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Hello everyone, Recent house purchased and plan for a garden office with PV solar installation. After much frustrating searching for information on solar installation found this forum where people seem to be happy to get into the technical details (unlike websites of companies offering solar installation that I’ve seen). Been a long term renter so my DIY skills low level but IT background so (like to think) have technical aptitude. Looking for advice / voice of experience on a: * 3m x 5m (internal dimensions) garden room. 194 degrees longitudinal axis * 4.2m x 6m flat room dimensions (TBC) * approx 20m from main house at end of back garden * mainly 2 person office Considering installing: 10x 375W AE Power PV panels in E-W facing configuration with ~10 deg pitch 10x S440 optimisers SolarEdge SH3000 inverter Garden Room would also have AC unit Daikin split unit (model TBC) Questions: 1. Can the solar PV inverter be connected to a secondary consumer unit in the garden room or does there need to be a run for generated AC going to the main Consumer unit in the house and a feed from there to the garden room sockets and lights? 2. Maybe depends on answer above but 10mm or 16mm SWA buried spade and a half depth? 3. Looking at CAT6 and / or multimode fibre (intended home switch will have SFP so wondering whether this is a future proofing method into the same trench). 4. Options for digging trench other than by hand - digger hire from Jewson? (Have 1000mm access down side of house) 5. Views on electrical installation for garden room. Which bits need an electrician and or MCS certificate it it worth it, and which bits to do self. There is potential for further PV system on potential house extension (if built) but currently main house roof aspect not ideal for solar (gable end facing south with other main surface north facing) Thoughts welcome.

Almost finished my first fix wiring and need to throw in the cat6. There are several instances where it would be handy to deviate from the traditional cabling safe zones but I'm struggling to find a definitive answer on whether this is allowed for network cable? Where possible I'll stick the the usual rules but if I can bend them for a few cables it would make life a bit easier! Anyone done similar?

Just trying to finish the wiring and cannot seem to find info on whether I need to have two separate back boxes for ethernet and shotgun cable or can I get a single switch plate to do both? TIA

We've got to run a Cat5/6 and a phone cable from the house to the gates - a distance of about 27m. The cables will terminate at the gate controls which is next to the new supply point and meter. Sparky is suggesting that for a 27m run we should be using 16mm 2 core armoured with a 16mm CPC in the same duct, earthing the SWA as a secondary bond ( @ProDave, @Onoff, @Steptoe Comments welcome...) Now if it was me, I reckon that the EMF of that suitably earthed SWA would be the square root of bugger all, and chucking a pair of CAT cables (one PoE) down the same duct would be fine .... But is it ..??? I can find various rules on separation in the street, and recommendations as to what to do but not a definitive statement My other option (preferred at the moment) is to bury the CAT cable in some 20mm conduit laid in the same trench but to one side and be done with it. At 100mm apart there should be no issue at all and I can at least get to replace it if needed. Thoughts..??

I've got my virgin wifi / router / hub thing in my 1st reception ( dining ) room downstairs. Now I need to get cat5's throughout the house and not enough outlets on the virgin do-dah. 1) Will the wifi be better with do-dah moved to mid house first floor, at floor level? 2) Can I take 1 cat5 out of do-dah and go to a larger ( more ports ) mains powered router at aforementioned location? 3) Should every cat5 device have its own run from point to point? Do I run one cable to the Xbox and another separate run to the smart tv above it, or can I split the cable behind the Xbox? Multiple rooms to do with same scenario. Mucho gratsi-arse. ?