Greeners

Thanks! On the eaves tray we put a soldier course of slates to create the edge, then laid the lead replacement flashing over. The top corner cut around was what happened when I went out and left the roofer to do his thing - he felt that keeping tight to the tray and losing the aluminium flashing on the sides would look best. Same on the top edge hence the cut around to keep the slate edge close to the panel. I was a bit surprised to begin with but, I think it looks quite good now. We'll see how well the single slate on the edge stays in position long term. I'm getting voltage through the pv but they're not grid connected yet, waiting for EWI to hang the inverter on outside.

When reroofing, we converted to a warm roof from a cold one by adding 18mm OSB then 150mm PIR on top of the rafters, taped, membraned and counter-battened. We are planning on EWI so increasing soffit depth also allowed adding sprockets to the rafter end to accommodate the additional depth of insulation so we should be able to connect the wall insulation to the roof insulation, albeit intersected by the OSB at the transition. There's a lot of cutting angles into PIR for hips and ridges so it's messy and laborious and sealing the eaves is not for the fainthearted on an old building. It was cool in the Robin Clevett video how he insulated a simple shaped roof, then added dormers (or some feature roofs) on top with cold roof construction - very nice. Also, make sure you keep track of where the rafters are, it's not trivial to hit them through a batten and 150mm of insulation, not to mention the interesting cost of 300mm structural screws (every second screw angled). I like the principle of this approach, and would do it again, but only on a very simple roof shape - my roof was overly complex, especially for a rookie

Quick update with photos. The panels are self installed and the inverter will be wired up by an electrician with the right ticket. The local DNO asked for some paperwork for the inverter I chose, but apart from that, it was surprisingly plain sailing to get the G99 thanks to a lot of advice on here. Thanks to all who helped in the planning / head scratching phase!

Actually....I've just received another email from Octopus from a different person who said for non-MCS installs to apply through the scheme with the £250 admin fee, as others have used. So that seems open to a new solar installation as well.

I'm in the process of installing solar on a new roof, so with a lot of pointers from the forum, I've created the pack required for G99 DNO approval. I'm in SSEN's patch and they have a hybrid online process to submit the pack documents. These seem to consist of a couple of plans for site location and site plan showing meter box, inverter location, etc a form to specify the equipment you intend to install (I'm using G99_Amd 9_A1-1.docx) a schematic for the equipment. I used easypv to create this ( https://easy-pv.co.uk/ ) I still haven't submitted the request because I'm waiting to confirm the "Installer Details" section, which is creating a bit of headache. A few days ago I asked Octopus your original question and the answer was, MCS certified only. That bumps the install price by about £5k. Evidently when their T's and C's (https://octopus.energy/policies/export-tariffs-terms-conditions/) at section 5.8 the below, it's more for adopting and existing off-grid setup than planning a new install with qualified but non-MCS persons. My electrician says that the DC Wiring Regulations 7.12 that he is bound by as per the NICEIC and Napit certification covers the same standards as MCS lay down, so it's a little bureaucratic wrinkle I could do without. @Mattg4321 - can I ask, your application was for an existing off-grid system to be accepted for grid connection? Rather than applying prospectively at the planning stage? So, if I can restate the OP's question slightly differently, Has anyone any experience of getting an export tariff without an MCS for a new installation? Any options gratefully received - short of moving to NI 😀 @Conor

Thanks @LiamJones that's great to see the detail of the double eaves tray and deep flow gutter, looks like an excellent solution. I see you have EWI fitted - that's the next and last-ish of the big projects for me. Part of the roof refurb was to accommodate deeper soffits. I have lots of questions on this, but one thing at a time!

@sgt_woulds your comment about deep flow gutters - it's great to have this kind of real world input, thanks

@Conor your alu trim looks good @Liam Jones said he used a double eaves tray arrangement and it looked like a clean finish

Thanks @sgt_woulds those are good observations, you're right I see the clamping patterns require either 4 or 8 fixing points. I'll leave it up to the installers to worry about that.

Yes, excellent. You're right the manual discusses number of clamps per wind uplift factor with tables in the doc https://www.gseintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GSE-IN-ROOF-SYSTEM-Manuel-dinstallation-EN-V13.1.pdf So, minimum 4 clamps per panel, although I may increase that to 6 as I am near the edge of wind zone 1. Thanks for the pointers - those installs look fantastic. Esp the eaves to ridge - great way to maximize the potential

On my south facing roof I can fit 6 panels comfortably, in a 2 + 4 pattern, as per the pic. Just thought though, by fitting them down to the gutter I could get 8 panels in a 3 + 5 pattern. The GSE in-roof tray guidelines support this configuration, and there have been many photos of such on here and they look great. However, the MCS guidelines say: 5.9.7 Solar PV modules should not be mounted within 400mm from any edge of a domestic roof unless specific measures are taken to: • Resist the increased wind uplift forces in the edge zone through additional fixings and, where necessary, additional roof timbers for those fixings https://mcscertified.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/MIS-3002_Solar-PV-Systems-V5.0-Final-for-publication.pdf We are in wind zone 1, but I'm not sure if the MCS wind uplift comment is more for on-roof rather than in-roof systems? My roof buildup is 100mm rafter 18mm OSB 150mm PIR batten counter-batten Any input on what sort of additional fixings are implied here would be helpful. Additional fixings would just be into the counter batten rather than the rafter. Thanks

Hello All, We are moving slowly through a part refurb and part energy retrofit of a pretty bog standard 50s detached house. We have benefitted enormously from the wisdom on this forum for many of the design choices we've made and am truly thankful. Our main aims were to improve the look and energy performance of the house while improving the way it flows in everyday use. To that end what looked like a trivial switcheroo of the main door from the side of the house to the front began an interesting education in the art of unintended consequences. Along the lines of...While the place is in a complete state with walls down and steels going up, should we also...rewire?...replumb?...dig up the concrete floors and lay UFH?...refenestrate?...reroof? To which the answer to all was - "yes, of course, dear." External wall insulation will be the final item to wrap up the works and I hope this will be done in the spring. ("What year?" As my lovely patient wife would ask) So the end is perhaps not too far away, and we have learned a lot about building, refurbing, each others breaking points and the beauty of demolition and a rebuild from scratch! In the meantime, I would appreciate some advice on solar panel placement of the GSE in-roof system - should I go to the gutter to squeeze more panels in, or stick to the MCS "400mm margin"? I'll head over to the PV forum and elaborate there. Thank you all so much for what has become gripping reading over the years.