Case Study

LARGE U.K ENERGY SUPPLIER INSTALLS 190 KW OF ROOFTOP SOLAR

Modern energy & Electrical services are really excited to show you their most recent roof top installation, which was carried out on behalf of a large British utility supplier on their main offices in the London area.

The RE-MIT

The client approached Modern energy with the idea of installing Solar P.V on their commercial premises to offer sustainability and help offset their large electrical consumption. They asked could we advise them on what M/E felt would be the best solution to combat this high energy usage and also give financial benefits through the government provided a feed-in tariff scheme.
Through discussions & site surveys, M/E was able to ascertain some keys points that would help us decide on the right product’s to offer our client. A good survey is always key to a successful project. This helps us to Identify roof azimuth, tilt, shading issues, fixing methods, roof material, length of cable runs, placement of inverter’s, manpower, design, access, safety, time scale, project management and clarity on other elements involved to enable M/E to deliver the project accurately and on time.
M/E noted the many roof spaces that could be utilised to mount the different arrays on. We noticed that the pitch of the roof was only 10 degree and this made us think that with the right products we could utilise the South, East, West and North aspects, yes that’s right solar panels mounted facing North. The reason this is successful is that; the lower the pitch or gradient of the roof the more efficient North, East & West can become. Any good P.V company who knows their onions will look at all the options when at the design stage to be able to offer the best solution your client’s money can buy. When we suggested the north option to the client we had an awkward silence then I suppose a laugh, we went on to explain why and further show through calculations that this would work and provide high extra energy output and also more revenue stream. I believe at this point we had crossed maybe a line where they felt fully comfortable with what we could bring to the table in a sense of trust & knowledge in our skills.
Next, we had to decide on products and wanted to use the best we felt the budget would meet, but also taking into account the quality of product with a known pedigree and good efficiencies.

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We chose the azitec all black 260 watt panel with a positive tolerance of 5% which would offer more power output and peak out times and also offer a good aesthetic. Inverter- Always solaregde for our commercial product. Why? Because the design flexibility of using the power optimisers enable the installer to place multiple panels at different aspects without effecting output and performance. This, while also delivering higher energy output and enabling a much more simple maintenance process of the installed roof system should there be any product failure. Solaredge, Client & M/E would have access to a portal to observe the install and ensure the system is always running correctly and efficiently. M/E technicians started by marking out the roof from the information provided via our design team. We were able to proceed and start fixing the brackets(Fig 1-2) and roof mounting rail (fig 3),as the rail was completed on each section the power optimisers were placed onto the rail(fig 4,5)one optimiser for every two panels this would help to cut cost.
Through the process our engineers would check every panel before installing as to assess the panel were working correctly (see fig 7,8,9) which gave us the confidence to connect the panels to the optimisers and fix the panels to the mounting rail.( Fig 7)

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As the project progressed different roof areas were completed and the installation started to come together and looked successful at this point.

We had a meeting with the client who we walked around the completed areas to show the progress and also give the client the opportunity to ask any questions and understand more about what we
were achieving for them. (Fig 10.11)
M/E decided at the design stage to use the outside space to mount the inverters, this was a good idea for many reasons, one being ease of access to the array for connection and routing of cables. Space was a deciding factor as each roof had between 5 – 9 inverters.
As the inverters were being mounted outside we had to take into account elements such as wet, cold and wind, so at the design stage it was key to understand that IP rated 65/66 inverters would be require which the solaregde provides this protection.(fig 12,13)

A NEAT JOB I THINK YOU’LL AGREE!

Project Summary

Success comes in many forms; a pay rise, top of the class, winning a race. All forms of great pleasure I’m sure you’ll agree. Success for Modern energy is when a Client is moved and happy by the delivery of their project which has been completed and has been delivered on time with quality in mind.
Our client for this project was one of those people who after three weeks and 2 days had the project handed over to them. Modern energy finally commissioned on the 17th of October with all 706 panels completed and multiple inverters installed. All this supplying free electricity to their commercial premises offering up to 40% electrical savings on their energy bills. The cherry on the cake, being the government back feed-in tariff for 20 years which will make healthy revenue steam only to improve profit margins for the client. Average Annual CO2 Saving = 83.7 tonnes
The client will also be able to offset the amount of finance invested in the project through their annual investment allowance. This will also help to improve the payback period and also impacting on the R.O.I, but ultimately the clients main brief was the electrical support being offered by the installation………….the rest are nice positives.
modern energy is now in discussion about a further 105Kw project and also a 29 kW project. Success breeds success, so watch this space. If you are interested to find out more the products and services we offer please feel free to contact Modern energy with your project ideas and we can turn them into a reality.