Renewable Energy For Your Home
or Commercial Property
We install Solar PV systems with Inverters and Battery options to suit your requirements.
The below should be useful if you are interested in the benefits of solar and keen to learn more about how we would design a bespoke system for you.
How to make decisions about your solar requirements?
The size and equipment you would need for your system depends on your energy requirements, both present requirements and your energy usage in the future.
We would need to see your current energy usage and learn about any plans you may have that can change the about of energy you use, such as charging an electric car or installing air sourced heat pump.
Understading your energy bill
Please take a look at your energy bill as we would like to know:
- Your rate per kWh
- Your annual consumtion
- Your supplier
By understading your energy use, we will be able to dertmin your daily energy use. We can then design a bespoke solar set up that best allows you to:
Achieve maximum renewable benefit
Quickest possible return on your investment
About Solar Panels
Will my roof be suitable?
Optimal mounting is crucial for maximizing solar panel efficiency by maximizing exposure to sunlight. In the UK, the ideal orientation is facing south at a 35-degree angle to the horizon.
This positioning ensures consistent sunlight exposure throughout the day, capturing the strongest rays when they hit the panel. It's worth noting that solar panels can generate power even on cloudy days, although their output is highest in strong sunlight. Therefore, proper positioning plays a key role in maximising the power output of your solar panels
Our surveys will come to site and record the data, our office based design team will then take into consideration your usage requirements and the space you have for solar panels to develop the right system for you.
The most suitable location for solar panels is typically the roof of your home. In the UK, pitched roofs commonly have angles ranging from 30 to 50 degrees, offering ample space for installation without natural shading interference.
Regardless of whether your roof faces south, panels can effectively generate power when facing other directions, such as an east-west split arrangement which is also popular, ensuring consistent power generation throughout the day. This may require a few extra panels to match the output of a south-facing setup.
We can provide you with examples expected performance figures for these set ups.
We even work out for you if shading from near by trees, buildings or your own chimneys are going to be an issue. We can either choose to install panels in another area of the roof space or simply add optimisers so that if an area is shaded for a while, it does not make the rest of the system less efficient.
In some cases we can offer ground mounted systems for your garden, open space or flat roof.
Maybe your home does not have a suitable roof space or is a listed building. The ground mounted systems allows you to place the panels away from your home or business.
The mounts are angled by about 30 degrees for optimum efficiency. There are similar mounts to allow this installation on to a building with a flat roof too.
Why an inverter?
The inverter is a crucial part of your solar system. The inverter turns the electricity generated by your panels from DC power to usable AC power for your home. Inverters serve another crucial function, which is managing the flow of power.
They enable you to direct the electricity either into your home, back to the grid, or towards charging your batteries, charging your car or even warming up your hot water supply, providing flexibility and control over your energy usage.
String Inverters
String Inverters can not be used in conjunction with charging batteries or managing power distribution. These inverters are for sole use of turning the power generated from the solar panels to be used directly in the home.
Hybrid Inverters
Hybrid Inverters must be used if you are adding a battery to your system. They will also be required for electric cars charging, hot water and any form of power management. Its these that would be most common in most private home installs.
Your inverter must match the power output of your solar panels. If it's too small it will not handle the loads, if it's too big it will be inefficient. Dont worry, when we design the system we are Abel to match the right invert for you.
Should your invert be over kWh we will have to apply for a G99, which takes time. This is because you will be able to feed a lot of unused power back to the grid so we would need permission, as not all areas are able to handle that, so its possible permission can get denied, though not frequently.
Do batteries make sense?
Yes! If you have a nice sized solar panel system, being able to store the excess power you generated during the day will enable your home to use that power once the sun sets. With out a battery excess power simply goes back to the grid.
What size batteries should I have?
Intersting question and it depends on your budget.
Generally we would aim to provide a battery which is double your solar panels maximum kilowatt output. So a 3000 watt system would be sensible to have a 6kw battery, 4kw system an 8kw battery etc.
But, you are not limited to the maximum size and there are advances with going bigger. If your homes energy requirement during the day are low and you are producing excess power then you will be able to charge a larger battery. With a larger battery you will be able to have renewable energy to get the homes energy requirements through the night.
It I also possible to charge your battery on a cheap rate tariff to use during peak hours, even if your solar has not charged it. Some energy companies provide special tariffs that allow you to do this and it's another way of saving money long term.
Again our solar system designers can help you choose the right battery for your requirements.
Can I charge my electric vehicle from my solar?
Yes! If your solar system generates enough energy to power your home, excess power can be sent to large your car or charge the batteries for the household.
Once again our solar design team can plan this into the system size whether you have a car now or not. An EV charge can be installed by us during the installation of your solar system or at a later date.
Electric vehicles represent the future of transportation, offering environmental benefits such as reduced emissions, quieter operation, and significantly lower operational costs. On average, the annual cost of refueling an electric car is an impressive 58% less than that of a traditional gasoline-powered vehicle.
Can I divert power to heat my hot water?
Yes! There are a variety of systems on the market that will allow you to manage your solar produced energy to divert to a number of facilities including powering your hot water immersion tank.
Your tank has to have an immersion heater for this to work, even if the hot water is heated by gas or oil, your tank may still have an immersion back up.
The management system of the power supply will then send power to the electric tank heater. This can be sequenced, so that your batteries get charge first, then your car, then your hot water. This is better than sending excess power generated back to the grid.
Can I really sell excess energy back to the grid?
The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is a scheme that allows those producing excess renewable energy so sell it back to the grid.
We as an MCS qualified installer can apply for Distribution Network Operators permission also known DNO before your install.
There are two levels, a G98 for smaller solar systems which in simple terms would be using an inverter less than 5kw and a G99 for larger set ups. We apply for these on your behalf. The G98 is fairly simple but the G99 is more include as the grid provider needs to access the viability and safety of returning more energy to the grid. In some cases this can be denied, though not often.
You will also need a smart meter if you do not already have a suitable one. This will enable to you track your energy usage and allow the energy company to bill you correctly for the net usage of their energy consumed.
System Monitoring
Your hybrid inverter will be able to connect to your home wifi. You will be able to download an app which will then display and manage the energy produced from your system.
Your should be able to see:
The amount of energy your panels are generating in real time
The amount of energy your panels have generated
Where the energy is being directed around the home
Grid import
Battery usage
Once the install has taken place our engineer will show you how to set this up and use it before leaving site.
Commercial Projects
We can offer a range of solutions for commercial projects, large and small.
We can also offer fully funded financing solutions
Why Choose
Arrow Insulation & Energy Solutions?
1
MCS Certified
We have our MCS accreditation which allows us to connect your solar to the national grid. Companies without MCS are not qualified to install your solar project
2
Highly accredited with Trustmark
Along with MCS we are also a Trustmark company operating to PAS standards in order to fulfil movement related works. We comply to CHAS, CITB, IAA and fully insured
3
Operating to consumer codes
Along with the accreditations we also operate to standards set by both REEC and WHICH? Trusted traders for your protection and peace of mind.
4
Established since 2014
We have been established with a long trading history first as an insulation company and now also installers of solar, batteries and car chargers since 2014
5
In-house certified teams
We do no use out source sub contracted teams, so we can be assured of the quality of the install from our own established teams, which is good news for you.
6
We are installers not sales teams
During our surveys and discussions we will try to develop the right package for your requirements, but we are not hard sales oriented, we will simply provide good advice along with a good service.
7
We offer Deposit Protection
We can offer a deposit protect through a third party for your peace of mind. Paying by credit card also affords you protection and we do accept all major cards.
8
Insurance backed guarantees.
Each product we use comes with long guarantees, but we also offer an insurance backed workmanship guarantee too, for your peace of mind.
Make a renewables enquiry
Check your electric bill to find your annual consumption, your bill should show you this figure.
