Alan Ambrose

@Beelbeebub - that looks very neat, how are the panels mounted to the metal roofing there?

>>> Are installers doing this? No, think it'll be me as I want it done right.

>>> DC isolators that account for 50% of fires That's interesting and I think the guys at eFixx are suggesting that they should not be fitted - but the Foa guidance that @LnP pointed to says 'DC isolators should be available for firefghters'. Guess we're still figuring this out. DON'T Install DC Isolators On Solar, Electricians Warned I think sensors (thernistor strings or whatever) are an interesting approach. Also, some kind of retardant membrane (fibreglass cloth comes to mind) would be helpful as ling at it doesn't interfere with whatever membranes are there. Gus's maintenance point is a good one, but I guess if a panel fails in the middle of a big array, it's always going to be hard to sort out.

Well I won't be doing either of those things - the thing that rankles is that the conditions were entirely unnecessary (there were a set of fences and hedges around the plot when we bought it and policing people's garden designs is so much BS for LPA's that claim they're under resourced) - so I view these as two more completely unnecessary, slow and expensive red tape hoops to jump over.

Ah yeah, it seems DC arc faults are harder to monitor than AC ones. I guess on-roof systems usually have a nice layer of non-flammable ceramic, concrete or slate to provide a lot of protection. Maybe in-roof needs a fire-proof layer too? Thin cement board maybe?

@JohnnyB - maybe the 18th then?

>>> you need an open stack at the end of the run Is that at the treatment plant or the last inspection chamber nearest the house?

We have 3 Nest ones that seem to work OK.

Yeah, agree with @IanR if you're finding the thing hard to wrestle with - planning consultant and apply for removal of condition - it has maybe a 50/50 chance with your LPA. Appeal if that's not successful - probably a 75% chance. I did it all myself and got them reinstated on appeal. You need a fair amount of patience - it'll probably take a year or more - say 12 weeks for the council, 40-ish weeks for the appeal if needed.

This may help - the stamp duty for dwellings is zero up to £50K value I believe- I did a little transaction that was just below that amount. Also, this article is a bit clearer and I think your solicitor is just being lazy at your expense: https://www.ukpropertyaccountants.co.uk/complete-guide-stamp-duty-on-uninhabitable-property/ See if that convinces them.

I’ve found those suction guides are fairly hopeless as they’re too pliable - or maybe I’m too stupid. I use a few layers of duck tape to give a tiny amount of support and hold the bit at an angle and run it slowly to create a little lip in the tile. As soon as you have a little arc in the right place you can gently straighten the bit out. Once there’s a little circle there it isn’t going anywhere.

May be easiest to fix the charging / battery problem, no? Suspect either you have the wrong batteries or the wrong charger - if they don’t play well together. A third, less likely, possibility is some kind of wiring fault. Double check the manufacturer’s specs for compatible batteries and chargers? Try charging the batteries off the equipment? See if you can verify whether either batteries or charger are good? My guess would be the charger as it’s ‘third party’ - borrow the correct charger to see whether that’s the case? When it works though, is the cherry picker a helpful bit of kit to have around?

Well that’s an interesting, and I think technical, legal/tax question. I think that only a specialist land lawyer/tax person can tell you for sure. My guess would be yes, it gets the stamp duty for land rather than dwellings, which will be less. The cost of locating an appropriately competent person may be greater than the tax though 😃. Any random conveyancer probably won’t be able to tell you though and will sway towards stamp duty for dwellings because that’s what they know best.

A subsidiary question is ... what will be the most likely panel size to stick around? I see there's a bunch at 1,134mm wide but then lengths from 1,686 to 1,990. Seems to me that's important if you're doing in-roof so you can replace them if needed.

Ah, I was looking at Viridian panels for the look, but cheaper panels makes the 'PV cheaper than tiles' argument even better?