Mattg4321

I think you're right. Will be giving this a miss then.

I've got a spare MPPT on my Sunsynk inverter. I've got a garage (flat) roof on the side of my house I could fit 5 (or possibly 6, I've not bothered measuring yet!) panels on, landscape to reduce height. It's south facing, with only moderate shading early/late in the year. Half the year it will be in full sun all day. I'm sure it would payback within a couple of years or so as I can fit myself. I don't want any penetrations through my flat roof and I don't want it to look awful. Are the ballasted systems any good? Roof structure is early 70's and in good condition. 4x2 timber. 2.4m span. Not sure if I will require structural engineer? What's the lowest profile flat roof system? Do I require planning? All input appreciated!

Don’t worry about the inrush current, it’s hardly likely to make any difference whatsoever to a mechanical part like a switch. Use the Jeani switches. They’ve proven their quality for decades

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a decision to spend extra for Cat 6a, but it's simply overkill for nearly all foreseeable uses in a domestic setting, with a few exceptions, generally for people who are really into 'tech'. I've installed 10's of 000's of m of the stuff for clients, and although I don't get too involved in anything past that normally, I've never once heard an AV/security/smart etc installer say that cat 6 wasn't up to the task of what they needed it to do. In fact they often get Cat 5e to do what they need where existing cabling is in place. I personally can just think of better ways to spend my finite amount of money! If jim is on a tight budget it's highly likely Cat 6 will be more than good enough. I pay roughly 50% more for Cat 6a over Cat 6 at trade prices, for good quality cable. Cat 6 can easily be found at around £105+vat from a quick google, which is only slightly more than I am getting it for.

Thats extremely likely to be Copper Clad Aluminium (CCA). Keep away from that junk. You want solid copper or don't bother! Decent quality Cat 6 is fine for 99.9% of domestic usage now and foreseeable future. Anything above that is like spending 500% the going rate when buying a SCART lead back in the day, because it had some fancy marketing.

I hope it can be done here too. But Spain is a smidge sunnier and warmer than here! Much much easier for them to do.

It’s not just the cost, it’s the security of supply. There’s also a benefit for the treasury in the amount of tax that can be taken from producing it at home. And what’s to stop new licenses for exploration being granted to a state run company (other than them no doubt f’ing it up). Or the state could take a stake and leave operations to someone who knows what they are doing. Perhaps we need to start thinking about burning coal in the short term again until we can finish a transition away from FF. I’m seriously worried about the economy. Tax/costs are already at unsustainable levels for business, making the product unaffordable for the average consumer, yet the treasury is still going to need more of our money as it’s still bleeding cash. This is before the impact of this new war. We need to do something fairly drastic imo.

£280 wouldn't even get you 2x labourers or apprentices in the south east imo. It seems roughly correct for a groundworker, although I'm not familiar with the rates they can charge.

That's what I had to do. Had to break out a load of concrete to get access though, which is why I was looking for a short cut. Decided to do it properly though

It's an option, but more hard work than connecting directly into the access chamber!

Following on from the other topic I just posted, it would really help if I could connect to an access chamber (300mm) the same as in the picture (note it's not this one!) There are no spare inlets, can I create one in the riser somehow? Note that this is surface water, not foul. It would be a connection from an aco drain.

As per the title, is this possible? I've found 110mm hoppers with solvent sockets, but the riser appears to be around 150-160mm diameter. Surely there is a solution short of getting the hole saw out? https://www.toolstation.com/square-hopper-110mm/p71607?store=null&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googleshoppingfeed&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21019175163&gbraid=0AAAAAD-vLcXXXI5YTIGEGSG3qJOU7d06k&gclid=CjwKCAiAqprNBhB6EiwAMe3yhghXuo0-GWuBtdc3XxZJyOIMk0tlIYiI_Xj62GxKj9Jw_SYKfFeANhoC7NEQAvD_BwE

Or mask wearing causing rebreathing of CO2

I've also used PassivHaus Systems own branded tape and found it very good.

It’s horses for courses really as DC coupled is lower up front cost and slightly more efficient as no need to convert DC to AC and back to DC

I fitted a manual changeover switch to bypass the inverter in the case of the inverter failing, so I can still get power to the circuits fed from the load terminals of the inverter. Also, you’re only considering the maximum load going through the inverter to the load terminals when the grid is down. What about under normal usage with grid connected? There is likely to be a limit that might be the same as when grid is down.

A lot of this foreign made/focused equipment comes with instructions not suitable for the uk imo. EV chargers are another one, although slightly better since the uk regs have stabilised somewhat in the last 4 years or so. Bottom line is you need someone who knows what they are doing to install it.

I'm no roofer either, but I agree with what Nick says. The eaves tray/whatever eaves protection strip has been used should touch the gutter imo. It looks like it stops 20-30mm short, leaving a gap for wind driven rain/splashback from the gutter.

In theory perhaps not, however this is all academic, because that's what the regulations say. You can't leave live conductors connected to the grid when operating a generating set/inverter and you can't make your own neutral - earth link when connected to the grid. In any case, it won't work when connected like this as you'll have parallel neutral paths and any RCD protecting the grid supply to the inverter will trip out as some current will go via the neutral at the RCD and some via the neutral bar. That schematic is a load of %@!$. I'd be interested to hear what Growatt come back to you with!!

If live conductors are left connected to the grid the inverter could backfeed the grid causing unexpected voltages for DNO linesmen. In practice it may well not be a problem if only the neutral was left connected to DNO grid, but that would be against the regulations and have the potential to be dangerous to DNO under certain fault conditions/if the inverter was incorrectly installed.

That schematic is wrong and potentially dangerous in the wrong hands. All 'live' conductors (this includes neutral, don't confuse live with line) must be disconnected from the grid when in island mode. This is a safety issue to protect people working on the DNO side. The schematic shows the neutral from the load connectors connected to a common neutral bar with the grid neutral. This is wrong. Most, if not all, of these inverters are made for foreign markets and the instructions are either nonsense or dangerous when applied here in the UK imo. I would like to imagine that the L&N are both disconnected from the grid entirely when in island mode, but I've not fitted a Growatt before. My Sunsynk does do this.

You won't have an earth-neutral bond once the grid is disconnected from your installation by the inverter in the event of a power cut. DNO earth-neutral bond isn't necessarily at your intake position either. It certainly won't be in a TN-S earthing system (although yours is likely to be TN-C-S (PME) if a new connection).

The same Germany whose economy is f@&£d due to high energy prices, due to idiotic policy?

It’s a bit like giving away Chagos and paying billions to lease it back. Total madness. These people should be removed from their posts immediately for that sort of treasonous behaviour. The only thing that makes sense is the elites wanting to virtue signal on the world stage or personal monetary gain. There’s no other explanation for half this madness.

Half the problem is the debate at national level is binary. One side is renewables are great, shut everything else down asap, we don’t need it and the planet is ‘on fire’. The other is don’t bother with renewables, keep burning FF. Both are idiotic. I just want the lowest price energy possible. I definitely care about air quality and pollution. I admit that I don’t worry about co2 emissions very much at all. We can’t do anything about it in the U.K. anyway, so I don’t want to be impoverished via virtue signalling. I read today that the government are thinking of forcing blast furnaces producing steel to buy carbon credits on the open market. Currently they effectively get a free pass. Scunthorpe is already losing £1M a day! We obviously need the ability to make virgin steel from a national security pov. Are they insane? I sometimes wonder…