quoting around to see what the pricing is and most companies seem to be quite pricey with the last 2 quotes being the cheaper. I have heard a lot about you pay for what you get with solar and the quality of the installation as well.

Solar Proposal Plan (same throughout all quotes except for quote 3 - Helcro):
Layout 1

Quote 1 (Essential Solar – Subject to Site Visit) – 6.6kW System:
15 x JA 440W Double Glass panels (25 Year Product and 30 Year Performance Warranty)
1 x Goodwe GW5000-SDT-20 (G2) (10 Year Warranty)
10 Year Workmanship Warranty
Total Price (before rebates and incentives): $10920 (including GST)
Out of Pocket: $6014 (including GST)

Quote 2 (Helcro Solar – Subject to Site Visit) – ~4.5-4.8kW System:

Layout 2
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Quote 3 (Solargain – Subject to Site Visit) – 6.525kW System
15 x TRINA Vertex-S-PLUS 435W (25 Year Product and 30 Year Performance Warranty)
1 x HUAWEI 5kW SUN600-5KTL-L0 (10 Year Warranty)
5 Year Workmanship Warranty
Total Price (before rebates and incentives): $8980 (including GST)
Out of Pocket: $4045 (including GST)

Quote 4 (JET Solar – Online Quote) – 6.6kW System
15 x Jinko Solar Tiger Neo JKM440N-54HL4-V (440W) (25 Year Product and 30 Year Performance Warranty)
1 x Sungrow Residential SG5.0RS-ADA (5.kW) (10 Year Warranty)
10 Year Workmanship Warranty
Total Price (before rebates and incentives): $9632 (including GST)
Out of Pocket: $4600 (including GST)

Quote 5 (JWS Electric – Subject to Site Visit) – 6.6kW System:
15 x Jinko Tiger Neo N-Type 440w Solar Panels (JKM440N-54HL4R-V) (25 Year Product and 30 Year Performance Warranty)
1 x Goodwe 5KW 1P Inverter (GW5000-DNS-30) (10 Year Warranty)
10 Year Workmanship Warranty
Total Price (before rebates and incentives): $9959 (including GST)
Out of Pocket: $4803 (including GST)

Quote 6 (Capital Green – Online Quote) – 6.6kW System:
15 x Jinko Solar 54HL4R Tiger Neo N-Type 440W Black Frame 108 Half-Cut Cells Mono (25 Year Product and 30 Year Performance)
1 x Goodwe - 5 kW Single Phase 2 MPPT Grid Connect (10 Year Warranty)
10 Year Workmanship Warranty
Total Price (before rebates and incentives): $7969 (including GST)
Out of Pocket: $2399 (including GST)

Quote 7 (Cerium Energy – Online Quote) – 6.6kW System:
15 x JKM440N-54HL4-V 440 Watt Panels (Jinko Solar Co., Ltd.)
1 x SG5.0RT (Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd.)
5 Year Workmanship Warranty
Total Price (before rebates and incentives): $8862 (including GST)
Out of Pocket: $3299 (including GST)

Questions:

  1. Which one should I choose and why?
  2. Is it worth the risk going with cheaper installers?
  3. How come only 1 company has recommended fitting solar panels on the north face and the rest are all east and west? Is this a better option just because it’s north facing?
  4. Some quotes are suggesting 1 phase inverters and some are suggesting 3 phase. Which should I go for?

Thank you very much in advance for your input and advice!

2

Quotes 3, 4, & 5 would be my pick based on value for money and the good mid-level panels and inverter.
Worth noting that the Huawei Inverter is a hybrid inverter so a battery can easily be added at a later stage.
I would avoid the 2 last cheaper quotes. Far too cheap and risky (definitely get what you pay for)

Get some companies to do a site visit so you can get more of get a feel for the service they will provide and ask if consumption monitoring is included, and if not, how much extra? A comsumption meter will give you very good information about your household power usage and solar generation. Worth getting.