Search the Community

I'm currently working up a project for a new veranda on the S-facing side of my house, to 1) provide shade for rooms that overheat, 2) create a car port in front of the garage, and 3) possibly to incorporate an office / study on the front of the lounge. Currently I have a (2015) 9.93 kWp grid-connected solar FIT install, which is approx 8kWp East facing and 1.9 kWP West facing. It si a simple array with no batteries or divert devices. The veranda could add approx 45 sqm of S facing nearly-flat roof. In the past I have wondered about moving some of my East-facing solar to the roof of the new veranda - it was laid out with that as a consideration. But given that that would cost (guestimate) £2000 to move, and the neighbour on the East side is considering removing his questionable huge 100 year old horse chestnut tree that overhangs my house / part of the solar array, I am toying with the idea of leaving it as it is and installing a new array on the veranda roof. I already have a report suggesting that the tree is risky, and it is probably worth me contributing to the cost of removal. For background, can anyone advise me if I am going to hit any elephant traps thinking about this: 1 - Is there a hard limit for domestic solar connection to the grid at 10 kWp? Would I run into regulatory trouble trying to boost that to say 16 or 17 kWp total? 2 - Are there technical issues around integrating an old and a new install? Or can I easily run 2 in parallel? 3 - What approach should I consider? An alternative would perhaps be to consider the existing array as an "export" array, and install the new one off grid with a water heating setup and house battery. All thoughts are welcome, as I'm doing my background thinking. I know the solar basics, but I'm wrestling with how to navigate our now more complex environment. Cheers Ferdinand