slate tiles lifted

[Dave Jones]

20 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

@thorfun I might be doing the same GSE/natural slate install soon. Can I ask if your roof design with counter battens was chosen to increase the air gap under the panels?

 

I am still a but nervous at the thought of exposing the underfelt to the heat under a PV panel with just a 25mm air gap.

 

the batten support spacing is in the manual, basically run your normal battens then add more to match the GSE fixing locations.

 

 

[Thorfun]

13 minutes ago, Dave Jones said:

 

page 21, check with whoever will be signing off the electrics..

 

 

 

 

indeed, I see that now and will definitely be speaking to them.

[epsilonGreedy]

4 minutes ago, Dave Jones said:

 

the batten support spacing is in the manual, basically run your normal battens then add more to match the GSE fixing locations.

 

 

 

Ok thanks, so no thermal concerns about the smaller air gap when counter battens are not a component of a roof design?

[Dave Jones]

you will have more air flow if anything as the GSE trays have a massive open area in the middle!

[Thorfun]

28 minutes ago, Dave Jones said:

 

page 21, check with whoever will be signing off the electrics..

 

 

 

 

 

I've asked the question but looking at the installation manual for the Solaredge Optimisers that I have on each panel it looks like grounding is not required

 

http://www.solfex.co.uk/uploads/downloads/Power_Optimizers_Installation_Guide_with_IndOP_Option.pdf

 

page 13 it says:

 

"For rest of the world – all power optimizers are double insulated and grounding is not required."

 

so I'm all good without earthing cables, right? or am I reading that wrong?

[Dave Jones]

i really dont know, i used those small micro inverters and the sparky said it needed earth but your could be different. fingers crossed.

[SteamyTea]

Re the earthing of modules.

In the olden days some inverters needed an earth (transformer ones) , other did not (transformerless ones).  But that could change between inverter manufacturers.

Case of RTFM.  Though I think generally, modules are not earthed at all.

 

[joe90]

Is it not the case that “double insulated “ means no metal  case so nothing to Earth ?

[Sandybay]

On 03/12/2021 at 17:26, epsilonGreedy said:

@thorfun I might be doing the same GSE/natural slate install soon. Can I ask if your roof design with counter battens was chosen to increase the air gap under the panels?

 

I am still a but nervous at the thought of exposing the underfelt to the heat under a PV panel with just a 25mm air gap.

I enquired about fitting GSE trays directly on to sarking, was told that was fine by the Solar energy store. 

As long as I had ply strip or batten underneath the sarking for secure hold for fixings, no mention of potential heat problems, would there be space for wires as well, anybody tried fixing this way with a slate roof? 

[JohnMo]

My GSE trays are mounted direct to sarking boards.  You may loose 2 to 5% performance of the hottest day, very little or none at other times.  Our sarking boards are normal Scottish ones 22mm thick, approx 150mm wide.

 

Trouble is, if the put the battons as per instructions, but on top of the sarking boards, the slates don't install very well.

[Sandybay]

On 03/12/2021 at 17:26, epsilonGreedy said:

@thorfun I might be doing the same GSE/natural slate install soon. Can I ask if your roof design with counter battens was chosen to increase the air gap under the panels?

 

I am still a but nervous at the thought of exposing the underfelt to the heat under a PV panel with just a 25mm air gap.

I enquired about fitting GSE trays directly on to sarking, was told that was fine by the Solar energy store. 

As long as I had ply strip or batten underneath the sarking for secure hold for fixings, no mention of potential heat problems, would there be space for wires as well, anybody tried fixing this way with a slate roof? 

[thefoxesmaltings]

On 03/12/2021 at 15:57, Thorfun said:

we had out GSE Trays and solar panels installed the other day and where they are fixed to the battens the slate tiles are sitting erect (see photo)

 

 

anyone got any ideas how to flatten them down and keep them there? the roofer is due back on Tuesday so I'll speak to him then but I was wondering if anyone has come across this before and how best to deal with it.

 

I think the the problem is that we were told to cut eaves tiles below the flashing and the panels are sitting right on the edge of the tiles which is lifting them up.

 

 

it's frustrating as this is what we were told to do by the company dealing with our Solar PV. They are very visible from the ground level and I know will annoy me every time I look up at the roof. if the roofer had only cut the tiles a little longer or the PV panels were a little shorter we probably wouldn't have this issue.

 

fyi, the solar guys said that even when they loosened the bottom fixing the tiles still stayed lifted and that they've not seen slates do that before. They suggested silicone. 

We're having this same issue. How did you solve it @Thorfun?

[Thorfun]

4 hours ago, thefoxesmaltings said:

We're having this same issue. How did you solve it @Thorfun?

black CT1 under the lifted tiles and then held down until it went off. it's not perfect but you can't really see it from the ground and no one who has ever looked around our house has said "those tiles look a bit dodgy!" 🤣

 

tbh, I'd actually forgotten about this until this thread resurrection. it's amazing as people who have already built say things like "don't worry in a year or so you'd have forgotten all the bad stuff" and at the time I think "but it's a massive issue! how could I ever forget about it?". and it has come to pass that I've forgotten about it so all those wise folk were right. try not to sweat this little stuff that seems massive right now! looking at your Instagram posts your place is really coming along and it'll be amazing. don't sweat the little stuff as in a year or so you'll forget all about it. 😉 

[thefoxesmaltings]

On 27/06/2023 at 18:30, Thorfun said:

black CT1 under the lifted tiles and then held down until it went off. it's not perfect but you can't really see it from the ground and no one who has ever looked around our house has said "those tiles look a bit dodgy!" 🤣

 

tbh, I'd actually forgotten about this until this thread resurrection. it's amazing as people who have already built say things like "don't worry in a year or so you'd have forgotten all the bad stuff" and at the time I think "but it's a massive issue! how could I ever forget about it?". and it has come to pass that I've forgotten about it so all those wise folk were right. try not to sweat this little stuff that seems massive right now! looking at your Instagram posts your place is really coming along and it'll be amazing. don't sweat the little stuff as in a year or so you'll forget all about it. 😉 

If you're curious we managed to solve it. The issue (for us at least) was caused by using cuts of slates there instead of full ones. That's why they were lifting when the PV panels were placed down. Solved it by taking the lead flashing off, stripping the bottom row of slates and refitting full ones. Was only 40 slates and took less than an hour, but all sorted now and the panels and trays site nicely.

Appreciate the prompt reply! Glad you're enjoying our Instagram updates.