Project: Solar PV Installation Warwickshire
Location: Stratford-upon-Avon
Date: October 2009 

“At every stage we were thrilled with the work that Paul Taylor did for us; Great advice, professional service and fab result.  We are very pleased and can’t recommend The Green Electrician highly enough.” 

James Pavitt, a member of sustainable action group, Transition Stratford, approached specialist pv installers, The Green Electrician to install a solar array on his home in central Stratford-upon-Avon. After a site survey, a design of 10 Sharp 180 Watt solar panels (1.8kWp) was installed on a south facing roof, either side of an existing solar thermal system. The photovoltaic system would incur some shading from a neighbouring house during winter, reducing the efficiency a little during December and January. 

James and Elizabeth, his partner, decided to install solar PV for a number of reasons, but chiefly to reduce carbon emissions. “We like to think that we are reasonably green, but even after installing solar water heating and a wood burning stove, we felt that we were still far too dependent on fossil fuels, so the next stage was to generate solar electricity ourselves,” explains James. 

"The initial cost is a little scary at first, about the same as a small car - but what car could you buy that actually pays you to use it at the same time as being an investment on your property? In fact with the Feed-in Tariff starting soon, you get about a 10% return on your investment. Try getting that in a building society! Being paid to generate is a big plus. And then there is the warm glow you get inside when you see the generation meter ticking away and your usage meter standing still.”

Technology: 1.8kWp Sharp Solar PV
Energy output: 1,435kWh/year
Carbon saving: 776kg CO2/year

Project: Solar PV Installation, Oxfordshire
Location: Benson
Date: October 2008
Reviewed: October 2009

The Green Electrician designed and installed a solar PV system on this private house Oxfordshire. After conducting a site survey and talking to the customer, we designed a 1.8kWp photovoltaic system, an array of 10 Sharp 180 solar panels to be installed on a single storey tile roof.  The customer also purchased the Sunny Beam stand-alone meter to show instantaneous power output and daily output over the last 31 days.

The system exceeded its estimated annual output of 1240kW hours in the first year.

"One advantage of installing the system is that it has made us much more conscious of electricity usage and hence has reduced our overall consumption signigicantly," the owner reports.  "Looking at the price difference between cost and selling, I am expecting very low bills for this year."

Technology: 180W Sharp monocrystalline modules

Energy Output: 1,240kWh/year

Carbon Saving: 533kg CO2/year

Project: Solar PV Installation

Location: Rhosneigr, Anglesey, N Wales

Date: June 2009

The The Green Electrician was approached to design and install a solar PV array on a holiday house in Anglesey, North Wales.

The site survey showed the roof to be north west orientation and clear of obstruction and shadow.  We advised as the orientation was optimum and the solar panels would be less efficient than a more southerly orientation and we provided comparison graphs and calculations to show the difference in output. The customer was keen to proceed on this basis.  We designed a 2.16kWp array of 12 Sharp solar panels to be installed on a slate roof.

The customer also purchased the Sunny Beam stand-alone meter to show instantaneous power output and daily output over the last 31 days.

“We think all holiday cottages should do the same, a roof with a solar PV panel is an investment, whilst a roof without solar panels is a wasted asset. The Green Electrician advised us on an export only tariff with Southern Electric.This gives us 28p for every unit we export, so we are making money whilst we ar not there.

In the first 7 weeks after installation we made nearly 500 kw of electricity, a third of what we expect in the year.  This means our holiday home will be self sufficient for electricity, this is good for us and good for the environment. the owner reports
 

Technology: 2.16kWp Sharp Solar PV

Energy output: 1,800kWh/year

Carbon saving: 774kg CO2/year