WHY You're Told You Can't Have More Solar Panels Fitted

There's now a new G99 fast track process that comes into force in Nov 22 for domestic customers who can now get up to 32A per phase connected in a 10-day fast track process.

My experience of owning an array on a north facing roof it that generates 50% of a comparable south facing roof - averaged over a year. A couple of points: 1) on cloudy days with diffuse lighting, the direction matters not a jot. North is as good as South. 2) In the summer, when the sun is high in the sky, the north array is almost as good as a south. So the 50% is averaged out over the year. One final point is that using Solar Edge equipment minimises shading - well worth investigating further.

There is another reason. Most houses could carry enough solar to run their entire house with battery support. The problem with this there is no tax income for the government. No VAT, no business taxes, nothing. You make your own power, store it and use it. Government earns nothing. The government don't want renewables unless they control the income stream. Great video, thank you.

There is now also what is known as G99 fast track. This allows a G98 approved inverter to be used with its export to the grid monitored and controlled via a G100 approved device so that it can generate more power, but will vary its output so that its export to the grid is limited to an agreed value - normally the 16A/3.68kW output. This allows the installed solar system to generate addition output if you are using it in your own home, so works well if you have EVs, battery storage, water heater and/or heating that uses electricity rather than gas. If an installer does not know about this solution, it maybe worth looking for an installer that does as it indicates they do not keep up with changes in the market place.

Just for completeness - if you don't apply for, or are refused anything larger than 3.68kW, it only means you cannot output more than that back to the grid. It does not mean you can't fit a system capable of generating more than that. You could fit a ~10kW system which charges suitably sized batteries and force the inverter to only output 3.68kW once the battery is at 100%. I stick by my advice that if you intend to fit solar, put as many panels that produce as much combined power onto as much roof space as you have available. Do it once and do it as big as possible. If you have to budget, then pay less for a smaller inverter or battery, then aim to upgrade it when your situation changes.

We've just been told by the local DNO (SP Energy Networks) that we have to fit a 12kW export limiter to a 33kW array on a large leisure centre because of local 'network limitations' despite the building having an incoming 3 phase, 200A per phase supply. The place is open every day from 8am to 9pm using a large amount of power in internal high bay lighting and air conditioning. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Seems like somebody is terrified of losing kWh sales.

You've done your homework mate, well done, I've been through all this myself, now Ive got 4.5kw on my south facing roof (unshaded) a 5kw hybrid inverter and 2 10kw batteries, for my small terranced house it's overkill I know but through the summer I'm making nearly £100 a month in exports on Octopus Agile Outgoing, hence I've built up £400+ in credit which should be more than enough to get me through the winter, I'm basically off-grid and have been for over a year now, I've also had a switchover fitted in case of power cuts, I did have an EPS but I want the option of powering the entire house. Great video and much appreciated. 🤜🤛

My personal experience of asking for a 28 panel 11kW array with a 10kW battery, has been very straightforward. The installer didn't blink. They explained the DNO permission situation and have submitted the application to the DNO without any deposit. I've already made sure that the cutout fuse was upgraded to 100amps and had a smart meter fitted. I already have a Zappi installed for my EV. My roof is almost directly East West but has quite a shallow pitch, so both roofs get sun for well over half the day. I can almost spit as far as the substation and there isn't much PV installed locally.

You do a great job explaining at a decent pace so that I don’t get bored and stop listening and the info is spot on. A lot of videos on YouTube take so long to say basic stuff and I find they miss all the information that you’ve mentioned. Keep up the good work 👏👏👏

I honestly feel all options should be given to the customer so the customer can decide themselves

I have a 14 panel Solar edge system on a south facing garage roof in NE England. Peak array output in optimum conditions is upto 5KW which is obviously way more than domestic consumption most of the time so I also have a 10KWh battery. On good days in the summer the battery can be full by lunchtime after which I lose power into the grid. This prompted me to get a hybrid car when I changed this summer and I have a Volvo V60 which has its own 10KWh battery. This works for me as I work mainly from home so the car can be charged during the periods of peak generation and use the power previously exported into the grid. From November to February however production falls dramatically which means that the battery spends long periods at its minimum charge setting of 11% which is optimised for summer use. This is where I find Solar edge limiting as I would like to have control of the battery draw setting so it could be set higher in the winter and if combined with an isolator be used as a cover for power cuts rather than as a generation extender in the far more productive summer months.

That makes a lot of sense. Companies are eager to do what the government rewards them for, and are hesitant to do anything that the government makes challenging.

I give my customers the choice, I do G99 applications for free. I’ve had 3 turned down for nonsensical reasons with National Grid. If you’re trying to use export limitation on a system above 3.68 then you still need a G99 unfortunately It’s not a lie to oversize a system with a smaller inverter as long as it’s in the contract We should be allowed 7kw as standard and less red tape

The best option would be to raise the cap from 3 odd up to 5-6kw

Great video mate. Had applied for a big system with big inverter and submitted. Their answer was that their wires were not going to be able to cope if I exported entire production; nothing was said in case if I imported same amount... that it should melt down as well. Long story short, installers reduce a bit panels and reduce inverter.

I was told by mulitple installers that my local DNO blanket refuse all domestic applications for larger inverters, I was basically told 99% will have spent the money for G99 application for nothing. I have 19 panels over E S and W roofs with a 3.6Kw inverter. Very occasionally in the middle of the summer it clips once the batteries are full so it's not really an issue but if I had a larger south roof it would be. One installer told me they even have difficulty getting industrial 3 phase installs approved over 5kw per phase in some areas. Seems to me if that's true the grid company are just avoiding having the number of solar installs build up to the point where they have to do infrastructure upgrades. The grid should be upgraded to cope with the max local roof capacity by the industry (which cost will be carried by all consumers not the individual Solar plant owner, if the locally generated solar power was properly priced into the kwh price everyone including people without solar would benefit, so why should the solar plant owners carry the full bill?) government should be subsidizing grid upgrades as well as part of net zero policy.

When the FIT scheme started I asked an electrical engineer I knew well if the scheme was too good to be true. He told me “no but it can’t last”. We had converted some barns that we had on the farm and applied to the DNO (naively as it turned out) to put a 16 amp string in for each barn. We were restricted to systems less than 11kws in total unless we contributed to an infrastructure upgrade. We went with the reduced scheme but when up and running we couldn’t understand why the PVs cut out when we had full sun. We discovered that being in a rural area, rather than strengthening the network when new homes were added, the voltage was increased so that homes at the end of the line didn’t have a supply falling below the legal voltage. We on the other hand had a supply which exceeded the legal limit when the sun was at its best. Adjustments were made to correct the problem. We also completed our original scheme but not until the rules were changed on G99 some 2 to 3 years later- very close to the end of the FIT scheme

Thankfully things did get better. Quick form to my DNO, permission granted for 8kW inverter within in a few days and all for zero fee. Getting the sun to shine... that has alluded me.

Your are spot on about the benefits of east and west orientated arrays as mine are split 60/40 to provide most power when needed, maximise on-site consumption and avoid export, although power drops off sharply during winter. (but still with some useful generation) An Eddi management unit diverts excess production to heat the water tank immersion for 9/10 months of the year and the electric car charger scoops up most of the rest. The arrays total just over 3 KW peak which meets my needs for most of the year and avoids significant export. A tip to anyone considering investing in solar is to design your system around your daily pattern of usage where possible. A smart meter should generate a chart showing this if you have an online account with your energy provider.

Well explained. I had solar fitted in April. I am very pleased so far. I didn't go for a battery at the time, but the threat of power cuts makes me think I should have.. On the plus side Octopus are paying me 15p per kwh for export.