Solar for Beginners [ask your questions here]

I am hoping to have a PV system installed shortly. We've had a few providers quote at this stage. Roof space will allow for approx 10 (4.5kwh) panels split east/west. 5kwh Battery is also included in the quote. What I am struggling to understand is what the 'strings' element of the quote means. What's the difference between the panels all being on one string Vs two strings?

Also because of the orientation of the house/roof we'll likely get more direct sun onto the west facing roof should we be looking at optimisers at all or is this handled by the inverter?

Got this fitted today

https://www.dungannonelectrical.co.uk/product-detail?prodref=DS201+C32+A100&category=2-pole-abb-100ma-rcbo

Had ordered the other one from Lithuania but it got lost, courier delivered me something else and eventually they agreed to refund.

Interesting to see if my tripping is over.

Gave up on my installer just bought it myself and had electrician fit it

I'm in the early stages of looking at panels possibly later this year.

what I'm wondering is does these aspects work ,not many in the area have panels and the few that do are all different orientations

front faces SE139* ish and back nw319* is it worth my while with these aspects ?

thanks will have a read through that and need to get my head around a few bits ,yeah had a feeling the northwest might be off the table but just wasn't sure as it can get good sun during the good months but have never really tracked it.

Have a look at this app as well, it shows when the sun will hit all the panels throughout the year. https://g.co/kgs/eCmPUcT

This is the best of a couple of quotes I've got recently:

9x440w TW Panels

This is a 3.96 kwp system and will produce 3,649 kwh annually.

•    9x 440w TW panels

•    SAJ hybrid inverter

•    5KWH battery  

•    3x optimiser

•    Roof mounting equipment
•    Shunt
•    All labour works
•    All electrical testing and commissioning
•    Online monitoring to see each day exactly what your system is producing
•   BER

€6054 after grants. Apparently with the shape of our roof, that's the most number of panels possible. Seems like a decent quote. Am I missing anything?

When was the smart meter installed? If it's new then it can take up to either 40 days for data to appear from what I recall from previous posters.

Are you very remote? Does it tell you what the connectivity level is for the meter, 1 to 4?

https://www.sseairtricity.com/ie/home/help-centre/smart-metering/what-does-meter-connectivity-mean

Did it ever work?

If i purchase one of those batteries, can i just charge it overnight during chap electricity and then use it all day to get the use of the cheaper rate at the peaker periods. I know this isnt strictly solar but it can be :)

You'll have to trust the installer there, it's too hard to say from this distance really. The SEAI rules apply to spacing from the various elements, if you want more then just install what's recommended initially and then have the installer upgrade them after the grant has been obtained.

Thanks for reply, can you recommend where id get started ordering, who youd recommend etc. Can PM if needed

An installer should do that, it's in their interest to fit as many panels as possible. Get three quotes. Find an installer who you trust.

My battery came with the solar panels. I don't know where you'd go to just put a battery in without the panels, if that's your plan. I think a lot of people on this forum have gone down the DIY route for batteries.

no, you only make money on the exports from the time the NC6 form has been processed by ESB networks. New to this also so found that out during the week.

According to ESB networks I have a 16kVA connection, but the max I can download at seems to be around 11kW. Is this all I can expect or is something not right here? If I should be able to download at higher than 11kW, what can I do to increase the speed? Thanks