Design and Installation of a Solar PV Energy system

One of the most important elements of a solar PV system is the design and installation. A poorly designed system can result in the use of inverters that are not ideally suited to the size of the selected solar array.

If the power point tracking data is not observed the energy from your solar panels will be cut too early and will start too late in the day, thereby reducing the performance of the system and ultimately significantly reducing your earnings.

Likewise a quality system fitted by an accredited MCS solar installation company is vital to not only protect the components of the PV system and ensure they remain in place in all weathers for the entire 40 year life cycle of the system but to also ensure you property is left undamaged and without roof leaks.

Based in Gloucestershire, Solar PV Energy provide a nationwide installation service for domestic and commercial PV systems and have over 14 years experience in PV engineering.

We are proud to have manufactured and developed solar systems that have been used in many global applications, from powering car park ticket machines in the UK to monitoring weather stations in the Antarctic – see our parent company’s web site www.solartechnology.co.uk for more information.

Our systems are designed to give the maximum yield, whatever the size of array. This is achievable because we both manufacture the core elements (the solar panel) or have technical partnerships for other products (inverters) and as a result have vast stocks in our warehouse. Therefore we NEVER compromise on component selection.

Our installation teams are experts in roofing but go through extensive additional training to ensure our PV Energy systems are handled and installed in the correct manner with minimum of fuss. Our install teams all carry identification, are courteous and take every care to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.

All installs are typically complete in 1 day and once the system is securely on the roof or ground our electrical engineers will connect, test and commission the system. The engineer will also take time to explain how the system works and what yield you should expect so you can keep an eye on performance of your system at any time.

You will also be supplied with a “Welcome Pack” that gives further details of the system, copies of the MCS certificates, and details about the micro generation departments at all the UK’s energy providers so you can start claiming your Feed in Tariffs and export payments right away.

Feed in Tariffs (FiTs) – sometimes called the “clean energy cash back scheme or solar grants”

Launched in April 2010, the introduction of the UK’s Solar Feed in Tariffs has heralded what can only be described in the largest surge in demand the UK solar industry has seen in its long history.

The reason is clear; without FiT’s the average pay back time for a PV system was well over 35 years but with the FiT’s payback reduces to as little as 9 years and thereafter during the remainder of the 25 year period the FiT’s are guaranteed for, the system will earn profits!

How does the Government FiT’s work?

As part of the Solar PV Energy system we supply an energy monitor that accurately counts every unit (KwH) of energy produced by your solar system. Your energy supplier (who is responsible for paying you for the FiT’s), will make a payment to you, usually every quarter, for the total number of units your system has produced.

Once the electricity produced by your solar system has passed through the energy monitor it then goes into the grid.

You then have the additional benefit of all the electricity produced! This will be delivered to you in the following ways:

1. If the property is consuming electricity, what is produced by your solar system will be used instead of you having to buy electricity, thereby reducing or even removing your electricity bill.

2. If the electricity demand from the property is low (e.g. during a period when the occupants are on holiday), the energy produced will be almost entirely sold back (exported) to your energy provided. They will pay you 3.1p per unit for this.

Because very few properties have smart meters installed it is impossible to measure where the energy produced by a solar system actually goes, so all of the UK’s energy companies have agreed that 50% of the produced energy will be assumed to have been used by the property and that they will pay you for remaining 50%.

How to make money from solar panels?

Everyone knows that solar is clean, green and silent. It’s probably the most efficient renewable micro generator of energy available having huge life cycles, low visual impact on the environment and significant carbon reduction capabilities.

So, what does it all mean in terms of cash savings and CO₂ reductions?

Take our 3.9kW system, for example, this has a cost of between £10000 and £11000 fully installed. If we assume the property in our example is based in Swindon and if positioned on a South facing roof at a typical angle of 30 degrees the amount of energy produced is approx. 3600KW in the first year. This translates into three benefits:

1. FiT payments – paid at a rate of 21p per kW – hence a payment in year one of £756.00

2. A reduction in your electricity bills by 50% of the 3600KW – i.e 1800KW (see above note on FiT’s for more information). If we assume an average electricity cost of 10p per unit, this gives a net saving of £180 in year 1

3. A payment for 50% of the 3600KW – i.e. 1800KW, at the rate of 3.1p per unit paid to you by your electricity provider for the value of the excess energy sold to them (exported) so a payment of £55.80 in year 1

From the above a total benefit can be expected equating to £991.80 in year 1 so if we take the cost of the system at £10000 and divide it by £991.80 and it shows the system will pay for itself in year 10.

The benefits don’t stop there because the FiT payments will rise each year in line with the Retail Price Index (currently at 3.6%). Also the amount of money you save as shown (in fig 2) and sell back in (fig. 3) will rise each year with inflation and over the past few years this has been 5% per year.

On the other hand the performance of a solar panel or array will reduce each year; little in the first 10 years but increasing thereafter. The performance of our panels is guaranteed to be no lower than 80% of the new module’s performance in year 25.

Therefore, if we look at the return of the above system assuming the FiT’s rise at a rate of 3% p/a, the energy saving and sell back rises at 5% p/a and for the ease of calculation the solar arrays performance reduces by 0.8% p/a, this system, at the end of 25 years, will have produced a total payments and savings package to you of £29,241; not bad for a £10,000 investment!

Of course at the end of 25 years, your Solar PV system still has plenty of life left in it and although you won’t qualify for FiT’s anymore, you will still benefit from greatly reduced electricity bills and payments for the energy sold back.

Last but not least, you will be providing a massive help to the planet by reducing your family’s carbon footprint to the tune of 2 tonnes in year 1 or over 60 tons over the life cycle of the Solar PV Energy system!

At Solar PV Energy we pride ourselves on giving customers the most accurate analysis of the potential performance of any size PV system. This is vital in order for you to make a buying decision based upon data that can be relied upon in the years to come. If you would like a FREE analysis please do contact us on info@solarpve.co.uk or call 01684 774006.

NOTE – we cannot provide an analysis from Google Earth – in all cases a site survey (approx. 45 minutes) is necessary because Google can often be 2 years out of date and it is vital to accurately measure the exact roof angle and account for any shading issues as these elements have a critical impact on performance.

Warranty

...and now for the small print! Well yes, our terms and conditions are full of it but aside from all the usual things you would expect to see in T’s and C’s, one of the most important parts is the warranty. Because of the long life cycle of a solar system the warranty your installer provides you with is crucial and should be carefully investigated before you commit yourself. The below is an extract from our T’s and C’s:

7.0 GUARANTEES

7.1 You will, upon completion of the Installation, be provided with guarantees from Solar Technology PV Energy Ltd to cover the materials and labour of the Installation for varying periods as shown below from the date the Job Completion Form is signed by you:

7.2 All supplied materials (excluding the inverter) are supplied with a 10 year warranty covering defects in materials and workmanship but not “Fair Wear and Tear” or where interference with the system by an unauthorised person (of the Company) has caused the fault or defect. The warranty includes any call outs, labour and other expenses associated with the repair or replacement of the defective part or system. The company endeavours to but is not bound by its commitment to rectify any fault within 7 days of notification.

7.3 The inverter or inverters are supplied with a 5 year warranty covering defects in materials and workmanship but not “Fair Wear and Tear” or where interference with the inverter by an unauthorised person (of the Company) has caused the fault or defect. The warranty includes any call outs, labour and other expenses associated with the repair or replacement of the defective part or system. The company endeavours to but is not bound by its commitment to rectify any fault within 7 days of notification.

7.4 The solar modules are additionally supplied with a 25 year limited peak power warranty. The warranty claim will deemed to be valid if within 25 years any solar module exhibits power output at less than 80% of minimum “Peak Power Standard Test Conditions” as noted on the data plate of each module and any fault is determined to be the cause of defects in materials and workmanship but not “Fair Wear and Tear” or where interference with the module/s by an unauthorised person (of the Company) has caused the fault or defect. The warranty includes any call outs, labour and other expenses associated with the repair or replacement of the defective part module. The Company may, at its discretion offer one of the following remedies in the event of a successful claim against the module performance warranty; 1) to replace the defective module/s 2) refund the percentage of the cost of the module to the customer representing the percentage of the power output less than 80% of the minimum. The company endeavours to but is not bound by its commitment to rectify any fault within 7 days of notification.

7.5 The installation labour is guaranteed for 12 months and includes the repair and replacement of any damage caused during the installation period or can be shown to have been caused as a direct result of the installation. The company endeavours to but is not bound by its commitment to rectify any fault within 7 days of notification.