Are Leroy Merlin's new solar kits worth their money?

Recently the DIY chain Leroy Merlin has launched the sale of solar kits. At Robinsun we see this as a very positive sign, because it supports our initiative to extend the benefits of solar energy to the 65% of Spanish households that do not have their own roof on their house for the installation of larger photovoltaic panels.

Within Leroy Merlin's solar kit offers, there are mainly 2 types: residential (for your home) and for isolated houses (without power grid connection). Residential solar self-consumption kits are especially attractive during the months of greatest solar exposure, offering the opportunity to generate your own energy and reduce electricity costs.

Evaluating the quality of each component becomes a critical task when choosing the best solar kit for you, since quality is the determining factor in performance and durability. Taking into account that our specialty is residential kits, our experts have analyzed the kits offered by the chain and here we leave you some important observations to take into account when making the decision to purchase.

Kits with flexible panels

Just as at Robinsun, Leroy Merlin offers solar kits for residential use with both rigid and performing panels, as well as flexible and lightweight panels. The latter are from the Taurus brand. There are 2 options depending on the power, one of 350W and another of 700W. We must highlight that analyzing the Leroy Merlin online store shows divergent information. It is not clear whether the panels are black or transparent nor the power of the kits since they are promoted as 700 W, but in another paragraph it is indicated that they are 680 W. We could not ignore this confusion on the product page from one of the largest chains in the country (See below the images taken from their website).

Below you can see a comparison table that includes the main characteristics of the various solar kit models with flexible panels:

Analyzing this combination of components, the first thing that stands out is that the micro inverter in both cases is very oversized for the production of the panels. It should be noted that the output power in Wp of a panel (peak watts, that is, the maximum production in perfect conditions) is usually equal to, or up to 20% greater, than the output power of a micro inverter. This is because the real power of the panels is usually lower than the declared Wp, which must always be accompanied by a standard quality micro inverter that can manage this configuration without issues.

It must be taken into account that EU regulations set a limit of 800 W of power so that plug & play solar kits are exempt from the legalization requirement. In Spain the IDAE has confirmed this limit. The micro inverter is the component that limits the production of the kit with all the panels connected. A micro inverter with more than 800 W of power requires legalization and intervention by an authorized installer. The great advantage of plug & play solar kits is precisely this: production below 800 W and thus not requiring an installer.

Additionally, the brand of the micro inverters of the Leroy Merlin solar kits caught our attention. The brand is Taurus, but on the manufacturer's website we have not found any mention of micro inverters, nor the possibility of downloading any technical documentation as is usual in the manufacturers of these products. Furthermore, the micro inverters analyzed at Leroy Merlin have an almost identical resemblance to a white label version from another Chinese manufacturer, Deye (due to the size of the WiFi antenna and its color), which at the beginning of 2023 has been the protagonist of a scandal with a lot of repercussions in Germany, due to its lack of compliance with the VDE regulations. German experts have detected the lack of a relay in the production version of Deye micro inverters, which was included in the version used for VDE certification and is required by VDE regulations.

As for the panels of the Leroy Merlin solar kits, their size is impractical. Considering the limit of 800 W for plug & play solar kits of the European regulations, the micro inverter of the Leroy Merlin 1600 W solar kit exceeds the limit of the EU regulations, and would disqualify this kit from the “self-installable” type, which causes it to must be installed by a qualified installer due to its power.

Leroy Merlin offers another solar kit with 400 W flexible panels, which is very similar to that of several companies active on the German market. In this case, including 2 210 Wp panels and a 400 W micro inverter are a successful combination.

The brand of the micro inverter seems to be Hoymiles, which we at Robinsun have previously tested. It is a very good quality manufacturer, but it lacks direct WiFi connectivity. That is, you have to use an additional component to measure the production of the kit, which can be a smart plug with its mobile app, or add an additional Hoymiles WiFi connection device called DTU-Wlite, which connects the micro inverter directly to the Home wifi. In this last way, the production data from the micro inverter can be read directly, which is much more reliable to use than the data from the smart plug.

At Robinsun for plug & play solar kits with flexible panels we offer 2 versions, 300 W and 600 W, which are called Light. We use flexible and light panels from the Sunman brand, a top quality manufacturer widely recognized in the sector, which gives a 25-year warranty on its product. For the micro inverter we use the high quality Tsun brand with 300 W (1 panel) and 600 W (2 panels) models. Tsun gives a 12-year warranty on its products and its micro inverters connect directly to your home's WiFi. The Robinsun kits come with the metal ties to fix the panels included, which is not the case with the Leroy Merlin solar kits (you have to buy them separately in their stores).

Rigid panel kits

As we do at Robinsun, also Leroy Merlin offers solar kits with rigid panels. They have 2 types of panels, in the 405 Wp and 450 Wp versions. We have looked for the technical sheets of the Taurus manufacturer on their website, but they do not publish them, unlike all respectable solar panel manufacturers. The 405 Wp panel weighs 21.8 kg, while the 450 Wp panel weighs 24.8 kg and is significantly longer.

These Leroy Merlin solar kits include a micro inverter from the Taurus brand, already mentioned above, and are very oversized for the power Wp of the panels. As with the flexible panel kits, the 1600 W micro inverter is outside the regulations and requires legalization by an authorized installer.

As for fixings for the kits, which is essential for panels of this size and weight, the Leroy Merlin solar kits do not offer any options. The only additional component is the cable to connect the micro inverter to a home outlet.

The various specifications can be seen in the following comparison table below.

At Robinsun we have plug & play solar kits with 400 W and 800 W rigid panels called Performance. The panels are from the Longi brand, a Tier 1 manufacturer (of the highest quality) and an output power of 410 Wp. We have chosen panels that weigh only 20.8 kg, so that they are easy to handle and install. Longi panels come with a very stylish black frame and have an efficiency of 21.0%. The manufacturer's warranty is 25 years.

The micro inverters in our Performance kits are always from the high-quality brand Tsun, which we have already talked about above. For the Performance kits we use 400 W and 800 W models, compliant with EU and Spanish regulations for self-installable plug & play solar kits (without the intervention of an authorized installer) that also connect directly to your home WiFi network (without requiring smart plug). The manufacturer's warranty on the micro inverter is 12 years. Because we know that we all have different tastes or needs, for our Performance kits we offer 3 types of fixings, 20, 60 or 90 degrees, and a kit without fixing if you want to assemble it on your own.

Conclusion

In short, Leroy Merlin solar kits are an option to produce your own solar energy for self-consumption at home. Not all of them qualify as “plug & play”, that is, self-installable without the need for the intervention of an authorized installer.

Considering that a solar kit is a long-term investment, which produces benefits for the environment (CO2 savings) and your pocket (savings on your electricity bill), it seems very important to us to pay attention to the quality of the components, select top brands quality, and that give long guarantees on their products, like those we offer on our Robinsun plug & play solar kits.

If measuring the production of your kit is something that interests you and you want reliable data, the option of connecting the micro inverter to your home's WiFi is an important functionality that Leroy Merlin solar kits do not have.

It must also be considered that a kit is more than the sum of panels and micro inverter. How to assemble the kit, safely and reliably with quality fixings, is a fundamental aspect. Take a look at the options we give you to see the quality at an excellent price that we offer you at Robinsun.

As for the prices of the kits, in the tables of our comparison you can see that the differences are significant. Leroy Merlin's kits are significantly more expensive as Robinsun kits.

Choose the kit you prefer for your home. The important thing is that you install it soon. Every day that passes you lose the opportunity to use your own solar energy, 100% decarbonized, to lend a hand to conserve our planet. And don't forget that with this you save money every month on your electricity bill.