Village Hall PV

[DonL]

Some of you may remember the difficulties we encountered in getting funding for our project and the help we received via this forum.

The system is up and running; 22 Ying Li 235 panels, SMA SB5000 TL inverter and hall display.

Excellent performance so far and you can find us on BDPV as cpchall.


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Wow it worked  Will try and take better pictures in future!

Don
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[Ted]

Nice one. Shame you couldn't have put more panels on such a large roof as you have already gone over the 4kW band.

[DonL]

Hi Ted
Agreed, but at the start of the project we got some guidance on the size that the DNO might accept and at that time we did not expect to qualify for the FIT so the 4kW break point seemed irrelevant.
Later on, when we had planning permission and part funding we didn't dare change anything!
Don

[BruceB]

Looks a neat install, but having installed a few I cannot resist some comments:

- Is the inverter mounted on a fireproof board?

- I note there are no dc isolators separate from the one built into the inverter.  Personally I think in engineering terms that is safe enough, but there are many who believe a pedantic view of the regulations is that you need separate dc isolators.

- DC cables sleeved and glanded which shows attention to detail.

- Segregation is required for ac and dc cables so hopefully inside that trunking they are segregated.

And I agree with Ted that having gone over the 4kW boundary, it is a pity you did not go for say a 10kW system.

Regards
Bruce

[DonL]

Hi Bruce
The board is 18mm ply so not fireproof but quite hard to burn 
The two strings are wired separately to the inverter and the built in isolator disconnects them both - seems very adequate to me.
Don

[BruceB]

DonL,  What is the display you are using?

[DonL]

Hi Bruce
The display is the Rico GA300.
As we are using it, it is connected to the electricity meter and works off the pulses generated in it.
This means the "instantaneous" power being produced is dependent on the time between pulses and so is fixed for a while and then makes a step change to a new value, it does not exactly match the inverter. The advantage of this approach is that the cumulative value of kWh closely matches the meter.
Also, it keeps its memory when powered down which is helpful.
Don