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Case Study
Little Hammett
- Solar Panels (PV) and Battery Storage
- ROI 10.51%
- 20 year benefit C. £37,428
The Client
Little Hammett is a country family residence and farmhouse. It is set in a quiet rural position amongst 16.5 acres of gardens, grounds, pasture paddocks and amenity woodland.
It has traditional barns providing stabling, storage, workshops and garaging. The land consists of three pasture paddocks extending to 7 acres, and 9.5 acres of woodland with river frontage.
The Challenge
In August 2018, we were asked to quote for the supply and installation of 5.22kW Solar Panels (PV) on the South facing “stepped” roof area of one the barns at Little Hammett. Additionally, we specified a solar battery storage option.
The timing of the installation had to coincide with the barns at Little Hammett being re-roofed by another contractor. This may have seemed like a problem, but in reality, it became a benefit to the client.
In order for the owner of Little Hammett to receive financial support for twenty years, the installation needed fitting prior to the end of March 2019. In this case, before the ending of the Government’s Feed-in-Tariff scheme (FiT).
The system was to be in accordance with Distribution Network Operator (DNO) supplier requirements, including connections and permits.
The Solution
After an extensive site survey, we proposed an array of solar panels consisting of eighteen black monocrystalline modules, connected to a 5.0kW hybrid Inverter, with electrical accessories, (including generation meter, DC/AC Isolators), mounted onto an IRFTS Easy Roof, in-roof mounting system.
As we were aware that the roof was being replaced at the same time as the Solar PV installation, we were able to reduce the cost of the roofing for the owner of Little Hammett by recommending and specifying a Solar PV panel mount which became an integral part of the roof. Therefore, we fitted the mounting system in conjunction with the construction of the roof, enabling the roofers to fit the remaining slates once the mounting system was complete. The specified IRFTS in-roof mounting system is designed to fix straight to the battens of the roof, which in turn enables modules to be fixed straight to it, negating the need for roof slates in the area of the Solar PV array and reducing overall roofing material and scaffolding costs.
Also implemented was the battery storage option. We installed a single 6.5kW floor mounted unit, allowing for grid charging and usage during power outages. As always, our service also included assistance to complete FiT application forms.
The Results
In short, delivery of the entire system was on-time, within budget.
- ROI – 10.51%
- Payback – 8 years
- Total benefit over 20 years – £37,428
The payback does not take into consideration any increase in energy costs or the increase of the FiT due to the tariff being index linked to RPI. This will potentially result in the ROI being better than initially predicted in these calculations.
