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I'm building Heath Robinson groundmounts. MCS mate will sign it off.... I think that the panels have to be attached to certified rails. The Renusol rails will be the horizontals. Unistrut the verticals.

You may find this interesting - https://chargeworks.co.uk/are-home-batteries-worth-it/

Hi All Just wondering if anyone has attached Renusol rails to Unistrut. Seems completely straight forward with M10 Varisole L brackets but just wanted to double check that i'm not missing something. Cheers in advance CB

Could anyone tell me whether there is a cost for G99 applications ? - can see the form on the Scottish Power website but nothing about charges.....

Just quick update - i've been doing further research re the voltage drop issue. I would still like to use the existing cable if possible (there is an existing cat 5 cable trenched alongside it - can this be used for the CT signal ?) I measured the base house voltage - and it moved between 240-242V With a 3.68 inverter - the voltage drop calculation suggests 1.37% rise. (ProDave - do i need to double that because of the number of cores in the cable ?) With a 5kw invert - the voltage drop calculation suggests 2.5% rise. I'm considering either the GivEnergy Gen 3 Hybrid 3.68kw or 5kw inverter but I can't see on the datasheet at what point power limiting/shut down happens..... The data sheet shows The Output data (AC) Nominal Voltage / Range 180VAC - 270VAC - https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/pdfs/giv-hy-5-0-gen-3.pdf

Thanks All - 3.68kw inverter and G98 definately seems to be making sense. Happy to store any peak excess in the battery. My consumption is currently averaging 15kwh/day. I'm assuming peak mid day production is misaligned with peak teatime consumption so it would be normal to store peak production in a battery anyway.. I've decided on 5kwh of battery because i think that it is the max that I can currently afford. Do you think I should be going larger ? Ideally i'd add another battery at a later point if i can afford it. Also my aim is ulitise everything I produce rather than sending stuff back to the grid. I'm aware of planning constraints for groundmounts. I'm not bothered about covering essential loads during a power cut. Dillsue - would you be able to expand on your micro inverter/optimiser suggestion please (and assume that you are talking to an unenlightened person).

Now that you lot have very kindly helped me with my cabling issues on a different thread, my mind has turned to high level design. My main priority is return on investment. (i'd like to live to see the benefit - i'll be 54 tomorrow, good teeth but addicted to biscuits) I’m not a spark but want to install as much of the system myself. Ideally it would be a flexible system where I have the ability to add more (should I win the lottery). The budget is tight. I do have a mate who is an MCS installer but he's not a good mate - IE. I could possibly get him to do final commision and sign it off but I can't take too many liberties. Question - i was looking at 5kw of panels (on a diy groundmount (using MCS bars)) and a 5kw hybrid inverter and a 5kw battery. I'm now wondering whether 3.6kw inverter actually makes better sense. Any thoughts welcome.

Thanks Everyone for your really helpfull responses. I am a total layperson where it comes to electricity but it does seem from your responses that at 60m, the sensible solution is to trench a DC cable and location the inverter/battery inside the house beside the CU. Thanks again for helping with that decision. Will now post another thread re high level design thoughts.

Hi All - just starting to plan a DIY 4KW (ish) groundmount system. This may not be the only question that I post on here... My current plan is put the panels 60m from the house beside an existing shed. The shed is supplied with electricty via a buried underground cable. The cable comes out of the consumer unit in the house, is trenched under the garden then has a t junction - one half supplies the sockets and lighting in the shed via a small consumer unit, the other half used to supply a static caravan but is now capped off in an exterior box. The AC armoured cable is BS5467 (600/1000v). 3 core 10 mm. CSA. i'm not a spark. My question is - Could my design incorporate the existing cable to transport electicity from the consumer unit in the shed (which would contain my proposed inverter and battery) back to the house ? IE - can I avoid having to trench another cable. Many thanks in advance for any thoughts.