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Registered Member #4266
Joined: Fri Dec 16 2011, 03:15AM
Location:
Posts: 874
Hi, A friend and me are looking into grid connecting 30Kw of PV panels. We've price the inverter and panels and will be getting a qualified sparky to wire the whole thing up. Was wondering if any one knows of other equipment needed, and of any regs. The inverter doesn't have a transformer so wont be isolated from the panels.
Registered Member #72
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:29AM
Location: UK St. Albans
Posts: 1659
If you are hoping to attract a feed-in subsidy from this installation, then the sparky must not just be qualified, but approved by an appropriate government or supply body that he can sign off the installation as being done correctly and in a tamper-proof way. I'm sure you could imagine all sorts of ways to abuse the metering and subsidy if it that was not the case.
I've never seen any reports of people setting up cheap mirrors, say even sheets of alli, in a fixed elevation trough, to increase the solar flux at the panel. I would have expect that with a sheet of alli being cheaper than a sheet of PV cells, increasing the collecting area could increase the output, if the cell can usefully handle the extra light.
Registered Member #4266
Joined: Fri Dec 16 2011, 03:15AM
Location:
Posts: 874
I've never seen any reports of people setting up cheap mirrors, say even sheets of alli, in a fixed elevation trough, to increase the solar flux at the panel. I would have expect that with a sheet of alli being cheaper than a sheet of PV cells, increasing the collecting area could increase the output, if the cell can usefully handle the extra light.
Nice idea, was thinking of a solar tracker to add 30%, if the mirrors add onto that and increase the 4-8 hours a day to 7-9... might do some testing. Would there be some electronics that would help?
Yep, to get the feed-in tariff you'll probably have to have the whole lot installed for you by an approved installer. They'll take care of compliance.
Does that mean installing the panels or just wiring up to the inverter, the voltage of the panels together would be in the range of 400-800volt for the mppt?
Registered Member #72
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:29AM
Location: UK St. Albans
Posts: 1659
I was thinking of avoiding solar trackers. The whole point of a fixed trough, like but much, much cruder, is that it's very cheap and has no moving parts, at least none that need more than a spanner to move them once a month.
Talk to the sparky you had in mind. Depending on his workload, he may be happy for you to do some or all of the wiring up, and he simply inspects and tests it before signing off. That could save you a lot of money. It would cost him a lot of money of course, so you might only find people willing to sign off the installation if they do the whole $multi-k job.
It's not so much the safety aspect, I'm sure almost anybody here on 4HV could handle <1000v safely, it's the regulatory compliance. If the tax man is going to be giving you an inflated price per kw-hour for the power you sell to him for the next two decades, he will want the assurance that your installation is metered correctly.
If you are off grid and just running your own shack, and you're not looking for a juicy feed-in tarrif, then there's no need for a heavy-weight sign-off, just the safety to consider.
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30Kw PV installation
