looking to get solar..

[freepower]

hi folks now going to get solar at last.anyone know any good companies that cover the pembrokeshire area.?just one question mind guys..the wire from the roof down to the main electric meter.do they run in through all the rooms down or via the out side..?

[Richard Owen]

Wire run is your choice.

I've done both. Outside is easier but can be unsightly.

[freepower]

thank you Richard

[CeeBee]

hi folks now going to get solar at last.anyone know any good companies that cover the pembrokeshire area.?just one question mind guys..the wire from the roof down to the main electric meter.do they run in through all the rooms down or via the out side..?

I've had a number of installs now, and in all cases, the wires were run indoors - electricians seem very good at routing cables around the inside of houses as if by magic - I guess it's part of their job. One lot wanted to run the cable outside - I'd have asked them not to, but ended up not using them.

You know the MCS website allows you to search for registered installers, so that might be a start, but has the disadvantage that companies serving e.g. the whole country won't show up as being close to you (including Navitron). I quite like the idea of getting someone nearby, if possible. I tried the Navitron route once, but in the end used a different installer - the Navitron chap wasn't very close, and I felt that discussing the quote or choosing different options was going to be tedious, as the quote was generated by Navitron, but forwarded via the installer.

[freepower]

thanks CeeBee

[series530]

Ours is run inside - but we have a convenient route which makes this something of a breeze.

Bear in mind that a convoluted cable run for whatever reason will increase series resistance in proportion to length of the cable run. This resistance will drop power along its length. The drop wont be huge but will have some significance over the life of a 25 year FIT.

In general, best practice is to use a thick cable and a short run.

Pembroke is a lovely part of the world. We've had three very decent holidays there recently.

[freepower]

thank you series530. yes it is a lovely part of the world  im in a town 4 story town house thats why i ask about the cable.

[MEP ELEC LTD]

Most customers prefer external runs - we do 9/10 external 

[freepower]

thanks MEP ELEC LTD

[offthegridandy]

Hi Freepower,

I can recommend a Company based in Cardigan, who cover west wales. Get in touch with Martyn O'Connor at Heatshine. www.heatshine.com, tel 01239 613423. I've done business with them a couple of times over the years, honest and hard working and competent guys.  Martyns been in business for years, not here today and gone tomorrow.

Regards

Andy

[freepower]

nice one offthegridandy

[B2002]

Hey,

Got a friend who works in that area from Pembrookshire Power, tel: 01646 686212

Maybe worth a try..   Cables can be external in some aesthetically pleasing conduit, which is what we use on our jobs, tend to find tv/sky cables look messier than the PV wires..   aerial installers

Bob

[RayG]

Out of interest for any cable run internal/external where there are two distances one from the panels to the inverter and the other from the inverter to the consumer unit (assuming that is where it feeds into the grid) what is best a longer DC run or a longer AC run?

[GavinA]

Out of interest for any cable run internal/external where there are two distances one from the panels to the inverter and the other from the inverter to the consumer unit (assuming that is where it feeds into the grid) what is best a longer DC run or a longer AC run?

ah, the old how long is a piece of string question.

Realistically it makes little difference as long as the cable is sized appropriately in either case, but if the DC voltage is significantly higher than the AC grid voltage then DC would have slightly lower losses depending on the distance involved.

There are however other problems with long dc runs, in terms of them not being protected against faults in the same way that AC circuits are - no MCB or RCD. We usually run longer DC runs in SWA cable to give some mechanical protection, and tend to run them externally to prevent mix ups in the future.

As MEP says, we probably do 90%+ of our installations with external cable runs, but we use SWA in all of them as it offers better protection than plastic conduit, is less likely to get damaged, and can be run pretty much as tidily as conduit. We tend to find people prefer this to the mess and hastle that can often result from trying to run a cable internally from the loft to the consumer unit, but will do that if people prefer, or there is a logical cable run.

[marshman]

Out of interest for any cable run internal/external where there are two distances one from the panels to the inverter and the other from the inverter to the consumer unit (assuming that is where it feeds into the grid) what is best a longer DC run or a longer AC run?

How long is a piece of string?

It depends on a number of factors - primarily:

Cable size (cross sectional area) & Solar Panel voltage.

If you have a string with say 15 panels your DC voltage at MPP will be around say 450 volts so if the AC and DC cable sizes are the same there will be less losses in the DC cable so this should be the longest.  If you have a couple of strings of say only 6 panels (just a hypothetical example) you may only have 180V DC so - again assuming cable sizes are the same - it would be better to have the longer cable run on the AC side.

There is another consideration, if your total generation meter is mounted next to your inverter then for FiT payment purposes the losses in the AC cable don't matter - though it is not efficient and certainly not in the spirit of greeness,

In reality the installer should size all cables appropriately and it really gets to the point - unless the cable runs are really long say greater than 50m - where any differences in losses between the DC and AC cable are negligible.

Concentrate on getting the best position and layout for the panels, ensure there is absolutely no shading and don't worry about cable losses.

All just my own opinion

Roger