4kw v 5.1wk system

Martyn1981

jrfarrim wrote: »

Just about to sign on the dotted line for a 4.96kwp array. Decision has beed made easier by Northwest Electricity. They have advised they will pass anything upto 5kwp, anything over they require 60 days to make a decision & if approved there's likely to be financial cost on my side.

System will be as follows. Does the Inverter sound correct for a 4.96kwp system?

16 x Canadian solar 310w panels (CS6X-310P)
Samil 4.4 Inverter

Cost - £5449

JF

Are you sure Northwest have placed a kWp restriction? They should only really be interested in the kW output of the system, not the kWp of the panels. So is the limit actually 5kW from the inverter?

If you're happy with 5kWp of panels, then it doesn't matter either way.

As Roger says, it's ok to be a little undersized, and a system rarely runs at over 90% for long, before it gets hot and performance drops, so 4.5kW AC output will do fine.

BUT ..... I can't find a 4.4kW Samil, so have looked at the specs of the 4.5kW model. That says 4,500W DC (which may be an issue) with 4,000W AC (4,300W AC max).

Looking at the other models on that spec sheet, the 5kW looks much better, it's rated for 5,000W DC, and 4,600W AC, which would be a better match.

Mart.