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We have our Solar PV system up and running, using: 12 100AH deep cycle gel batteries (at £45 each from EBay) total £540 10 160 Watt Solar panels (From a contact found on EBay) cost £4000 A100C Import /Export meter (OFGEM approved) Cost £42 from Universal Meter Services Morningstar charge controller SR740TL with remote digital display - (to charge the batteries from the solar panels) from http://www.barden-uk.com cost £246. APC su3000rmxli3u rack mount UPS (un-interruptible power supply) from EBay to use as an inverter (a cheap way of changing the battery DC to 'mains' 240volt AC cost £187 (including delivery) highly recommended seller email: captain.ewers@vigin.net I am using galvanised steel C studs to fix the panels to the roof saving about £400 on using aluminium section. The brackets are table leg fixing brackets from a hardware store I am a little disappointed in the efficiency of the battery based system which seems to be about 60%, Systems which feed into the mains should be much more efficient (over 90% I believe) |
The generating system we are creating is more
economically justifiable because we are customers of
Good Energy (electricity
supply company) which is at this moment the only electricity company
that uses only renewable energy sources (as far as I am aware).
Good Energy will pay us 9p a unit for all electricity we produce
from our PV system plus 3p as a notional amount of 50% exported even though we are using the electricity ourselves
and not exporting to the grid! They will also pay for solar thermal
(water heating) per kilowatt hour if you are gas customers of theirs.
We missed out on the higher government FITs payments by installing
before the payments came in. I did have trouble finding DC connectors to fit those on the panels and ended up buying a different make from eBay and changing half of the connectors to the new ones (using a crimping tool from B & Q) by changing half the connectors I gained some spares to connect to the other half. I found in line crimp connectors at a local electrical wholesalers useful to join cables together. I sealed the joints with heatshrink tubing over each one. |
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 C stud fixed to the roof with a coach screw through to the roof beams. I sealed the hole through the roof tile with mastic and used a penny washer on the coach screw on top of the tile to help the seal. |
 Fixing the panels to the C studs |
 C stud fixing bracket (made from a galvanised strap from builders merchants screwed to the ridge batten under the ridge tile (I had to lift some ridge tiles and cement them back down after the work) |
| Government
certified PV system installers
Very useful document: And another: The DTI's Guide to installing solar PV systems. Click for PDF
Information on planning issues: |
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