New barn for solar panels

Mole

New Member
Location
Suffolk UK
I need a new barn and looking into solar panels.
Combining the two seems to make sense re construction ,mono pitch and orientation.
I am in Suffolk any advice appreciated.
! Optimum pitch of roof
2 Make of panel
3 Recommend barn/solar supplier
Apparently 60X80 ft should take a 50kW system should I try bigger or smaller for maximum FIT
 

Andrew K

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Essex
Optimum pitch is 25 to 35 degrees, try Ren Energy in Norwich, or Mosscliff at Eye. Both excellent to deal with.
Panels are mostly Chinese, but you can get English built Romag panels which look ok. Go for quality inverters with good warranty.
Ex Farmer can give you more detail?
 

mikelaluz

Member
Location
Cheshire
Hi a couple of pointers which may help.

Optimum pitch is 37 - 40 but I doubt you'll achieve that on a farm shed.

Also think of the sheeting on the roof from a fitting perspective it's far easier if its trapizoidal (square rather than rounded profile). The fittings are half the price of hangar bolts which are required on rounded profiles and this could amount to an extra £2k on a 50 Kwp system and it also means that the installation will be in landscape which again adds time and cost.

The EPC for farmers is becoming a bit of a nightmare. You need to think ahead on this as if you are going to feed the farmhouse then you need the farmhouse to reach band D. If you are not you'll need an EPC exemption and they are not easy. The barn needs to have it's own power source and any buildings it feeds also need to be exempt. To be exempt there must be no heating or cooling equipment and no hint of even partial habitation. We had an issue with a barn that had a breeze block built room of about 5 meters square where the farm hands brewed up. We had one Commercial EPC Consultant who wouldn't issue and exemption. And in the end we asked the farmer to demolish it prior to hiring another consultant who was then happy to issue the exemption. And don't forget once a building is exempted you drop to the middle FIT rate of 12.15p down from 13.5p

If you have issues with the farmhouse EPC it is pretty much straightforward to split the barn and farmhouse onto separate MPAN's which your DNO will do for you. And of course you can do it the other way i.e. combine the farm and farmhouse MPAN's into one so the farmhouse can take advantage and use the generated electricity.

Also ensure you get the best deal on export metering. This can range from £45 per year to £1200 per year - This is a huge chunk off 20 years profit.

Fitting a 50KWp system with a good team of roofers and a qualified electrician is very straightforward. However the process from G59 Application to getting your first FIT payment is the thing that can make or break your project.

If anyone needs any help on a proposed project please feel free to PM and I'll be happy to point you in the right (and most profitable) direction.
 

Mole

New Member
Location
Suffolk UK
Thank you for your comments the more I delve into the plans it just becomes more complicated.
I have a had no reply from the barn company emailed.
I guess a purpose built design of barn may outweigh the benefits but it seems better to use ground for a barn rather than a ground array system.
Good point about the roof sheets.
The barn is some 80 metres from the farm house so I expect losses in the cable.
Is it better to run 600V DC or even have micro inverters on each panel?
 

Matt

Member
when we did our system we put up a new shed for it. speak to a few shed suppliers to get a idea of correct size steel. typicaly a size bigger. on our one which was 105ft long by 45 ft, it was about a grand more, use column stiffners, z section purlins with sleves, c/w purlin braces. box profile sheeting for roof, 0.7mm thick. ours was 140 m from the eletric supply meter. all solar inverters and gear is in the shed. i know the jobs changed now as got to have energy efficiency certificates, from what the sparky was telling me at the time, they can do the inverters 2 ways, one as close to panels as normal, then send back high amps low v back down from shed to meter, or put inverters next to meter and send back high v low amp as in straight off the panels and convert it next to meter. we didnt want the inverters stuck on the outside wall of house so it all stayed in the barn.
 

mikelaluz

Member
Location
Cheshire
All very good points about Z section purlins and in honesty most new sheds are more than capable of taking the weight and passing uplift calcs. You will need a Structural Engineers report in any case. There is an excellent Structural Engineering outfit in Glasgow who will conduct a desk top structural roof survey for you based on a set of templated measurements and photographs. Now whilst I wouldn't recommend this for an older building it's perfect for a new shed and you'll save £500 - £600 for the exact same report. The guy to speak to is Brian McGrory of BMG Roof Surveys - 07738470160 - PM me if you want to take a look at one of his surveys. Also remember that you will need 330 sq meters for a 50Kwp system

As far as cabling / inverter the inverter should always be as near the panels as possible. It's ok loosing a little AC to the farmhouse but you don't want to lose any DC before the inverter - this is what you are paid for after all. Also from a safety perspective you want as little DC cable as possible. Your electrical engineer will advise you on this I'm sure.

Although panel prices have risen of late the expected fallout from the Chinese levy has not really bitten. The majority of the major Chinese manufacturers have set up shop in Tai Wan or elsewhere to avoid the taxes. German, Korean and Japanese panels remain unaffected so you should still be looking to secure a 50Kwp at £1000 per Kw installed or below.

If you need any further advice please do not hesitate to contact me.
 

JNP

Member
Location
Herefordshire
Hi Mole. If your looking for some info on the shed feel free to send me a pm or email and I will answer any questions you have. As for getting the optimum roof pitch, you don't need to set the roof at the optimum angle as the panels can be fitted onto a rotating framing which can be adjusted to the correct angle. That way you can set your roof at something like 22.5deg, then take up the difference in the panel mounting brackets.

We have a solar panel chap 1 mile down the road from us, Tech2000solar, good honest firm. I used to live next door to Nick the partner so I am happy to speak to him on your behalf if you wish.

Cheers
Phil
 

mikelaluz

Member
Location
Cheshire
Be careful when raising panels on the roof. From a planning perspective the panels must not protrude more than 200 mm above the roof line.

From 22.5 degrees to the optimum 37 degrees you will lose about 29 Kw hours per KW produced so this would equate to 1450 Kwh's per year.
 

JACK F

Member
Location
Essex
I need a new barn and looking into solar panels.
Combining the two seems to make sense re construction ,mono pitch and orientation.
I am in Suffolk any advice appreciated.
! Optimum pitch of roof
2 Make of panel
3 Recommend barn/solar supplier
Apparently 60X80 ft should take a 50kW system should I try bigger or smaller for maximum FIT
Make sure you don't compromise the building too much for the sake of solar panels.
Not sure what your plan with the shed is, but personally I would make sure the building is as user friendly as my priority.
If you go mono pitch at 35 degrees for the roof I would imagine there would be a massive height difference from one side of shed to other.
Either have a silly high or silly low shed at one end or other.
Not sure if I will go ahead but looking at the moment at same idea but I am favouring just a 15 degree pitch.
 

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