PV stands for Photo (light) Voltaic (Electric). Solar PV panels convert light in to electricity. Note the word light, not sunlight. They continue to produce electricity on cloudy days. It’s just that their output will be higher, the brighter the light is. This is not new technology – the use of light to produce electricity dates back to the 19th Century.
Inverters change the DC current from the panels to AC current needed for your home and the grid. It’s essential the correct type of inverter is used and that they’re located in the right place. Many installers always put them in the loft, but this can be detrimental to your system. Solarmagic are meticulous about inverter choice and placement.
Your inverter monitors grid voltage and ensures that it is putting the power from your inverter into your system at a slightly higher voltage than the grid. Voltage is best thought of as pressure, the force behind the electric. If the inverter produces a higher voltage when you switch an electrical appliance on it will naturally use the power from the panels first.
A 4kWp system in Hampshire on an unshaded south facing roof can generate over 4000 units (kWh) per year. If your roof is East or West facing you’re still likely to generate 3400 units (kWh) per year. The average household in the UK uses around 3200 units per year, so living in Hampshire is a definite benefit! Depending on when and how you use your electric depends on how much impact your PV system will have on your bills. With a bit of information about your electric usage and habits, Solarmagic can produce incredibly accurate bespoke forecasts thanks to their Opensolar modelling software.
Solarmagic use Opensolar software to accurately calculate your expected output. PV Sol accurately takes in to account panel performance, inverter performance, shading, roof pitch, roof orientation and your local weather data to calculate how much electric you will generate. We then include these figures and how much money you are likely to earn, based on your usual usage and the amount that will be returned to the grid.
You will simply draw from the grid in the normal way. But remember, it doesn’t have to be sunny to generate electricity.
The excess energy will be sold back to the grid (SEG payments)
No, there has been no need for any property with a PV installation to have an EPC. Solar PV owners can now be paid for their exported electric by their energy supplier without the need for an EPC.
Solarmagic use a Professional PV design software package called Opensolar. We can build a 3D model of your property to see which panels will fit best on your roof. There are over 400 panel manufacturers in the PV Sol database and every panel listed has details of the panel’s performance.
No, leave that to us. Solarmagic are accredited to notify all their work to Building Control.
On homes, for standard installations, the brackets used fix to the rafters of your roof which ensures the fabric is free from loadings. However, new developments in solar technology now mean you can build your roof entirely out of solar material or solar tiles that look like part of your roof.
Commercial roofs vary in construction and there are many different mounting solutions for every different scenario. At Solarmagic, we’re used to dealing with complex or unusual installations. Test us!
For the safety of linesmen who may be repairing the fault, your inverter will need to shut down. There are some battery storage systems that will allow you to have back up power in the event of a power cut. If back up is essential, we’ll be happy to put together options for you.
Solarmagic only use MCS accredited installers. A domestic system team is made up of a qualified roofer, a labourer and a qualified electrician.
Home installations take up to two days to install. However, typical installations are finished in one day.
You’ll see savings on bills immediately. Payback of the installation cost depends on many variables including quality of panels and inverters, your local weather conditions, shading, pitch and orientation of your situation. Typically in Hampshire you can expect to pay off a home system in 8-12 years.
You would have to check with your landlord. We’ve installed Solar PV for many landlords as they can benefit from the increase in property value and increase in rent.
There is currently no mounting system to put Solar PV panels on thatched roofs. You may be able to have a ground mounted Solar PV system.
Yes, PV solar panels can be fitted to any roof, even if there is no access to the loft or it is used daily.
Many customers also install EV charging points and a Immersion heat controller if they have a conventional heating system with hot water storage. Battery storage is now a viable option, storing excess energy for later use.
No, Solar PV panels work on light and all roofs have light shining on them. Many customers have fitted East/West facing systems and typically generate around 86% of an equivalent south-facing roof. Hampshire is also in a solar hot spot, this means your home will produce more solar energy than the same house positioned in Liverpool.
Solar PV panels vary greatly in efficiency so one panel may generate 250 watts while another panel of the same physical size may generate 415 watts, therefore it’s not how many panels you need but how much power you need. Domestic systems usually aim for 4kWp which is made up of 9-10 panels, depending on the quality and efficiency of the panels chosen.
Solar PV panels gradually degrade over time. Typically they will lose around 15% of their power over 25 years with some high quality panels only degrading around 2.5% over 25 years. This also varies depending on the quality of the panel. Solarmagic use Opensolar software which allows us to forecast very accurately the impact of any degradation.
There are advances in technology, however these are aimed more at using different materials, e.g. hiding PV technology in glass. These advances do not show any progress in efficiency so are unlikely to become mainstream. The technology we see in today’s Solar PV panels is the same technology that was used to power some satellites in the early 70s. There are some small incremental advances but these are not expected to change dramatically at the moment.
Shading will reduce the power output of solar panels and any panels directly connected to the shaded panel. Solarmagic can calculate exactly what impact your shading will have with their 3D modelling software Opensolar. Severe shading, like a chimney right in front of panels (known as Hard Shading) can also cause some long term damage. Solarmagic will be able to advise you of the best place for your panels to be installed and offer micro inverters to overcome any shading issues.
Monocrystalline panels will give more power per square meter. This might not mean that the panel is better than a high quality polycrystalline panel. There are many, many factors that affect the quality of a panel, this is just one of them and efficiency is only a critical factor if you have a limited amount of space.
Inverters are electric and electronic equipment so they’re best off being kept cooler. We usually recommend installing them in a garage, utility room or some models can be mounted outside. We advise that the loft is a poor place to install the inverter as they get very hot and in particular will get hottest on the day you want your inverter to work its hardest. This will reduce the output from the inverter and age its components quicker. We know that installing in the loft is easier and quicker and that the slightly shorter cable run may also have an impact. However, it’s a poor trade off as the extra loss in longer cables is more than offset by the extra production and life that you’ll get from your inverter. Another advantage of having the inverter where you can see it is that you can check that your system is working properly. Inverters have a display that tells you if everything is running smoothly. If this display is in the loft then you won’t know anything is wrong until you get the Christmas decorations out!
In most cases, no. Domestic solar panel installations are considered ‘permitted developments’ and don’t require planning permission unless:
If you’re unsure about permitted developments, please visit the Government’s planning portal or contact us and get free advice.
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