Black framed panels on houses should be part of planning, silver framed panels look terrible on any roof top ( not commercial) the price of black panels such as solarWorld are cheap enough to not warrant using silver framed modules.
We install 4kw solarWorld for £6k now.
OK as far as it goes but rather a simplification.
If it is the principal elevation of the property (that facing the road or the one most seen) the aesthetics of the installation are vital. In these circumstances we recommend roof integration of the system and we always use black framed panels. It is also important to go for a symmetrical layout of the panels using only one orientation. We all see absolute dog's breakfasts of installs which should be deemed a criminal offence.
What if it is not the principal elevation where the visual impact is negligible? It is then not a great issue whether the panel frame is black or silver. If the array is on the side roof of a property where it won't be seen, why pay the premium for a black framed or all black panel?
Some buildings are like a face only a mother could love, and quite frankly whether the PV array frames are black or silver won't make it any more or less attractive.
Our skill and professionalism as installers should be in providing the most appropriate system for the customer in the given location. Appropriate, also includes cost effective. Cost effective does not mean the cheapest kit on the market.
It is important for the Starter of this thread to have some handle on the relative cost of different panel options. If we start with a premium black framed panel such as LG 250W or maybe SolarWorld 250W we could index their price as 100 in terms of cost per watt. The JA 285W Silver framed panel mentioned would index at 98. The LG285W black framed panel, 125, and the LG300W black frame, 130. I don't have immediate access to information on the Sunpower 327W, but think they would index at around 150.
We have done a job this week with 12 LG300. The price premium pushed up the cost of the install. From the customer's viewpoint, it was still a cost effective option.
Remember that the panels only make up one part of the price of the install. Other costs are fixed, notably the labour content. Inverter choice is also important and one on which many have their own view.
There is considerable downward price pressure on panels at the moment. We get daily emails with offer prices well below an index price of 80 for silver framed 250W polycrystalline units, some from known manufacturers with good provenance. This will feed through to the upper end of the market.
Which would bring me back to SolarWorld. Due to their own lack of investment, they found their production facilities to be uncompetitive in a world market. Rather than deal with this they were the main complainant to the EU Commission about Chinese panels that led to the so called anti dumping legislation. The irony is they have been selling panels at less than the barrier price. Their actions are holding back the market, in the end will be ineffective and counter productive. They may be made in Europe but are no better than most Chinese made panels.
What is important for the starter of this thread, is to achieve the best possible outcome for the given expenditure. I would hope who they choose provides a realistic output prediction and an accurately calculated payback period.
