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My solar and batts
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:02 pm
by BISFBath
We had the chimney removed when the roof covering was replaced soon before the panels were installed so they can cover pretty much the entire usable area.
The installers ripped up some of my loft boards to mount the inverter on(!)
Re: My solar and batts
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:09 pm
by Stinsy
Interesting construction. Postwar prefab?
Re: My solar and batts
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:12 pm
by Joeboy
OK I'll bite. Why no airgap between batteries and why are they not rotated thru 90 clockwise from above to reduce cable runs and easier access to batteries/terminals? As to the loftboards repurposing....OK, not great BUT, why didn't you install a mounting board yourself if you knew they were coming?
Not too hard to retro work to a better look/spec/passive cooling.
Re: My solar and batts
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:18 pm
by nowty
BISFBath wrote: ↑Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:02 pm
The installers ripped up some of my loft boards to mount the inverter on(!)
You installer just keeps on giving, its why many of us do our own thing.
And they DC cables look spliced (joined together halfway), ok if done well but its another alarm bell ringing.
The panels on the roof look good though.
Re: My solar and batts
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:23 pm
by BISFBath
nowty wrote: ↑Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:18 pm
BISFBath wrote: ↑Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:02 pm
The installers ripped up some of my loft boards to mount the inverter on(!)
You installer just keeps on giving, its why many of us do our own thing.
The panels on the roof look good though.
Yeah, they didn't even ask of course. That's why usually prefer to DIY where I can. because so many professionals seem to do bad jobs!
Re: My solar and batts
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:35 pm
by BISFBath
Joeboy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:12 pm
OK I'll bite. Why no airgap between batteries and why are they not rotated thru 90 clockwise from above to reduce cable runs and easier access to batteries/terminals? As to the loftboards repurposing....OK, not great BUT, why didn't you install a mounting board yourself if you knew they were coming?
Not too hard to retro work to a better look/spec/passive cooling.
Looks like a fine generation day and that is what really counts. How much are you generating on a decent day?
Orientation of the batts is my fault, I moved them when insulating and putting the loft boards down, so I can easily shift them apart.
I would have installed a mounting board if I'd suspected they'd be such bodgers. But I'd maybe naively assumed they'd do it properly. Next to it the boiler installer used a piece of OSB which seemed like the proper way to do it. I just assumed they'd do the same.
It's been an almost perfectly clear day here today, generated 30.5 kWh.
Re: My solar and batts
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 9:02 pm
by nowty
BISFBath wrote: ↑Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:35 pm
It's been an almost perfectly clear day here today, generated 30.5 kWh.
For some of us veterans of an original 4kW system, 30kWh was the holy grail only achieved on the rarest of occasions.
Enjoy.
Re: My solar and batts
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 9:04 pm
by Mr Gus
The post war prefabs are interesting, very hard to heat though (obviously) what upgrades work on them OP & what are atypical consumption figures, there are some near me very happily lived in, I do remember war prefab bungalows too, the last in the area, which were much loved (it was countryside near Alconbury as I recall, they were rare even back in the mid 80's.
It is from there I discovered a fancy for modular home design as a young school teen doing summer work for the council.
Re: My solar and batts
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 9:12 pm
by AGT
It’s a BISF house
Concrete bottom half, steel top half some not too far away from me
Re: My solar and batts
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 9:19 pm
by BISFBath
Mr Gus wrote: ↑Thu Apr 20, 2023 9:04 pm
The post war prefabs are interesting, very hard to heat though (obviously) what upgrades work on them OP & what are atypical consumption figures, there are some near me very happily lived in, I do remember war prefab bungalows too, the last in the area, which were much loved (it was countryside near Alconbury as I recall, they were rare even back in the mid 80's.
It is from there I discovered a fancy for modular home design as a young school teen doing summer work for the council.
It is pretty interesting I think because it's really simple, made up of steel I, C and L sections bolted together. Though the original insulation was poor by today's standards (a thin 'duvet' of fibreglass in brown paper in the perimeter walls and loft), anecdotally it didn't seem to be any worse and probably better than my parents' ~1900 solid stone-walled house with no insulation at all.
I've insulated the loft and most of the walls now and it is a lot more comfortable.