Solar PV

With our current economical landscape being more of a battleground than a beach in The Bahamas, businesses are having to secure themselves against a volatile energy market and Solar PV is a solid ally in that persuit.

However you phrase it…Solar, Solar PV, Photovoltaic.
It’s the current celebrity of renewable energy. Everyone seems to want a piece of the action.
And it makes sense. It’s easy to understand, helps to tick the net zero box and can significantly reduce your energy bill.
But for the more inquisitive among us – just knowing the above isn’t enough – we want more.
How does it work, what’s involved, what are the catches?…

So, let’s get into it…!

You might be surprised to read that the main element in natural beach sand is the same as what makes up a solar panel – silicon Si…also the second most available element on Earth.
If you’re wondering what the most available element is, then you’re going to kick yourself for not knowing it’s Oxygen…

The solar panel (or module) is made up of silicon cells and a typical solar panel is about 1.7m high and 1m wide.
It doesn’t take a keen eye to notice there are either blue panels (Polycrystalline) or black ones (Monocrystalline).
Mono being the Latin term for one or single and Poly meaning many or multi.
So this tells us the panel is made of up single crystals or many crystals. Mono is more efficient than its blue brother…but not by much.
And due to it being more expensive – it might be worth digging into the detail and doing the math’s before you go all Bruce Wayne on your color choice.

But that’s just one of the many considerations you’ll be confronted with and this blog will address the most important.

As with most investments – the concept is simpler than the method, but the ends ultimately justify the means.

Now we’ve addressed some of the more fun facts – it’s time to shine a light (does that pun count…?) on the less glamourous aspects.

There are two main points of consideration that you need to be aware of prior to investing in solar, as they will cost. A G99 Application & a Structural Survey.

You cannot install any generation equipment (over 3.68kW) without approval from the National Grid and hopefully no installer is ignorant enough to install panels on your roof without a structural survey.

If your installer is even hinting at being able to dodge one of these steps then that is big red flag and we would strongly suggest you seek alternative advice.

G99

A G99 is a compulsory application that covers the requirements for the connection of generation equipment to the distribution networks (DNO).
There is a cost for this application, and that cost is decided by the DNO.
This application takes 90 days and the results from the Grid are either (to put it bluntly) Yes you can install that system, No you can’t, or Yes you can but there are export restrictions.
It's more cost effective to apply for the maximum power possible – than to apply twice. So, if you’re in a position where your business will need to see a proof of concept before making a large investment, then our advice would be to apply for the maximum possible generation regardless.

Structural Survey

A structural survey is self-explanatory and will cost around £1,000 – but this will vary. We have found that on occasion businesses have already had one of these done so it’s worth double checking before double paying.

The next two requirements to be aware of are a roof survey and an electrical survey (the word ‘survey’ could be replaced with the word ‘check’ here). These are less labour intensive than the other two and therefore, there is often little to no cost involved.
However…the result of these survey’s (or check’s) could lead to an extra cost if, for example it is discovered that you have a single phase system instead of a three phase or if your roof requires a man safe system etc – so something to be ready for.

Permitted Development

If you’re having a roof mounted system then you need to be aware that if the design provided by your installer/consultant isn’t within Permitted Development, you will have to apply for planning permission. Obviously, there is a cost for this and if a health and safety issue is caused due to ignoring Permitted Development – then you could be forced to have the panels removed…not good!

Permitted Development requires solar panels to be at a minimum – 1 meter away from the edge of the building (200ml for Domestic).

Roofs

There’s a lot of variables once you start to consider your roof and it may be worth dedicating an entire blog to roof’s alone. But for the sake of this one - I’ll keep it brief.
In short, the material of your roof will effect the cost to install your system.
Having installed solar myself, you can believe me when I tell you that the difference between fitting PV Modules to a steel trapezoidal roof and to a slate tile roof - is worlds apart.
It comes down to safety and practicality.
Metal roofs are less slippy than slate ones and attaching the brackets to a steel roof takes a fraction of the time compared to a slate tile.
So if your installer is going to spend more time on your roof than usual - then this reduces the number of projects they can complete - losing them money and therefore, costing you money.

Daylight

The final point to address is daylight hours.
Solar PV is at its most efficient when it’s bright and cold. So think a clear day in spring.
Some are surprised to hear that as the modules get hotter, they actually begin to decrease in efficiency.
When examining the data provided by your installer - keep in mind that the system will only realistically be working efficiently between the months of April - Oct.
Outside that, the sun is lower and less frequent in gracing us with it’s presence.
Taking this into account will present a conundrum of self consumption.
You will have to decide if you want a smaller system where you essentially use the majority of what you generate but will therefore, not max out the potential saving on your annual bill.
Or you invest in the largest system size possible - maxing out your potential annual saving. However, this will leave you with a less efficient system as you will never actually be able to use what you generate…
A Solar Edge system presents a solution to this through optimizing individual panels instead of the whole system - but I will leave this to your installer or consultant to explain.

To sum up…

There’s a lot to consider and it’s not a quick process. But due it reducing your energy bills and your carbon footprint - it’s a clear winner when it comes to improving the future.