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1K views 30 replies 9 participants last post by  Trevor Larkum 
#1 ·
I'm based in North West London. I'm going to have some building works done including a loft conversation and some re-roofing work. I also want to get solar panels installed on the roof but this will be a bit later after the building works has finished. I'd like to get some solar expert advice before I get the building works done, so that if there are any reasonable design changes I can make to the roofing which would make it better/easier for the solar then it is far easier to make those changes at the design stage rather than after the building works has finished.

Upon someone's recommendation, I've reached out to one solar company which supposedly had excellent customer service but the company fobbed me off and told me to get in touch after the building works were done and when I was ready to go ahead with solar. Obviously this does nothing to address my concern above.

Does anyone have any recommendations for companies doing solar installations with excellent customer service that may be open to doing such an initial consultation off architectural plans?
 
#2 ·
It could be worth thinking about having done at the same time if you can afford it as the scaffolding will be there which will reduce your install cost a bit. We're having an extension done at the moment, I'd thought about having solar put on when it was all finished and finances had recovered a bit. The solar company i got to move my existing array however suggested i have in roof panels put on the extension while being done, scaffolding was up and ready for them and it saved a bit on tiles.

I used a company called Eco power and lighting who are based in Ware, hertfordshire, so they may cover your area depending how far in to london you are. Image of my in roof panels below, had 3 east and 3 west put in (1.8Kwp in total), note the tiles were reclaimed so don't look shiny and new.

Roof Daylighting Sky House Technology
 
#3 ·
I can't recommend a company in UK (for obvious reasons, sine I live in Sweden) but if I were you, I'd try to complete the roof works while the roof is worked on. If you can't afford it right now I think it would be the best to prepare for it, like design it, discuss it with some companies, decide how and were you want to install the inverter, what sort of inverter and panels, the number of panels, capacity, and most of all, how you enter the hose with the necessary wiring to connect it to the mains. Installation depends a lot on you and how your hose looks like, but at one point the wires must enter your building, so you definitely need some thinking and planning. Also, if you can, I'd advice you to have the inverter away from places where you want quiet. Not everyone is disturbed by the sound of the fan, which occasionally starts up, but after having had mine running for about a half year, I am glad it is in a separate building, where I have my home work shop space. It is not disturbing there, but would not want it in the kitchen or near my living room or sleeping rooms. I think it is totally silent when it is dark, but during half the year it is producing electricity from very early in the morning until very late in the evening and night and I would not like to listen to the randomly starting fan... So, prepare as much as possible if you can't install everything now, but definitely prepare the space and the way wires are drawn and lay down conduits (pipes) as well as drill holes while you are working on the roof. That's the minimum I would do.
 
#4 ·
Both really good advice, unfortunately budget really does not allow everything to be done at the same time even though that is what I would like in an ideal world. Sounds like there's a lot to think about and I definitely need to get a solar expert company in to get their input at the design/planning stage. Hopefully I can get some more recommendations from other people who chime in :-D
 
#6 ·
I have a Solaredge system and very happy with it. It works nice and also like the app. They in fact have an office in London, you can try to contact them if you need more information. I ended up with this system because after a long survey I considered it as reliable and high quality and providing good support. I think it is important not to get the cheapest but to get quality. While all promise everything you and I want to hear, I believe that there are too many fortune seekers in the area, so I went for this, established brand, and a local installer with history and whom I believed in. No regrets so far. It's a fairly big investment, so it's an advantage if it works according to the expectations.

131097


This is how mine looked like (picture taken in December 2019), 39 solar panels, giving about 11MWh calculated yearly solar energy production where I am living, which is about half of what I am using normally. So far, it seems that the calculated values will be matched by reality.
 
#7 ·
Give these guys a try, they did my install and were very happy to talk pre-sale:
 
#9 ·
Maybe they are OK, I don't know, but the web first page shows an installation I would DEFINITELY advice against.

131099


The reason is that both the inverter on the wall and the batteries on the floor are generating some heat which is wasted when those items are outdoors. Where I am living, we don't waste with heat, so an indoor installation is preferred because it reduces heating costs, not wasteng energy. Maybe that picture is taken in Hawaii or Australia where you don't need to do that and mostly need cooling, but even in UK, which is warmer then Sweden, you would prefer normally to reuse every bit of energy, which is the produced heat also. That is sort of the idea behind solar energy also.
 
#8 ·
BTW, don't get batteries. It's not worth it, takes too much space and there is a fire hazard and other risks. Financially it would be feasible if we had a lot of daylight during winter as well, but unfortunately, the sun sets early and raises late during the coldest period here.

You should however make sure you are selling unused production back to the grid company because unfortunately, a lot of what we produce during the high season is not used by us, and I guess that will be the same for you. Our house uses electricity for the heating, so we use most electricity during the darker and colder time of the year, and now during the nights when the temperature drops to below +10C. While we charge our cars during the day now, we are not driving as much as we would normally (due to COVID-19... you know, working from home and so on) so we don't use a lot during the days.
 
#10 ·
I do like the appeal of the home storage battery but it's the high cost and long payback period that puts me off. Besides, I think getting a Zappie and an Eddie might help with using as much solar as possible. I have an EV which is not going to be used during the day (so seems perfect to use excess energy there). Likewise, the Eddie will help divert excess to heating hot water.

So my thinking of priority would be:
Immediate Home Energy Consumption > Eddie (hot water) > Zappie (car charging) > Export to grid

I'm hoping with the above, that there will be very little exported to the grid. Hopefully the cost of batteries will keep coming down and I can revisit that decision in the future.
 
#11 ·
If you have a gas boiler for heating water, then it's very cheap to heat water. it's much more valuable going into your car first, and eddi second. Paid exporting is sometimes more valuable than heating water!
 
#13 ·
I'm based in North West London. I'm going to have some building works done including a loft conversation and some re-roofing work. I also want to get solar panels installed on the roof but this will be a bit later after the building works has finished. I'd like to get some solar expert advice before I get the building works done, so that if there are any reasonable design changes I can make to the roofing which would make it better/easier for the solar then it is far easier to make those changes at the design stage rather than after the building works has finished.
We'd be very happy to help - just fill in a form here: Solar & Battery Installed Together - Tanjent Energy. Currently we're advising on 2 loft conversions and an extension. If possible for you, the advice on combining the solar with other work is good as it'll save on scaffolding (which can be up to £1k) and gives you the option of fitting in-roof panels, which can save a lot on tiles.

Maybe they are OK, I don't know, but the web first page shows an installation I would DEFINITELY advice against.

View attachment 131099
We have used that photo (that came from the manufacturer) rather tonque in cheek. It obviously isn't in the UK! And a bigger issue than it being outside is that the inverter isn't connected to the batteries or anything else - that's marketing PR for you!

On a more serious note, this is our approach: Best Locations for your Home Battery System - Tanjent Energy
 
#14 ·
We have used that photo (that came from the manufacturer) rather tonque in cheek. It obviously isn't in the UK! And a bigger issue than it being outside is that the inverter isn't connected to the batteries or anything else - that's marketing PR for you!
Well, if the batteries and the inverter are connected or not is not possible to see in that picture. If it would be placed there, I certainly would prefer invisible wiring, especially if the installation and the building is new, which was my assumption. So in that respect, it is not necessarily "fake image" for marketing only, but of course, your company, so you know it but there is no way I can see that. For me, it is a perfect location for Hawaii or Australia, or South Africa, but not for UK or Sweden or most of Europe.
I agree with the garage installation, or any other indoor installation where one can use the heat the system generates, but completely disagree with loft installation proposal, since in that case, you might as well install it like in that marketing picture discussed before. Installing in a loft is wasting heat and energy, and that should be avoided if possible. After all, the idea of installing solar panels is to save as much energy as possible. Why is loft installation is popular in UK is outside my comprehension, since it is equal to outdoor installation with some rain and weather protection, that's all. Of course, you install where the customer points to (if that's possible) but in my opinion, it would be best to advise against it whenever that is possible. Best location is near the meter anyway, and very few have their meters on the loft (none in Sweden...), as I believe the case even in the UK.
 
#15 ·
As per others above... try... JoJu solar, spirit energy and Tangent as above.

They seem to be the better ones recommended on here and other solar forums I frequent.
If you go for in roof panels then not only do they look a lot better than the usual rail mounting ones, but the key benefit is the huge reduction in weight on the roof as the tiles are not required.
Had I even had an inkling this was an option 5.5yrs ago. I would have done this on our roof. It was also pertinent at the time as massive snowfall in the USA was causing roof structures to cave in and it’s a must to have a structural analysis of the roof to make sure its strong enough to take not just the tiles, the solar panels, but also the weight of snow accumulations. We do get lots of snow sometimes in the UK and you need to plan for decades into the future.

If you do go battery storage route, remember it’s cheaper to do this at point of solar install, then to retrofit later.
Lastly switch to a low cost energy provider like Octopus Go or Agile, whether you have an EV or not, you'll save loads.
 
#21 ·
@A_Camera We're obviously going to have to agree to disagree (but the 26C was the actual battery temperature, not its temperature above ambient which would be a very different situation).
 
#23 ·
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