Dillsue

Exactly......no point in scaremongering over what is a negligible risk

When you look at the report roof top faults only attributed to around 25% of the fires they looked at. They only looked at 46 fires and there's tens of thousands of systems installed in the UK. Whilst there is a risk, if you ensure a quality install the risks seem very low to me and certainly low enough to focus on quality of design/install rather than spending £££s on supplementary fire protection.

With an in roof system a couple of roof ladders either side of a failed panel gets you access. I don't think access for panel/optimiser/micro inverter replacement should be a particular worry.

With a scaffold tower up, removing a panel or 2 below a failed panel is only 10-15mins work. I wouldn't worry about accessing an array 3 or 4 rows deep as the bulk of the time in replacing a panel is getting to site and getting access.

The FPA report that LnP posted says its DC isolators that account for 50% of fires. These are generally easily accessible as they're not on the roof so we'll worth a night time check that connections are tight?? I have limited experience of PV Installs but a used inverter I bought a few years ago came with some cut off cables terminated in MC4 connectors. With a bit of a tug the cable pulled out of one of them and when I dismantled it you could see it had been crimped with pliers rather than the correct crimping tool. If you're getting an install done double check that your Installer has the correct tools!!

The thing that will blow is the service fuse on the house incomer so Roger will loose all power until the DNO comes out to replace the fuse. Given the property history that may be charged for but subsequent replacements would/should be charged for. If they aren't charged to the householder then you and I will pay for the call outs.

NGs assessment can be as simple as them saying "you're on a 60A supply now so a 33% increase to 80A will be enough to cover a typical house wanting to add a heat pump". It could also be a quick look on Google earth to see that your not living in a stately home. It doesn't have to be a bespoke survey of your house which is done by your installer when applying for an LCT connection. If your installer does that and shows you need the full 23kva for the house then you've got an argument for the full 23kva. You can only really comment on and challenge NGs policy if you've done the LCT application to show the house needs more than 80 amp, and then been rejected.

Your explanation has been a bit piecemeal but as I understand it you originally wanted a 3 phase supply upgrade for your workshop for which NG wanted £20k. You've backed off on the 3 phase wish but you've already shared with NG that you have quite a substantial workshop demand. If NG have assessed your domestic needs as being met with an 80amp supply, why would they go beyond that for free knowing that any extra will be feeding the workshop? The ENA statement says its UP TO 23kva for free. It's likely public money being spent and they should rightly only meet your domestic need. I think there's a bit of a difference in an average domestic garage/workshop compared to one where the owner wants a 3 phase supply to run what sounds like a commercial sized car workshop??

Our original and upgraded supply is single phase 100amp. Our DNO states the low carbon technology (LCT)connection upgrades are free and I'm quite sure the ENA statement is true. Your experience isnt for an LCT connection, it's for a workshop, for which you should rightly pay....the free LCT connections are almost certainly tax payer or bill payer funded. I'm sure if you ran your big workshop loads off a genny then an 80amp supply will be fine for an efficient electrified house and workshop basics

28mm x 7metres from the HP to the centre of the house then 3 x 22mm x 6 metres down the centre of the house, 1 for upstairs and 2 running the length of the house for downstairs. Mainly 10mm drops off the 22mm for each rad typically 6 metre run with 4 drops of 8mm in the original part of the house around 4 metres each. Distance are one way so double for flow and return. 15mm for the whole of upstairs sounds a bit constraining!

A few days ago I finished all our rad upgrades and ran up the HP for the first time using the existing mix of 10 and 8mm copper runs out to the radiators and all bar 2 of the rads with 8mm drops down walls got toasty hot with a test flow temp of 50deg C. If you want to run at 35deg C then you might find your pipework is up to it but maybe it's too late to resize your rads for 35 degrees?? Yet to investigate why 2 out of the 4 rooms with 8mm drops down the walls aren't getting flow but a second pump for those 4 rooms should get things moving if it's purely down to the small bore.

I beleive there's a new DC interconnector planned for the east coast to link Scotland with east anglia?? Similar to the west coast interconnector already in place.

Ok. So the ENA statement that upgrades to support low carbon technologies are free is likely correct. We got a new transformer, 3 poles and 100metres of overhead cable FOC to facilitate solar export Your situation doesn't fall into that category as you want 3 phase for a workshop. Seems to me that power supply isn't a reason for you not to have a heat pump, the workshop load is.

I think 60amp is more than adequate to electrify a domestic property.....we have a 100amp DNO supply but a 63amp mcb feeding us and it's never tripped. I was asking Roger the size he stated on his HP connection application to understand more as to why the ENA say that the upgrade should be free, yet Roger is being asked to stump up £20k

Out of interest what size/capacity heat pump/EV charger did you ask a supply upgrade for??