6kW Solar PV System, Richmond

The brief

The client's main concern was payback period. They run a home office and have two young children, so daytime electricity consumption is higher than average. They also wanted battery storage so that solar generation during the day could be used in the evening rather than exported. The roof had a usable area of around 40m² on the south-facing pitch, with a second east-facing section we could also utilise.

What we did

We carried out a full roof and shading survey before specifying anything. Based on the roof orientation, pitch angle, and the client's consumption data from their smart meter, we modelled annual generation at just over 5,600kWh.

The system we installed comprises 14 x 430W monocrystalline panels split across both pitches, a 6kW hybrid inverter, and a 10kWh lithium battery unit mounted in the garage. Panels on the east-facing pitch are wired on a separate MPPT input to avoid the south-facing output pulling down the east-facing generation when there is partial shading.

The battery is set to prioritise charging from solar between 7am and 4pm, then discharge to the property from 4pm onwards. On a good summer day the system generates enough to cover consumption and top up the battery to around 80% before the household comes home from school. Grid export is metered and the client is registered on a Smart Export Guarantee tariff.

All DC cabling runs through the loft in fire-rated conduit. The AC isolator and generation meter are located next to the existing consumer unit. DNO notification and G98 commissioning were handled by us.