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Has Anyone Used Sunfixings In-Roof PV Kits?


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1 hour ago, Triassic said:

I’m looking to use the Sunfixings in-Roof solar PV mounting kit and wondered if anyone had used it on their roof and had any hints or tips they could share? 

 

 

Never seen their in roof system but have seen their parking bay system and this looks like a modification of that - the sheet (or similar)  was used below panels to keep the connections from damage. 

 

Not sure about the edge flashing design or whether it’s just poor instructions. And I would also want a section drawing as from what I can see, those panels will be sat ~80mm up from the battens..?? That’s more than the GSE/Easyroof systems by a long way. 

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Thankfully that’s a cut away image, it’s not the finished look, the slates are much closer to the edge of the panels in the finished article. 

 

Don't tell anyone but I’m doing a DIY install as my budget has taken a big hit because of 6 weeks of extra groundwork excavations and the Architect understating the floor area by a good few tens of m2 (when asked at the design stage he stated it to be 300m2, when measure on site it was closer to 370m2, he’d missed off the hall, 3 flight of stairs, landings and corridors. No wonder everyone says it looks big!).

 

I’m not actually using any Sunfix gear, I’ve bought everything online separately, so as to keep costs down. I started by Purchased trapezoid  tin sheets. As in the photo these are mounted directly onto the OSB, which itself is fixed over the rafters. I’ll then use low profile aluminium mounting rail, screwed to the crown of the trapezoid sheets, onto which sit the solar panels. This configuration leaves the top surface of the solar panels about 12mm  above the slates. At the edges the slates will finish about 15mm from the panels. I’m hoping the finished mounting system for 14 panels will have cost no more than £500.

 

 

 

Edited by Triassic
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17 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

Are you still sticking to the MCS guidelines?

They used to be freely available for download, not sure if they still are.

I’ll have to see if I can find them, my electrician was MCS accredited and he’ll make sure it meets the necessary standards, plus he’ll fill in any necessary paperwork.

 

 

 

Edited by Triassic
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The only reason I mentioned it is that insurance companies may not like a DIY install.

Seems silly as I have seen MCS installations that are just dreadful, but that is the same with windows and doors, FENSA are equivalent to MCS.

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47 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

The only reason I mentioned it is that insurance companies may not like a DIY install.

Seems silly as I have seen MCS installations that are just dreadful, but that is the same with windows and doors, FENSA are equivalent to MCS.

 

This came up before and I asked my insurance company. They weren't bothered whether it was DIY or not. I don't have PV but I have ST and it was installed by an 'approved installer' (had to be to get the Energy Saving Trust grant) but AFAIK it was pre the MCS scheme. Must be quite a few early adopters in the same position. 

 

This is what I wrote before. 

 

Quote

You need to check with the specific insurer but most will cover solar 'panels' for damage etc. however they were installed (as in they don't ask). 

 

Mine says this:

 

Buildings - The structure of your home including its fixtures, fittings and services, garden walls, gates, fences, hedges, paths, drives, patios, tennis courts, wind turbines, fixed solar panels and permanent swimming pools, saunas, hot tubs all within the grounds of your home and for which you are legally responsible.

 

All of the above are covered for all normal insurance events such as fire, storm, floods etc. Only hedges, storms and fences are specifically excluded from storm damage.  They don't ask who installed any of those structures. 

 

It won't cover events where the equipment ceases to function however unless it has been damaged by one of the covered events. 

 

If you are fitting an in-roof system I would check that this is covered by the term 'fixed solar panels'. I would say yes but I would declare the make of panel to the insurance company for the avoidance of doubt. 

 

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8 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

Always worth checking though.

 

Yes, anything to do with insurance is worth checking. The Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 requires a consumer to:

 

"take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation"

 

It’s really not worth the risk of failing to declare or check something that could affect your cover. 

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I understand normal house cover, but I have had to take out an indemnity policy on a door where the FENSA certificate was lost and the company that installed it was unknown.

I don't know anything about insurance on a new build.  Does the main contractor/builder have a policy, or an agreement with someone like NHBC. If so, how does the true self builder, or at least someone that does some of the work on their own place, get cover?

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46 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

I don't know anything about insurance on a new build.  Does the main contractor/builder have a policy, or an agreement with someone like NHBC. If so, how does the true self builder, or at least someone that does some of the work on their own place, get cover?

 

Well initially you get a self build insurance that covers you whilst you are building the house, but if you are talking about afterwards an insurance company will assume that any house that has been signed off by building control meets the standards necessary to insure as long as it's not made of something they won't insure (not all insurance companies will insure out of the ordinary constructions and those that do likely put a premium on them). TBH a new house (in theory) is likely to be much less of a risk for an insurer to take on than something built a zillion years ago when there were far less safety standards about. 

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