The Process of Installing Solar Power on your Home
Solar hot water installation
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1. Roof work
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We will start by mounting the solar collectors on your roof. Depending on the type of collector and its fixings, this will normally take two members of our team a day. We do a range of different systems, but generally all of our collectors sit on top of your existing roof covering, and do not interfere with the water tightness and integrity of your roof. We also have lots of experience of roof integrating the collectors, and this involves removing the tiles and replacing them with the solar collectors. The collector is flashed around and the tiles fit snuggly up against it so once again the water tightness and integrity of your roof is unaffected - but it does give a very neat finish.| Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 |
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2. Plumbing and electrical works inside your house
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We will install a new hot water cylinder in your house that is slightly larger and has two coils inside it. Your old cylinder will be drained and removed, and the new one installed. Your hot water should not be off for more than a day. The top coil on your new cylinder is connected back up to your boiler, and the other coil at the bottom of the cylinder is connected to the solar collectors. Controls and pumps for you new solar system are normally mounted in your airing cupboard, and pipes are run from the roof down to the cylinder cupboard. The solar controller and pump unit is wired in.| Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 |
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3. Commisioning and switching it on!
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Once the system is finished and checked it is filled with water and antifreeze. It is then started up and immediately you start collecting solar energy! The team leader will then talk you through how the system functions, so that you understand what it is doing. Once completed the system requires very little intervention. We often find that people like to check what is going on with it, and the controller tells them what temperatures different parts of the system are currently at. It is suprising how satisfying it is when you see that you are collecting free energy - there is nothing quite like a solar bath!Solar Electric Installation
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1. Roof work
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We will start by mounting the solar electric panels on your roof. Depending on the number of panels and their fixings, this will normally take two days. We do a range of different systems, but generally all of our systems sit on top of your existing roof covering, and do not interfere with the water tightness and integrity of your roof. We also have lots of experience of roof integrating the systems, and this involves removing the tiles and replacing them with a framed solar electric system. The collector is flashed around and the tiles fit snuggly up against it so once again the water tightness and integrity of your roof is unaffected - but it does give a very neat finish. We use alumium framing systems that are designed specifically for solar electric systems, that are very robust and brilliant to work with. The panels are all joined up electrically on the roof and the cables are fed into your loft space (if you have one). Solar electric arrays look really stricking - we think they look really impressive!| Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 |
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2. Electrical works inside your house
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Inside your house we will need to install some switches, an inverter, and an electricity meter (to count exactly what you system produces). We will also need to run a cable from our system, down to your consumer unit or fuse box. Once all this has been done then the system is wired into you house ring main, and therefore the national grid.| Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 |
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3. Commisioning and switching it on!
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Once the system is finished and checked then it is then switched on and immediately you start collecting solar energy! The team leader will then talk you through how the system functions, so that you understand what it is doing. Once completed the system requires very little intervention. We often find that people do like to check what is going on with it, and the inverter gives you a display of what the system is generating. It is suprising how satisfying it is when you see that you are collecting free energy - quick turn on the washing machine!
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