Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
anyone already got their solar in ? help needed !
Hi I am trying to get solar panels in before the deadline, has anyone done already ? Is there any planning involvement ?
Thanks
Tags for Forum Posts: solar, solar panels, solar power
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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Hi,
Yes, we had them fitted in mid-June and have been really pleased with the results so far. We've generated approx 1,450 units in that time though with the arrival of autumnal cloud we had our two lowest producing days so far on Sun and Mon at 1.4 and 1.3 units respectively (the highest we produced in a day was 18). As a very rough estimate I'd say our electricity consumption has dropped by approx 30-40% but obviously it's been summer so by switching to doing our washing during the day that probably accounts for a lot of it. It'll be interesting to see how it shapes up over the winter.
Planning weren't involved but as we were having our roof replaced too they did swing by to take a look though they only talked briefly to the fitters, not us. It's probably still best to double check with them before you go ahead to be on the safe side.
For it to work your roof must face due south and not be subject to any shadows from nearby trees and buildings otherwise it's not going to be worth it.
What else do you need to know?
There's loads of useful info at http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Solar-...
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Permalink Reply by h4k on
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Thanks, I was trying to check if there is any planning involvement. My roof is not due south, the house is east/west orientation, proposal is to put solar both sides.
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In that case I'm a little sceptical, you'll need to get your installer to do a proper computer projection then because the height and angle of the sun does vary tremendously and will certainly have an impact.
The critical thing I forgot to mention, especially since you'll be rushing to do this before the FIT is halved is the paperwork after the installation. You need a certificate from the installer before you can contact your energy supplier to register for the FIT scheme - we needed to chase ours to get this so it added a week or ten days, then, critically, the power companies are very slow to process your application - you're looking at 6 weeks on average I think. We're with nPower and I haven't been overly impressed with their service so far, though they do acknowledge they haven't been able to keep up with growth and are supposed to be improving their systems. Judge for yourself if that'll happen! You should definitely look at your energy supplier's website to see how they handle FIT applications and payments because that could easily take you beyond the cut off day for registrations under the exisitng FIT payment scheme and be the deal breaker.
Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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This recent announcement of slashing the feed in tariff (FIT) by half is causing chaos for the solar industry, as is the cheaper competition for panels coming from China. Be careful which installation company you choose if you decide to go ahead and as toiras says energy companies are dragging their heals with these contracts and it will therefore more than likely take you over the December deadline. An east/west orientation also makes little sense I'm afraid.
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Hi h4k. I work in the industry arranging Solar installs for people as a consultant. Much of what has been said below is all too true I'm afraid. The whole industry is in complete chaos at the moment due to the extremely badly handled FiT reductions imposed by by a govt. that doesn't like or listen to the industry. The big 6 Energy companies have been lobbying against Solar vigorously and the govt. have listened. To the extent that the Environment Sec. Chris Huhne admitted he didn't even ask the Treasury whether more money could be found to phase the reduction of the teriffs from April as we all expected! However, I digress. With an East West installation, your output will definitely be less than due South, but not as much as the posters below believe. If all other aspects are equal, your yield will be around 80% -90%.
Whilst that is definitely something to be aware of, it shouldn't be a deal breaker, IF, you get a good installation, using GOOD kit. The reason is quite obvious if you think about it. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. Solar PV panels work on light, not sunshine incidentally, it's just that their is more light around when the sun does shine!Consequently south facing roofs, attain a higher AVERAGE YIELD than East/West facing panels, the East facing panels therefore garner more energy in the mornings and West facing garner more in the afternoon! Obvious really:)
Anyway, back to the subject, as someone has said, the energy companies are being very slow to register installations, however, if you have an approved install completed by an MCS registered installer that confirms they will handle the registration for you, so long as it is completed by midnight on the 11th December, it WILL qualify. There is no get out clause that allows the utilities to not register the install in time. If you want me to ahndle it for you I ahall of course be happy to. I can't remember the rules on the forum here about business postings and so on but if you email me: alan@ecovironment.org, with your house details I'll do a desktop survey of your house and call you subsequently. I hope I've made the position a little clearer for people, but by all means if anybody has any questions then come back to me.
Alan Moore
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Permalink Reply by Tessa on
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We were trying to do the same & get in before the deadline but it doesn't look like it is going to work out for us because of placing extra load on our roof. We got a reasonable way with investigations though.... whilst I have not spoken to the council, my understanding is you don't need planning permission unless you're in a conservation area. We were hoping to go with a company that uses micro-inverters, which allows each panel to operate independently, so that shading doesn't affect the whole panel array. Not all companies offer micro-inverters and from what I'm told they're not compatible with all makes of panel. Part A Building regs comes into the installation too - you need to know that your roof can take the extra load. Not all companies seem to routinely have a structural engineer check. I was a bit cautious about this because our roof has those heavy concrete tiles on - not the original roof covering - and the previous owners had to have some strengthening work done, and there is some deflection visible. Whilst we had one opinion that said it should be ok, the company we hoped to use wasn't happy.
see also
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/solarpan...
and there is useful info on all sorts at
In terms of getting the paperwork in for the deadline, as long as your installer gives you the MCS certificate and you get this and your FIT application form into your supplier by midnight 11 Dec you should be ok. Speak to Good Energy - we get our elec from them & they are really helpful - you don't have to use your own energy supplier to sign up to the FIT. Good Energy produce 100% of their electricty from renewables.
Toiras, I'm interested that you were replacing your roof at the same time - was this a load issue or it needed doing for other reasons? or both?! And did you investigate solar roof tiles as well as solar panels?
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