My PV System

[Quakered]

Well here is mine! It is a 3.22KW system installed by Solstice Energy of Putney in February. The 14 panels are Yingli 230wp. The number of panels was only driven by the number that could be fitted on our south facing roof! I confess my sole input to the process was coming up with the idea to fit PV panels and paying for it.

Delighted that I was able to get the £2,500 grant a week before it was withdrawn. I can’t understand why people are not going mad for PV with the new FIT. Our total cost after grant was just over £10,000 and suspect the return will be £1,300 a year, free of tax and index linked for 25 years. Even without the grant the return should be over 10%. Tax free return for 10%-13% or leave the money in the banking getting 2% that is taxed. Not that difficult a decision surely?

We have been in the house for 35 years and the walls on the right and left are solid with cavities in the front and rear. The cavities have been filled and the solid walls insulated on the outside. All this insulation started in the loft when I increased the 2 inches that came with the house with a further 10 inches and was stunned by the results.

As a retired couple we get the £250 bung from the government every winter and I was hoping to get our winter gas bill to less than this sum with the push for insulation. I am pleased to report we have achieved this. With the FIT I hope the surplus money generated by the roof will ensure  our total energy costs are negative to the tune of a few hundred £s.

I really like Alan’s box of tricks to divert generated electricity to the immersion heater and hope he gets it on the market soon (hint, hint....)!


Cheers

Patrick

[Cornish Dragon]

What a good looking set up and well done indeed.
Please keep us posted with your results....
This is next on my things to do list....!

CD
 
ps. If that is a flat roof at the front of the photo
could you not have got some stands and installed
another kw or two there ? just a thought....

[Justme]

ps. If that is a flat roof at the front of the photo
could you not have got some stands and installed
another kw or two there ? just a thought....

They would need planning permission then as they would be more than 200mm from the roof plane.



Will the small roof with two panels on shade the larger panels much?

[StBarnabas]

Welcome!
will be great to see your results. My own Yingli system is doing well - would be good to compare
Sean

[wookey]

Very nice (and a good price - I think you may be winning the 'cheapest professional install' competition with 3.2kWp for £10200), but where is the solar thermal going to go? :-)

[Quakered]

Thanks for the welcome and below are some answers...

What a good looking set up and well done indeed.
Please keep us posted with your results....
This is next on my things to do list....!

CD
 
ps. If that is a flat roof at the front of the photo
could you not have got some stands and installed
another kw or two there ? just a thought....

The flat roof is going to need recovering in the next year or two and I am keen to do it so I can increase the insulation under the roof. Currently is has around 4” of fibre glass that was the standard when we extended in the late 70s! When it is redone, I will have it covered in the long lasting plastic (Firestone?) and include hard points for a few more panels. Couldn’t afford to do it right now and also didn’t fancy having it done in the winter....The question is, do I have 10 mounted flat or 5 in alignment with the roof? Alternatively I could fit a slopping roof covered in PV tiles..

They would need planning permission then as they would be more than 200mm from the roof plane.



Will the small roof with two panels on shade the larger panels much?

The house is about 15 degrees East of due South so there is almost no shading and certainly not after about 8:30 in the morning. Before this time the  sun is low and weak.

The planning boys will not be able to see it as it is on the garden side of the house. I am a strong believer in the thought that what they don’t know cannot hurt them (or me)

Welcome!
will be great to see your results. My own Yingli system is doing well - would be good to compare
Sean

Well for the last 10 days in February, we generated an average of just over  4KwH per day. This is almost as predicted. In March so far we have generated just over 10KwH per day and this is much better than the 6.9 predicted. (another thing to obsessively measure!)

Very nice (and a good price - I think you may be winning the 'cheapest professional install' competition with 3.2kWp for £10200), but where is the solar thermal going to go? :-)

I looked into water heating but rejected for  two reasons. The first is, as a couple, we do not use much hot with a shower and washing machine and thought running an immersion heater with our own electricity  for an hour of two a day would be more flexible. The second reason was 2 years ago we revamped the boiler and hot water system by installing a condensing boiler and a larger rapid recovery tank and forgot to mention one with a second coil to the plumber.....

[Outtasight]

I can't remember who does them but I've seen triangular PV modules for filling in those unsightly gaps in your roof 

I'm also in two minds about thermal water heating.  We only heat one tank of water a day and even given only 1.4kW of PV, with some cunning tricks and clever load management, I can at least pre-heat the tank to save on grid power used for the immersion heater or if there's 5 good hours of light in the day, I can get a free hot tank with no grid power used.

[Cornish Dragon]

A couple of questions for Just Me if I may please?
This planning thing with the " roof plane."
The  lower panels would still be on a roof (all be
it a flat roof ) how could it need planning ?
Especially as they will have less intrusion/ visibility
than on the main roof.....
Also I intend to ground mount my set in a unused
corner of my garden  it is no where near a roof
plane.........
So would I automatically need planning ?
Many thanks
CD

[Justme]

This planning thing with the " roof plane."
The  lower panels would still be on a roof (all be
it a flat roof ) how could it need planning ?

Also I intend to ground mount my set in a unused
corner of my garden  it is no where near a roof
plane.........
So would I automatically need planning ?

No part of the panels can be more than 200mm from the plane of the roof or above the ridge. On a flat roof thats basically any panel mounted on an angle.
(ok in this case they would be mad to enforce it)

I think also that wall mounted need PP too.

Mounting on a frame in the garden is ok, upto a fixed size & hight. Subject to being near boundaries as well.

[rhys]

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/public/buildingwork/projects/workcommonsolar6apr/workcommonmoreppsolarwallroof6apr
Wall mounted is also permitted except in conservation areas or listed buildings.

[Cornish Dragon]

Many thanks rhys and Justme for the info.

CU
CD

[Justme]

lol.


So he could mount them on the wall behind the flat roof but not on the flat roof 

[Quakered]

Well the system has now been running for exactly 1 year and our 3.22kw array has delivered 3,130 kwh. The prediction was 2706 so 15.67% over budget.

I suspect the prediction software is designed to understate the likely output so that new users will feel a warm and happy glow with their investment (as I do!).

Now need to wait for the gas bill to see how much our new wood burning stove has reduced the gas bill!

[JohnS]

That is good, especially as Heathrow had 250 hours less than average sunshine in 2010. 

I expect to be around 10-12% down on you, when I clock up a year in late March, but I have a lot of winter shading issues and some early morning summer shading.

John

[merkland]

In Scotland you do not need planning permission for PV on a flat roof subject to the following conditions:

(4) Development is not permitted by this class, in the case of solar PV or solar thermal equipment installed on a flat roof of a dwellinghouse or building containing a flat, if the solar PV or solar thermal equipment would–
(a) be situated within 1 metre from the edge of the roof; or
(b) protrude more than 1 metre above the plane of the roof.

I would have thought that there would a similar set of conditions in England!!

merkland