System Size: 1.92 kWp
Panels: 8 Sanyo 240 Wp HIT, Portrait
Inverter, Location: Sunny Boy 2000HF – Sunny Boy WebBox, Utility room
Roof Orientation and Pitch: South-East 142°, 25°
Roof Structure: Natural slate
Mounting System: Schuco
Generation factor, per kWp installed, per annum: 988 kWh
Expected annual generation: 1896kwh
Our Customer’s views:
Reasons for installing PV
“Two reasons for installing PV: a) economic – with the government’s FIT and energy costs only likely to rise it makes an attractive investment; b) the right thing to do for the environment.”
IWCTE’s proposal, quote and financial information supplied prior to purchase
“IWCTE’s proposal, quote and financial information supplied prior to purchase were very professionally produced, clear and detailed and produced very promptly”
Key factor(s) for choosing It Won’t Cost the Earth (IWCTE)
“Being a City IT professional with aspirations one day to “escape the City and do something different” I felt like I could relate to Patrick and other IWCTE directors. I liked the website approach, liked being involved in taking measurements, entering details on the website, etc. I entered details on a Sunday, got a call from Patrick virtually by return and he visited my property the following day, a bank holiday Monday – an impressive client service.”
Your experience planning and scheduling the install
“The whole experience of planning and scheduling the install was excellent. I felt that my requirements were listened to, clearly understood and confident that the system planned is the best available for my requirements which included web monitoring. There were constraints on when the install could take place and it was scheduled perfectly.”
Your experience throughout the installation
“The installation itself was excellent. Everything happened as I was led to expect. The installers were knowledgeable, professional and their work was extremely tidy.”
Your feelings about the quality of the install and the equipment used
“The quality of the install appeared to me to be very good. For example the routing of the DC power from the panels to the inverter was non-trivial and involved getting a cable through the house, the electrician did what was best, not what was easiest and I was very pleased with the result. The panel mounts appear to be very sturdy aluminium bars and I was impressed at the detailing of the brackets and lead work around the brackets to ensure weatherproofing.”
How your property was left after the installation
“The property was left very tidy after the install. I was told that the scaffolding would be removed the following day and it was exactly as promised.”
IWCTE’s post installation communication and information
“Post installation communication and information has been good and helpful.”
Any other general comments
“Overall my impression of IWCTE has been excellent and I would definitely recommend to anyone else. I wish you well in your business and from my experience you deserve to grow and grow.”
Motivation: Paul and Catherine were keen to save electricity, and do the right thing environmentally. The fact that Paul’s father had a PV system that could be monitored over the web was also a spur!
System Aspects: The main consideration was the size of the roof. Not huge, and triangular shaped (hipped) with a velux window centre. Very quickly it was clear we would need to use high efficiency Sanyo panels to get to a reasonably sized system, and that the N series HIT panels would be needed. These are smaller than the H series – so we were limited to 240 Wp panels. The availability of black frames was also a benefit for the black natural slate roof.
Another key aspect was the data. The property is a holiday house and, with the stats being of interest, a solution was required that would allow the generation to be monitored remotely – over the web. Paul’s father has an Enecsys systemwith in-built web monitoring, but the cost of an Enecsys system was not worthwhile as shading was not an issue. So instead we specified an SMA WebBox that uses bluetooth to pickup the generation data from the 2000HF inverter, sits on the wireless network, and broadcasts the data to the Sunny Portal on the web. Job done.
The final tricky element was the cable run. We had analysed the situation, but could not be certain of the best way to bridge the vaulted sitting room to get to the utility room on the other side of the house. We were prepared to run cabling externally – but didn’t expect this to be necessary – and it wasn’t. Some amount of manoeuvring in small spaces – and bingo – the cable run was done.
Installer Notes: Another good trip to North Cornwall. All went very well – although we did miss the surfing this time. Pasties with the customers for lunch on the 2nd day were very tasty and an evening at the Well Parc in Trevone very satisfactory. Best wishes to Paul and Catherine’s dog who was suffering while we were there – hope she is all mended now!