It looks like

Panels: 28 * 650W = 18.2 kW nominal

Storage: 2 x 16 kWh LiFePO₄

Inverter: 1 x 16 kW hybrid single phase

1 x "Power Control Panel" (PCP)

We'd get a TOU meter as part of the installation.

Total estimate is THB 587,730 inc. VAT

The second battery might be overkill.

I tried to work out how much the parts would cost if I bought them myself and that came to THB 336,200 (excluding the PCP, presumably including VAT).

I suppose the difference of ~ THB 251K is the labour, services, insurance, 24/ 7 call out, etc. which is a premium of up to 74% over my estimate of THB 336,200 for parts.

The attached document (multi-page PNG!!) doesn't break the costs down. Perhaps because it's an estimate and not a quote. I added a Thai -> English translation and a table of parts costs I assembled.

I am not an expert, but the chosen components seem to be good quality.

I know enough about electrical stuff to not dare do it myself.

Does this seem to be a fair or even a good deal?

Uploading Attachment...

Off topic posts and replies, which are just deflecting the topic, rather answering the enquiry, removed

You could just have another company quote it to compare, but I would expect PEA to cost more, but having them do it us also worth more. Not twice as much/

5 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

You could just have another company quote it to compare, but I would expect PEA to cost more, but having them do it us also worth more. Not twice as much/

I guess it's not a 100% markup as the costs I have from PEA do not include labour. But I'm used to Thai labour costs being low. I'm also used to sourcing the materials myself. I guess I'm suffering from "sticker price" shock. I expected a "PEA premium", but had no idea what it would look like.

Re: your suggestion (a good one by the way), my wife has been looking for reputable companies. I don't know how prevalent good companies are in our neck of the woods.

you’re planning a major investment in solar. may i ask who carried out the assessment of the system size and your electricity needs, and what was the assessment based on?

another option to PEA would be this company (thailand solar), because you seems to live in isaan. they’re probably also in the higher price range, but good communication in english and a professional, proper installation are important factors ...

thailand solar works provides solar solutions in this province ...

Edited August 21Aug 21 by motdaeng

1 minute ago, motdaeng said:

you’re planning a major investment in solar. may i ask who carried out the assessment of the system size and your electricity needs?

PEA themselves came over and did the assessment. At least the boss from our local PEA office and a team who did the assessment came over. PEA can see my previous bills (better than I can unless I keep my own records, which I do).

We would probably be happy with just the one 16kWh battery. Even with the full quote above, payback time is less than 10 years.

1 minute ago, motdaeng said:

another option to PEA would be this company (thailand solar), because you seems to live in isaan. they’re probably also in the higher price range, but good communication in english and a professional, proper installation are important factors ...

I'll check them out. Thanks!

My wife found Abawatt.com, https://abawat.com/solar-panel-installation/ who quote 3 phase only + 15 kW + 15 kWh battery @ ~ THB 463K

PEA 588K - Abawatt 463K = THB 125K cheaper, but PEA offer an extra 3.2 kW nominal + extra 16kWh storage. My Shopee window shopping would price that as

4 x 650W solar panels @ 4200 each = THB 16800

1 x Deye SolarTOP 16kWh @ 80900 = 80900

Total = THB 97700 ~ THB 98K

But Abawatt were only THB 125K cheaper, and most of that difference is the THB 98K extra stuff that PEA put in their quote.

Conclusion so far (based on a sample size of 2 :)) is PEA are competitively priced.

I'll check out Thailand Solar and see what they have...

2 minutes ago, BeastOfBodmin said:

PEA themselves came over and did the assessment. At least the boss from our local PEA office and a team who did the assessment came over. PEA can see my previous bills (better than I can unless I keep my own records, which I do).

We would probably be happy with just the one 16kWh battery. Even with the full quote above, payback time is less than 10 years.

I'll check them out. Thanks!

My wife found Abawatt.com, https://abawat.com/solar-panel-installation/ who quote 3 phase only + 15 kW + 15 kWh battery @ ~ THB 463K

PEA 588K - Abawatt 463K = THB 125K cheaper, but PEA offer an extra 3.2 kW nominal + extra 16kWh storage. My Shopee window shopping would price that as

4 x 650W solar panels @ 4200 each = THB 16800

1 x Deye SolarTOP 16kWh @ 80900 = 80900

Total = THB 97700 ~ THB 98K

But Abawatt were only THB 125K cheaper, and most of that difference is the THB 98K extra stuff that PEA put in their quote.

Conclusion so far (based on a sample size of 2 :)) is PEA are competitively priced.

I'll check out Thailand Solar and see what they have...

You will love to have an extra battery, so If it not to big investment, I would had kept it. Still I would ask Christian for a quote.

7 minutes ago, Hummin said:

You will love to have an extra battery, so If it not to big investment, I would had kept it. Still I would ask Christian for a quote.

I fancy an extra battery is A Good Thing(TM). Jevon's Paradox and all that. Running the A/C during the day off the 18.2kW nominal solar to cool the bedrooms to reduce load at night, etc.

No, that's peak, not nominal.

Nominal output is 0W at night

THB 587,730

Thanks for the laugh. 😄

Overkill.

Not a good business decision, imho

I have a solar & wind power system in America for less. Let me guess you want to run AC & washer and dryer at the same time. You city slickers have never lived off grid.

The more battery you have, the more panels you need, yes?

If you do not have excess power to charge extra battery, it makes little sense to have extra battery.

If you have a TOU meter, night power is much cheaper than day power.

48 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

No, that's peak, not nominal.

Nominal output is 0W at night

Fair point. My meaning of "nominal" was the total rating of the panels before any losses.

48 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

THB 587,730

Thanks for the laugh. 😄

Overkill.

Not a good business decision, imho

I have a solar & wind power system in America for less. Let me guess you want to run AC & washer and dryer at the same time. You city slickers have never lived off grid.

Overkill & overpriced? We use the Sun as our dryer. Worst case damp things are placed under a ceiling fan.

What are the specs and cost of your wind & solar setup in the USA?

I live off-grid every time the sky sneezes and we lose power from the grid. It's usually only for a few minutes and I don't think it was ever more than 8 hours.

36 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

The more battery you have, the more panels you need, yes?

If you do not have excess power to charge extra battery, it makes little sense to have extra battery.

If you have a TOU meter, night power is much cheaper than day power.

TOU is part of the deal. At present we pay a single tariff (marginal is about THB 4.8/ kWh at the moment).

I do need to look at my monthly usage to estimate how much AC we use. I know it's >90% used at night.

40 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

The more battery you have, the more panels you need, yes?

As a general rule that is true but the size of the solar needs to be enough to refill the batteries after night time use plus a bit more for daytime use.

You only need to replace what you take out at night.

My Cousin started the photovoltaic Solar in Hawaii in 1979..Panels were 800 dollars per panel, now Hyundai, and other good quality panels cost 100$ for 300 watt nominal panels..Ask Siri or Bix three or 4 passes of research to confirm there prices, (from China) there are also 450w panels..(nominal)

Check these Hawaii prices for confirmation..

solarsupply.com

This seems to be a good idea looking towards the future. Don't see anything getting cheaper.

16 hours ago, BeastOfBodmin said:

Conclusion so far (based on a sample size of 2 :)) is PEA are competitively priced.

I see it as PEA being one of two overpriced installers..

15 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

No, that's peak, not nominal.

Nominal output is 0W at night

THB 587,730

Thanks for the laugh. 😄

Overkill.

Not a good business decision, imho

I have a solar & wind power system in America for less. Let me guess you want to run AC & washer and dryer at the same time. You city slickers have never lived off grid.

I certainly not a clue, but to put a unit in for 600,000? my bill averages 4000 a month, a year 48,000 baht, 5 years 240,000, 10 years 480,000, 15 years 600,000 baht, I break even that is if I pay 0 each month and the thing doesn't break down.

??????

4 minutes ago, thailand49 said:

I certainly not a clue, but to put a unit in for 600,000? my bill averages 4000 a month, a year 48,000 baht, 5 years 240,000, 10 years 480,000, 15 years 600,000 baht, I break even that is if I pay 0 each month and the thing doesn't break down.

??????

How much value would you add for the peace of mind that you should never have another power outage again, and the smoothest, steadiest 230 volt supply? I'd say that's worth quite a bit when you are used to the power going out several times a month.

Solar is not worth it in Thailand because the cost if equipment is double taxed and the labor is not as cheap as it should be given the quality of the installation. The ROI for a 600K install needs to be under 6 years, since you are probably replacing the battery at the ten year mark. Add to that the incompetence of installation crews, and your dream might turn into a nightmare come the first rain.

42 minutes ago, IsaanT said:

How much value would you add for the peace of mind that you should never have another power outage again, and the smoothest, steadiest 230 volt supply? I'd say that's worth quite a bit when you are used to the power going out several times a month.

Thinking you're never going to have another power outage might be overstating, but having crappy power would certainly make it more attractive.

We have great power in Bangkok. One power outage for about ten minutes in the last few years.

Sorry I never heard of this TOU plan before, is it available anywhere in Thailand and can I just look it up on google? Seems very interesting to me and would love to learn more about it.

3 minutes ago, jcmj said:

Sorry I never heard of this TOU plan before, is it available anywhere in Thailand and can I just look it up on google? Seems very interesting to me and would love to learn more about it.

Yes, you can google it up.

The MEA/PEA has to change the meter, and you pay for it.

54 minutes ago, IsaanT said:

How much value would you add for the peace of mind that you should never have another power outage again, and the smoothest, steadiest 230 volt supply? I'd say that's worth quite a bit when you are used to the power going out several times a month.

I guess if that is the case but here 20 plus years less than a dozen in my village and when it does hour tops.

Even up at Sukhothai my wife home can't remember ever?

17 hours ago, BeastOfBodmin said:

I fancy an extra battery is A Good Thing(TM). Jevon's Paradox and all that. Running the A/C during the day off the 18.2kW nominal solar to cool the bedrooms to reduce load at night, etc.

I've got a third of what you are considering. 8×620W panels, 6kWh hybrid inverter, 10kWh battery. In April I was running one 9,000btu AC and a 14 cube fridge freezer overnight and the battery went from 100% at sunset to 60-65% at sunrise. I can use a fair bit of battery in the morning if I am watering the garden with the well pump but have not gone below 20% SOC so far. No issues running two AC units during the day and fully charging the battery by the evening unless it is heavily overcast all day. I just keep an eye on the app and turn the AC off if the battery is still down near 80% at 15:00 on cloudy days. I paid 150,000 baht for everything including registration with the PEA. Will be claiming the 150,000 against this year's tax. My electricity bills are 35 baht a month. I was originally going to go with 6 panels and 5kWh of battery but am glad I went for the extra 2 panels and more battery. I didn't do it to save money, I did it after the Iran debacle.

I keep looking at solar, but with batteries (essential for us), payback is 6-8 years......at 70 it just isn't worth it.

1 minute ago, MIke B Bad said:

I keep looking at solar, but with batteries (essential for us), payback is 6-8 years......at 70 it just isn't worth it.

Without batteries and DIY install payback in 2-3 years.

But only if you wind your meter back.

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Without batteries and DIY install payback in 2-3 years.

But only if you wind your meter back.

Our usage is nearly all nighttime air con......am I right in thinking batteries would be essential?.....typical monthly bill is B2000

This is a 17 kW system? Plenty of power.

If so it looks like your PEA install quote is in the range of 30 baht a watt, which is 3x cheaper than the western world.

To me it looks like a very good deal.

15 minutes ago, MIke B Bad said:

Our usage is nearly all nighttime air con......am I right in thinking batteries would be essential?.....typical monthly bill is B2000

Yep.

Solar don't work quite so well at night.

23 minutes ago, MIke B Bad said:

Our usage is nearly all nighttime air con......am I right in thinking batteries would be essential?.....typical monthly bill is B2000

If that is true, get a TOU meter and cut your bill 30-50% and you're have a six-month pay-back.

At off-peak rates, your pay-back would likely take longer than the life of the system.

24 minutes ago, MIke B Bad said:

Our usage is nearly all nighttime air con......am I right in thinking batteries would be essential?.....typical monthly bill is B2000

Batteries can pay off if you do not have a reliable grid, experience frequent power cuts, or have unstable voltage. Together with a good inverter, they can provide cleaner and more stable power, which is easier on electrical equipment.

Another advantage is air conditioning. With solar and batteries, you can run the aircon for longer periods and maintain a more stable indoor temperature and humidity, instead of repeatedly heating and cooling the house. That can help protect the indoor environment, furniture, electronics, and reduce moisture and mold problems.

Having enough panels and enough batteries gives you the possibility to use more electricity. And when you have batteries, you can also use a cooling system where they are placed to help extend their lifespan.