Solar and battery installation in Ilminster

The job

A homeowner in Ilminster had become concerned about their energy costs and how those bills would affect them over the longer term. Rather than looking for a quick fix, they wanted to understand what a solar and battery system could realistically do for a property like theirs, so we carried out a consultation and went through the options before anything was ordered. What was needed was a full solar system design for the house, an upgrade to the existing consumer unit so the new equipment could be connected safely, battery storage sized for the household, and protection against power cuts.

What we did

We designed the system around the roof space that was actually available rather than forcing every panel onto one elevation. Using the rear roof meant we could make the most of the morning sun, so five panels went there and the remaining twelve were fitted across the front of the house, giving a 17 panel array in total. The panels are Longi 480W all black modules. Alongside the array we upgraded the consumer unit, installed 10kWh of EcoFlow battery storage with EcoFlow inverters, and fitted a gateway so the home keeps running during a power cut. The whole job, from the first design work through to installation in Ilminster, took ten weeks.

The result

The house now generates its own electricity through the day, stores what it does not use for the evening, and has backup power if the grid goes down. One of the homeowners had been sceptical about solar based on what they had read online, but after sitting down with us once the system was up and running they said they could see the appeal and wished they had had it done sooner. We were pleased with how the finished installation looks as well: the panel layout was planned so the array sits neatly on the roof rather than being scattered across it. For work like this the design matters as much as the equipment.