Initial reading 19th October 2010

At the end of today the meter down in the garage is reading 2.5. I think this reading is contaminated by a small amount from the factory. Also I'm not entirely sure of the units. I think it's kWh but can't confirm that until I get the manual and certificates on Thursday.

I'll assume this as the zero point for the future.

I was going to read the values from the inverter in the attic but as it's dark it has no power to work.

The Swamp Electricity Generating Board

Well that about does it. I am now generating electricity from my panels installed on the back of the house.

Just some clearing up to do and they're off. I also authorised another 25% payment today. I am holding onto the final 5% until the electricity people are happy with the installation and willing to pay me for juice.

I am very happy with the installation. Andy and his chaps from New Generation Energy http://www.newgenerationenergy.co.uk/ have done a good job so far.

Obviously I will need to monitor the situation from now on. I will attempt to get generation values on to my website and keep things updated in this blog as and when I remember.

Installation started

The long awaited solar panel installation has started.

The initial thing was to mount the metal brackets to the joists. They removed a number of tiles to get access to the joists underneath the felt. They simply screwed a metal plate to the joist from the outside. No need to go into the attic for this bit. Because the metal bracket sticks out a little bit they needed to grind down a small bit of the tile so that it sits flat when put back in place. Looks fine.

After the brackets they installed the long metal runners on which the panels would sit.

When the van turned up this morning they unloaded the panels into the garden. When they'd finished there were only 10, not the 12 I had agreed on. A quick phone call from Andy confirmed that he'd sent the wrong type out to the house. The ones delivered were 235W panels which had been on the initial quote for 10 x 235W panels, equalling 2.35kW. What we had finally agreed on though was for a system of 12 x 215W panels instead, equal to 2.85kW. We couldn't go ahead with the 235W panels as they are a different size and they wouldn't all fit on the roof.

Andy has asked for the correct delivery to be made direct to the house in the morning. Not sure when they are due to arrive. If they're from the same company as Lerigo then it could be about 1000hrs.

Towards lunch time, Andy turned up to help with the actual electrical installation. An armoured cable was lead out of the garage up the front of the house into the attic space through the soffit board. In the garage there is a new meter and a big isolator switch. In the attic space there is now a large inverter mounted on the gable wall.

During the day, I got online and authorised another deposit of 35% (running total now at 70%) into the company's bank account.

Before leaving, the guys made sure that everything was tidy, even picking up all the little wires which had been removed from the armoured cable.

Tomorrow we're expecting the 215W panels to be delivered. Once they arrive it shouldn't take too long to get them connected.

Here's hoping for clear skies.