[Michaelmichelle]

Yes we are in Perth Metro. Cant wait to hear more recommendations.Its so vexing theres so many options and prices

[angel_girl]

Laridae regarding a service call every year or two we generally do that these days for aircons and other things so i dont see a problem. I rather that.

At the end of the day expensive is not always the best...there is a reason behind why they are so pricey...

[MakeLoveNotBacon]

...there is a reason behind why they are so pricey...

Yes, it's because the quality is better. It's not just with solar panels, it's everything. If they were really equal in quality, why would anyone pay extra? A warranty with a company that has gone bust is useless.

OP, the market is very competitive so don't be afraid to haggle on best price. I know someone in the industry and the prices are negotiable.

[zibble]

Some great advice from PPs. OP have a look at the greentech forum on Whirlpool site and search the products and installers. I would personally go for either an Aurora or SMA sunnyboy inverter and get the biggest system you can afford. We recently bought a 4kw system (suntech panels and aurora inverter) and it's been good so far.

Good luck.

[angel_girl]

)

I rather value for money than the most expensive that is all...

[Michaelmichelle]

I rang solar shop and was very stunned to know that no sales rep is available to do a home consultation in WA. If the inverter breaks down we would have to contact the company directly .Can someone please enlighten if solar shop is a good choice?

[laridae]

laridae you're in Tas? I know things always claim to cost a bit more over here due to freight/transport etc esp if you're not metro. Though I guess stuff is still subject to transport costs to Tas, it's still 'over east' to me. ;)

Yes, sorry - came in through recent topics. It shouldn't make a great deal of difference to the price though if you're using one of the large companies that do a lot, a smaller installer might have more overheads in shipping costs. As long as its a metro area of course.

[laridae]

)

I rather value for money than the most expensive that is all...

Best value for money does not equal cheapest.

You may get nice cheap gear, works well for a few months, so you think you've got great value. Then it breaks down. You've got no monitoring set up and aren't regularly checking (manually - because its not got any automatic monitoring being cheap gear) that its generating any power, so you don't notice until your power bill comes in that its been off for a month. Then you need to wait another month while it gets shipped back to China for repairs. How much money have you lost in that time? Probably a lot more that the difference between a quality system that was a little bit extra to start off and the cheap system you got because it was 'better value'.

I don't get something that is most expensive either - but I spent time getting quotes and participating in the whirlpool green tech forum, enough that I know what price is a good deal for decent equipment, and what people who work in the industry think is good, reliable equipment that has a proven track record, and what they've found breaks frequently so I know what to avoid.

Realistically - you are only looking at a few hundred $ different between cheap and quality anyway (up to maybe a couple of $1000 for larger systems).

[laridae]

I rang solar shop and was very stunned to know that no sales rep is available to do a home consultation in WA. If the inverter breaks down we would have to contact the company directly .Can someone please enlighten if solar shop is a good choice?

Contact which company? The solar shop or the manufacturer or importer of the panels & inverter?

Plenty of others you can try if you don't like their terms

[blissfulqueenb]

We went with solar shop and have a Sunnyboy SMA inverter and suntech panels. We chose to go with thin film panels rather than the mono crystalline ones as the performance was better in part shade (remember with most systems that are set up in sequence if you get shade in even part of one of the panels, the entire array will not produce) and also produced power from a larger range of conditions than the others we looked at.

Solar shop service left a lot to be desired, and they went into receivership after we got our system so I would be very wary of using them. However, the system itself we couldn't be happier with. Ours produces enough to power our house of 5 people plus we pay my sisters bill too with the credit each period.