Are you thinking about installing solar panels in Kent to benefit from the FiT (Feed in Tariff) scheme? If you install solar panels you want them in the best position to get the most sun to generate maximum electricity and maximise your FIT payments for best returns.
We have had quotes for installing solar panels on our roof in Rainham Kent. We have two choices, the lower extension roof or the upper original house roof.
Installing solar panels on the lower roof would be cheaper as the access is much easier than the scaffolding needed for the upper roof. However we have checked the roof at different times of the day and the shading and sun levels are significantly different for the two roofs.
Sun on both roofs first thing in the morning but slight shading on the lower roof to the right hand side
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| Solar panel in Kent positioning to avoid shade for best FIT payments |
You can see on the roof later in the day that the lower roof is almost totally shaded, there is some shade across the upper roof but most of the roof is still covered in sun. We had three options for the panels. With a 3kWp system we could have solar panels fitted on the upper or lower roof or a mix between the two.
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| Kent Solar panel positioning on upper roof to avoid shade on lower roof |
From the photos above we have decided to have the solar panels fitted on the upper roof only. The cost is higher due to the difficult access to the upper roof but from these photos of the shading of the roof the payback should mean that the FiT (Feed in Tariff) payments are significantly higher which will more than offset the increased cost of installing the solar panels on the higher roof.
Panels are now ordered so check back for progress reports on how they are doing!
Can i ask the direction you face as looking at your stats vs mine, i see that we generate about the same (im in Edinburgh with a3.6kw system) but the interesting thing is i see i generate more in Spring where as you generate more in Autumn.
ReplyDeleteI face SW and wondered if you face SE and that might explain that
We face more SW, if anything we're SSW The other possibility is the angle of the roof as ours is quite steep as the photo above shows. It's an interesting question to know why, do you have any shading at all? Spring might have less leaves than autumn?
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