In-Roof or On-Roof Solar Panels

[Nickfromwales]

3 hours ago, DragsterDriver said:

Bugger!

 

I’ve looked at plug in solar etc but I genuinely have nO idea which brands are good etc.

 

@Nickfromwales do you have any recommendations?

Solar watt will be my choice this year.

 

25 year performance guarantee @ minimum 80% for the classic panels and 30 years @ minimum 87% for the glass / glass “vision” panels. Warranty provided with backing from BMW.

[Thorfun]

1 hour ago, PeterW said:

JA have guarantees on their output too. @DragsterDriver give Wagner Renewables a call as they can do all the bits for you inc GSE and panels etc

 

https://www.wagner-renewables.com

Indeed they do and I apologise if I gave the impression otherwise. But they guarantee just over 80% performance after 25 years whereas the LG Neon panels are more like 90% after 25 years. 
 

They cost quite a lot more but I’ll be reaping more rewards for longer. 
 

but everyone has their own requirements and the JA Solar panels will do the job they’re intended for! Our M&E proposed them initially but after more research I opted for the high-range panels. 

[DragsterDriver]

10 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Solar watt will be my choice this year.

 

25 year performance guarantee @ minimum 80% for the classic panels and 30 years @ minimum 87% for the glass / glass “vision” panels. Warranty provided with backing from BMW.

they look good.

 

is there anybody that assembles a decent designed kit with them?

[DragsterDriver]

11 hours ago, PeterW said:

JA have guarantees on their output too. @DragsterDriver give Wagner Renewables a call as they can do all the bits for you inc GSE and panels etc

 

https://www.wagner-renewables.com

I’ll drop them an email cheers!

[SteamyTea]

I have mentioned this before about performance warrantees.

The way it works is as follows.

Say a manufacturer makes a batch of modules, nominally 300 W ones, when they are flash tested, ones with a higher performance i.e. 310 W, and ones with lower performance i.e. 290 W are labelled up to the next lowest performance range i.e. 300 W and 275 W respectively.

So say you were lucky and got a batch of top performing 300 W ones, so 310 W in reality.  It is easy to see how a performance warrantee of say 90% performance after 20 years is offered as it is not taking into account the over production in the first decade, and you are working on 0.5% loss per year of the nominal performance, not the actual performance.

Trouble is, the customer will notice a quite large decline in overall capacity over that time. 

The other problem is that in the last two decades, the performance has generally improved from 250 W to 330 W for the same form factor.

So by over paying for a warrantee now, will just take cash away from retooling in the future.

Generally, do what the big solar farm developers do, buy the cheapest per peak watt.

 

[Thorfun]

2 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

I have mentioned this before about performance warrantees.

The way it works is as follows.

Say a manufacturer makes a batch of modules, nominally 300 W ones, when they are flash tested, ones with a higher performance i.e. 310 W, and ones with lower performance i.e. 290 W are labelled up to the next lowest performance range i.e. 300 W and 275 W respectively.

So say you were lucky and got a batch of top performing 300 W ones, so 310 W in reality.  It is easy to see how a performance warrantee of say 90% performance after 20 years is offered as it is not taking into account the over production in the first decade, and you are working on 0.5% loss per year of the nominal performance, not the actual performance.

Trouble is, the customer will notice a quite large decline in overall capacity over that time. 

The other problem is that in the last two decades, the performance has generally improved from 250 W to 330 W for the same form factor.

So by over paying for a warrantee now, will just take cash away from retooling in the future.

Generally, do what the big solar farm developers do, buy the cheapest per peak watt.

 

so, similar to the way that CPUs are binned according to their speed and so you can 'get lucky' and buy a cheaper CPU that has the potential to overclock to a higher speed?

 

if so, I didn't realise that was the same for Solar PV panels and maybe I should've gone for the cheaper ones. but, it's too late now, the money has been spent and I've no doubt I'll be happy with the LG panels.

[SteamyTea]

6 minutes ago, Thorfun said:

no doubt I'll be happy with the LG panels.

I see they do a 400 W module.  I am tempted as I could get 2.4 kW_p on one side of my roof.  This is a useful amount for me.

[Nickfromwales]

53 minutes ago, DragsterDriver said:

they look good.

 

is there anybody that assembles a decent designed kit with them?

I can give you my guys details for supply and fit, but not supply only. MCS accredited so you’ll be able to sell the exported energy. He is crazy busy though and is giving me 2-3 month lead times. Are you in a rush?

[MoDo]

Long time lurker here picking an admittedly random point to join in! But I've been looking intently at the in-roof solutions for some time. I'd love to hear from someone who's used the Viridian in-roof solution as it seems to avoid the plastic trays GSE use. Whilst I'm sure the trays are made from a good quality plastic and designed to resist UV etc, eventually they must be susceptible to going brittle and cracking. The Viridian solution seems not to need a tray - but not seen and detailed photos of an install.

[Johnnyt]

I have GSE in roof and 30 panels fitted.

None of the plastic tray is exposed, it being covered by the panel and aluminium trims and flashings.

As an alternative there’s the following

 

https://en.irfts.com/easy-roof-evolution/

[Thorfun]

9 hours ago, MoDo said:

Long time lurker here picking an admittedly random point to join in! But I've been looking intently at the in-roof solutions for some time. I'd love to hear from someone who's used the Viridian in-roof solution as it seems to avoid the plastic trays GSE use. Whilst I'm sure the trays are made from a good quality plastic and designed to resist UV etc, eventually they must be susceptible to going brittle and cracking. The Viridian solution seems not to need a tray - but not seen and detailed photos of an install.

as @Johnnyt says, none of the GSE plastic tray is exposed at all.

[IanP]

I am thinking of using the GSE frames, but finding it difficult to find out which size frames (as not decided on which panels to use yet) integrate with the Velux adaptors.

Is the Velux integration kit a 'one size fits all' or are there different sizes to tie in with the different frame sizes?

[MoDo]

9 hours ago, Johnnyt said:

I have GSE in roof and 30 panels fitted.

None of the plastic tray is exposed, it being covered by the panel and aluminium trims and flashings.

As an alternative there’s the following

 

https://en.irfts.com/easy-roof-evolution/

I think what struck me about the Viridian solution is that no trays seem to be required at all. Aluminium flashings around the panels keep the water out using the panels themselves. The Easy Roof looks very similar to the GSE. Clearly all are tried and tested solutions. All three brands seem to have some sort of Velux compatibility. 

 

I've also been wondering in terms of a self install (for a new build) which kit would be simplest to be installed by a roofing contractor (or DIY) - thus potentially avoiding having to get an MCS approved contractor to build half the roof alongside a roofing contractor. I can't see a clear winner really.

Edited March 8, 2022 by MoDo