Looking to get solar panels

JKenH

Exiled_Tyke said:

JKenH said:

Exiled_Tyke said:

Raggs_2 said:

It would be a single inverter now.

The salesman has pushed, but then that's his job. Every time I've sent a question, they've had a genuine answer in my mind, and when needed, he's been willing to update it to fit (like going from 2 to 1 inverter). Pushiness from a salesman is not a surprise for me, and not something I'm going to feel aggrieved about.

Just sent an email to the council making sure there's no surprises for our property. There shouldn't be, but doesn't hurt to be careful!

For me the trust would have gone by now and I'd be looking for alternatives. This is a huge investment and they are prepared to fob you off with solutions that are in their interests and not yours, and then attempt to justify them to a point.  This just isn't good enough. 

That’s better than my recent experience. I have been looking to extend my PV and possibly add a battery. I’ve had two quotes but when I enquired about an alternative arrangement that might work better for me I failed to get any response from either installer. I might just give up and stick with what I’ve got as I am well into the zone of ever diminishing returns. 

I used a company in West Yorks ( who do travel quite far afield but I don't know how far if its a relatively small job) for my battery. We put up two extra panels to qualify for VAT relief and to give me some morning sun (obviously no FIT there).  I'm pretty sure what didi isn't 'quite' financially viable but am very happy with what we agreed in the end. I found them very amenable to my suggestions and happy to answer my queries - I was particularly concerned about making sure the Old SE and the new microinverters all integrated appropriately with the battery, generation meters etc..   

Would you be comfortable letting me have their name either on here or by PM? 

Raggs_2

Just a thought. I have an old analogue meter, one of the spinning wheel jobs. Does that mean when I'm exporting, my wheel will go backwards?

Exiled_Tyke

Raggs_2 said:

Just a thought. I have an old analogue meter, one of the spinning wheel jobs. Does that mean when I'm exporting, my wheel will go backwards?

Some do but some don't.  If it does go backwards you are legally obliged to make your electricity supplier aware so  they can get it changed.  If you don't they may assume your useage in their favour.  Once you've told them it's there problem to sort. 

Raggs_2

Exiled_Tyke said:

Raggs_2 said:

Just a thought. I have an old analogue meter, one of the spinning wheel jobs. Does that mean when I'm exporting, my wheel will go backwards?

Some do but some don't.  If it does go backwards you are legally obliged to make your electricity supplier aware so  they can get it changed.  If you don't they may assume your useage in their favour.  Once you've told them it's there problem to sort. 

OK, so let's hope it goes backwards . No problem informing.

Raggs_2

Another question I'm afraid. Solar panels at the edge of the roof, reading that it's recommended to be at least 30cm, MCS says 40-50cm from the perimeter. This is still the advice right? Nothing much has changed for that? We've noticed that the system designed has the panels going right up to the edges (horizontal, not vertical), with very very little room, virtually none.

Martyn1981

Raggs_2 said:

Another question I'm afraid. Solar panels at the edge of the roof, reading that it's recommended to be at least 30cm, MCS says 40-50cm from the perimeter. This is still the advice right? Nothing much has changed for that? We've noticed that the system designed has the panels going right up to the edges (horizontal, not vertical), with very very little room, virtually none.

Yep, another good question. You need to consider wind lift, especially on the sides, so 200mm+ was recommended minimum, and I doubt that's changed, so 300mm as you say is a good guide. Also need to avoid the top as this may necessitate removing and replacing ridge tiles, and given the additional height of the PV could actually result in the PV being higher than the ridge, which would have planning permission implications. And lastly, if the panels are too near the bottom of the roof, you can have wind lift, and rain water (from the bottom row of panels) missing the gutter.

However, having said all that, my WNW panels are very close to the NNW edge of the roof as it was a rush job, and neither myself nor the installer realised that they were 1,050mm wide not the then standard(ish) 1,000mm.  5x 50mm ate most of the 300mm spare available. Oops.

Raggs_2

Yeah, we're also a bungalow, so less wind lower down. He's assured me that it'll all be MCS compliant. The distance doesn't seem to be a requirement, but rather a way of reaching compliance when taking into account wind pressures, by moving it from the edge, it lowers the pressure. If there's  not high enough pressure, no reason for it not to be on the edge as such.

Raggs_2

Managed to talk to a couple of other suppliers, and they've raised some red flags. Especially with regards to contacting the DNO due to the size of the installation. One of them is local, and let me know that nothing over 3.68kw is being approved here, since the powerlines are saturated already. I'm going to call the guy that had a system fitted not long ago by the company I've mostly been talking about here, and see what's gone on with his system.

Raggs_2

Long silence, but update now! 4.6Kw installed, limited to 3.7 via inverter. Some south facing, some west, dual mppt inverter.
Went with a local firm and paid around £4.5k.

Question! And if I'd get more views elsewhere, please tell me where to add it, and it may be well answered elsewhere.

We have an old electricity meter, and the wheel is spinning backwards. I've read that it's a legal requirement to inform the energy company, which I've done right now, along with a meter reading (have a photo). How's the bill going to work? I know if I don't inform them, they can retroactively charge me, but I've done that, so is it now just upto them to get a smart meter fitted asap? Or can they continue to guesstimate?

JKenH

I did the same as you and notified Scottish Power soon after the PV install and they organised a meter swap. I just made sure that when they came to change the meter the reading was higher than the last pre solar panels one. It meant switching my panels off for a couple of days but I didn’t want to give them the opportunity to say your meter has gone backwards so we are going to do an estimate of your usage.