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PV Panels on outbuilding

  • 08-08-2020 10:02am
    #1
    mp3guy
    Registered Users Posts: 3,954 ✭✭✭


    I'm thinking of putting in solar next year or thereabouts but have a non-standard setup. House is a one off dormer in a rural area so the roof on the house itself doesn't have any particularly large spans of space for panels.

    We do however have a sizeable outbuilding which has been built to liveable specs, i.e. properly constructed slate roof. Our ESB actually comes in beside this outbuilding but runs up to the meter on the side of the house then back down to supply the outbuilding (controlled by a switch on the fuse board in the house). All through some ducts that are long buried and hidden.

    This outbuilding is basically L shaped with each face of the roof about 3.75m x 10m in area, absolutely loads of space for as many panels as I'd ever want. One of the side faces ESE (heading 105 degrees) and the other faces SSW (heading 195).

    My main questions are;

    1) Is the installation of PV panels on outbuildings such as mine feasible?
    2) Would I qualify for the grant?
    3) Running a new cable from the outbuilding to the fuse board in the house would be approximately 40m in length, is this reasonable?
    4) If it makes sense, should I put panels on both sides of the building or focus on one? Daily energy usage 20kW excluding EV charging which at the moment I only do about once every two weeks but expect to be weekly after covid, usually put in about 32kW.

    If this is a no go, should I just try find ways to pack panels onto the dormer roof? They'd be distributed fairly sparsely in that scenario.


Comments

  • #2
    unkel
    Registered Users Posts: 64,703 ✭✭✭✭unkel


    For sure feasible, you might not need to connect it into the house, the fuseboard in your outbuilding might be sufficient (ask an electrician), I would go both aspects and whether you qualify for the grant depends if your house was built before 2011 or not (newer = no grant)


  • #3
    DrPhilG
    Registered Users Posts: 12,186 ✭✭✭✭DrPhilG


    I have panels on my house and the detached garage across the yard.

    Speak to some installers and get quotes. But get a few. I had all manner of nonsense sent my way. One guy insisted that the front of the house was the best spot (east facing) and others fed me all sorts of BS about potential savings.


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