WATCH NEXT
https://youtu.be/H7D_Vg0Wq-k
Roger’s in North London with Dominic from GESS Renewables, watching a full Enphase solar and battery system go onto a multi-aspect roof. Instead of one big inverter in the loft, there’s a microinverter sitting under every single panel, and the whole system runs on AC from the roof down.
We get into why that changes the safety picture, what rapid shutdown actually does, why module level monitoring saves a return visit, and whether paying more up front really does work out cheaper to own. Wayne, who started out as a roofer, also shows us the bracket and rubber tile method that keeps the concrete tiles intact, and the trick of turning the mounting rails into a ladder.
Enphase Energy System: https://go.skill-builder.uk/enphase
GESS Renewables: https://go.skill-builder.uk/gess
KEY TAKEAWAYS
– You don’t need a south facing roof. The technology used today will happily work across south, east and west orientations, and on a northerly pitch you can still pick up a bit in summer.
– A smaller house can get closer to off grid than a big one. The roof area matters, but so does the demand, and a three storey townhouse can draw far more than a bungalow with a similar sized array.
– With microinverters there’s no high voltage DC coming down the cables. It’s AC architecture, protected by the same devices that protect the sockets in your house, and a fault trips the circuit breaker which then shuts everything down.
– On a traditional DC system, turning off the DC isolator doesn’t stop the panels generating. The cables above that point stay live while the sun’s out, which makes a fire or a fault more of a challenge to deal with.
– Nobody’s saying a DC system is unsafe and there’s no UK legislation against them. Dominic and Tom are both clear this is an extra layer of safety rather than a warning about existing installs.
– Every panel is optimised on its own, so shading or cloud passing over one part of the array doesn’t drag the rest down. That’s where the extra annual yield comes from on a complicated roof.
– Wayne records the barcode of every microinverter and maps it to its position on the roof. That means module level monitoring, so if something fails later, they know exactly which panel it is without testing the lot.
– Because it’s microchip based, a lot of faults can be sorted with a firmware update from the office rather than a van turning up.
– The warranties are 25 years on the microinverters and 15 years on the battery, which is part of the argument that the higher purchase price still gives a lower cost of ownership.
– Keeping the inverter and the battery on one brand means one technical support team can see both ends of the system, so nobody’s arguing about whose fault it is.
– Batteries should ideally go outside the dwelling, following the PAS guidance, though there’s a fair bit of variation in what’s advised.
– Having solar changes how you use the house. On a sunny day with a full battery you put the washing and the dishwasher on, and with a tariff like Octopus Agile you can charge cheap and export or use it later.
GESS Renewables cover the south east, from Norwich and East Anglia down through Suffolk, Essex, Kent and Surrey to Brighton, and have been trading 14 years.
Thanks to Dominic, Tom, Wayne and the GESS team.
@EnphaseEnergy @GessRenewables
#solar #solarpanels #enphase
