camelot-forum.co.uk

Finally got a further 8 x 405W panels installed today..

Just had a phone call from installer who claims that they do not need to issue a separate MCS certificate because the old one issued in 2011 for the previous 16 panels covers the new work.

Does this make any kind of sense to anyone here?

TIA

Has the installer done a full installation with inverter or have they just installed the panels for you to hook up yourself ?

I seem to recall you were going to DC couple them to your batteries ?

nowty wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 4:46 pm Has the installer done a full installation with inverter or have they just installed the panels for you to hook up yourself ?

I seem to recall you were going to DC couple them to your batteries ?

Yes that is the plan, via a Victron 250/60 charge controller which is already in place.

sharpener wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 5:58 pm

nowty wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 4:46 pm Has the installer done a full installation with inverter or have they just installed the panels for you to hook up yourself ?

I seem to recall you were going to DC couple them to your batteries ?

Yes that is the plan, via a Victron 250/60 charge controller which is already in place.

That may be the reluctance to issue an MCS certificate if they did not do the full installation. They may not want warranty issues with potential future complaints back to MCS.

In the FIT days you needed an MCS certificate for each FIT application but with SEG, all you need is "a" MCS certificate to get your export MPAN number and after all other DIY stuff magically is de facto included and there is no fraud as there is no subsidy with SEG. I know this is a DC coupled affair, but it could be used to charge the battery and then force export via an AC coupled battery inverter.

So from the installer's point of view your not disadvantaged in terms of if you already have or wanted in the future to apply for SEG.

nowty wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 6:22 pm So from the installer's point of view your not disadvantaged in terms of if you already have or wanted in the future to apply for SEG.

From my point of view however the contract says "16.2 We will apply to certify Your Renewables Solution under the MCS or equivalent registration body, and will provide You with the certificate once We receive it."

It would be good to have the work that they have done (installation of panels and DC wiring) certified to MCS standards in case the panels get blown off the roof or some other major issue. The specimen certificate included in their proposal has a list of equipment including the panels and roof hooks but no inveter, I would want the same.

FWIW the roofer said landscape panels are now a pain because the 1.7m long panels are less secure with clips only at the end but you are no longer allowed to use vertical rails under MCS rules. Is this true? I had bids from someone else who was proposing to install exactly that arrangement.

As an aside, how would the metering for SEG work? AIUI there are no approved meters for the DC side, and they would insist on a smart meter (which I have been told I cannot have as there is no comms here). Otherwise I suppose they could technically measure all export with a smart meter and then subtract the FIT TGM reading to get net export due under SEG but I don't know if they have that set up as a process.

sharpener wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 6:47 pm As an aside, how would the metering for SEG work? AIUI there are no approved meters for the DC side, and they would insist on a smart meter (which I have been told I cannot have as there is no comms here). Otherwise I suppose they could technically measure all export with a smart meter and then subtract the FIT TGM reading to get net export due under SEG but I don't know if they have that set up as a process.

Someone on here mentioned a short while ago that the export part of the fits can dropped all the export handled under SEG iirc.

SEG is only done via smart metering so no SEG if you cannot have a smart meter.

nowty wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:02 pm SEG is only done via smart metering so no SEG for you anyway if you cannot have a smart meter.

Can't you report the readings manually if there is one fitted but they cannot read it remotely?

Countrypaul wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:04 pm

nowty wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:02 pm SEG is only done via smart metering so no SEG for you anyway if you cannot have a smart meter.

Can't you report the readings manually if there is one fitted but they cannot read it remotely?

I would very much doubt it as there are no SEG meter reader people.

Countrypaul wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:04 pm

nowty wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:02 pm SEG is only done via smart metering so no SEG for you anyway if you cannot have a smart meter.

Can't you report the readings manually if there is one fitted but they cannot read it remotely?

I couldn't, for the 6 months or so that we had a smart meter that couldn't connect. All I could read manually was the total, not the split between the peak and off-peak, so my guess is that it might not be possible to manually read export. The meter chap could connect to the meter and read out all the data, which was the only way we could get our E7 readings. By default SSE charged us peak rate for all consumption, but they were pretty good about refunding the overpayment when they eventually gave up at getting the smart meter to connect.