Thought it would be worth going into the Octopus trial.

Not a lot to the certification side (DNO, Build Regs, Elec certs and so on). I doubt we'll recover the cost (£250) as next stage is the battery. But signed up anyway as being non-MCS but paid export might make a second 'winter array' a worthwhile thing to do (too unique/niche to interest most installers).

Hi Phil

a) Building control approval for the electrical works (more or less the same thing as the safety cert) so BC don't approve the electrical load (but if you mean structural see below)
b) Elec Cert
c) Then DNO & approval email plus number for export
d) Then max export (kW) figures

Outbuilding set away from boundary so Part A / B not applicable (not that anyone seems to bother under MCS: I even had an installer tell me that MCS makes him a competent person to self certify structural works). However, structural was checked by a Chartered structural engineer (ie me)

Other than that: all there was to it. We couldn't do MCS because it's a prototype from a Structural point of view and standard installers wouldn't want to touch it (we can safely remove individual panels in less than 10 minutes without needing scaffold and there's a few other innovations). They might come back with something else but we're seriously well documented so don't forsee an issue.

Posted By: jonWe couldn't do MCS because it's a prototype from a Structural point of view and standard installers wouldn't want to touch it (we can safely remove individual panels in less than 10 minutes without needing scaffold and there's a few other innovations). They might come back with something else but we're seriously well documented so don't forsee an issue.

I'd be interested in the details if you're willing to share. Just for interest at this stage.

BTW, I am supplied by Coop Energy/Octopus and I have a PV system and haven't received an invite. Is that normal. The PV system is registered with Good Energy so that may account for it.

Posted By: philedgeThanks for clarifying. It was the additional structural load that I think Octopus want to see the BC approval for.

Could well be. The Part A/B compliance side is a bit unclear. It'll probably get highlighted by one particular publication in the coming months, so imagine that things will get clearer after that.

Thanks. I look forward to seeing the write-up when you're ready. The brackets and the scaffold free maintenance seem like the most interesting aspects to me.

Posted By: djhI look forward to seeing the write-up when you're ready. The brackets and the scaffold free maintenance seem like the most interesting aspects to me.

Will do. Scaff free might be trickier if two storey (but still feasible)

Posted By: borpinI'd think about a ground mounted system.

limit to 9sqm under PD, together with the other rules, tend to work against it. It's a curious quirk of PD rules that you can build 30sqm, tile it with solar and then claim it's a different class of build under PD (though I'm not sure if anyone's actually tried that)

Posted By: Dominic CooneyA Log, bike or bin store springs to mind, it might avoid the need for any walls.

A 30 m² bin store.My mind is boggled!

Posted By: Dominic CooneyBasically anything that is ancillary to the use of the dwellinghouse

Haha: yes. And the cost of the structure & substructure can be reduced a lot if your structure is triangulated. If you can make an E-W arrangement work, the inverter (or inverters) can then use both sides of the array with combined feeds (the max power point tracking is almost identical if your array is identical both sides and facing exactly east and west).

That's part of the reason for the thin band of panels in the above that you can see nearest to the camera. That's a 4 panel arrangement: 2 east in series (in the shot) with 2 west, also with wiring in series (out of shot), and then joined in parallel to a single micro-inverter. I wanted to see how it performed in practice.

Done a few solar pergolas when sticking them on roofs or ground was an issue

Many thanks, Jon. That's a very impressive build and a very impressive booklet.