Electric combi boilers / solar panels / eco heating solutions

We had them under ours panels, Jesus they were noisy from about 4am in the summer. Had mesh put around but I think disinfecting is an overkill, they are only roof tiles and rain should wash all the shit off eventually.

I'm considering using this system if the quote for built in panels becomes stupidly expensive.

I think pigeon and pest control spray a disinfectant as standard, controlling growth. Definitely want to sort it out before the summer.
I'm not too bothered, but my wife is a light sleeper, and its really getting on her nerves.

They are also happy to fix broken roof tiles, clear gutters and install vent tiles for a bit extra while they are up on the roof, so leaning towards the solarskirt.

If I were redoing a roof, I'd definitely consider built in panels, rather than buying roof tiles.

Fuck off pigeons:

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What is the other side of their safety ropes tethered to?

The safety ropes are tied to the balcony pillars on the other side.
When doing the other side, they had ballast bags filled with tanks of water.

Rope access was hugely cheaper than 3 storey scaffolding on both sides.

And done.

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Impressed they didn't need a standoff on the ladder too.

No more 4am wake-ups from your feathered friends

They didn't really use the ladder, guess its a safety requirement?
They climbed/walked up, and rappelled down.

Pretty cool.

Birds evicted, skirting installed on both sides in approx. 3 hours.

They climbed/walked up, and rappelled down.

That would explain it!

So I learned that wood pigeons are on the amber list on the RSPB conversation status.
Who knew!

I've joined the solar panel club today. I think it's fair to say that they've made the most of the available roof space.

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Anyone got any experience of air-air heat pump? I’m thinking of what to replace our oil combi with, and quite fancy the idea of air/air with the heating and cooling possibilities.
Anything to be mindful of in particular? Appreciate that we’ll need a hot water, likely a Sunamp type thing. Have 5 rooms + bathroom + downstairs loo.

How are all you solar panellists differentiating between suppliers and installers?

The main factors seems to be cost, kit & support. Everyone seems to have verybdifferent prixi g models, and equipment is just random stuff with limited reviews.

How reusable are solar panels? We've got a fair amount of roof space that gets quite a bit of sun but am pondering a loft conversion at some point in the future.

Was wondering how much of the solar panel investment would be lost if we then did the loft (including a dormer, etc) and wanted to put panels on the new roof.

You’re lucky that the roof happens to be a 2x4 multiple of a fairly standard panel size!

Labour and scaffolding is a big part of the removal and re-installation.

Panels and inverter and battery should be fine, though might run into warranty and after care issues.

It's actually 2x8 - there's 16 400W panels up there. Slight overkill arguably, given that at the moment it appears my house generally rocks along at a steady 300-400w consumption rate.

Did you go for a battery as well?
Whether you did or not, I would highly recommend Octopus energy’s fixed export tariff at 15p/kWh.

We have 16 x 415w panels East/West and fairly regularly making 40+kWh per day and exporting 30.

Yep, 7.2kWh battery. I'm with Octopus already as I'm an ex Bulb customer so I will probably go with them. I exported 27kWh today - panels face SSW. Pity I'm not getting paid for those sweet, sweet kWhs yet.

Give it another ten years and they might even bundle pigeon protection as standard.

We used the same company a friend has used who had had an excellent experience. I’d been putting off choosing companies to approach for months as I couldn’t differentiate.
Panels in just over a week. Install was tortuous (they needed scaffolding and turned up without any first time) but install day was amazing. A bit like the big build on tv with loads of people everywhere. Not used a drop of electricity or gas since.

1 megawatt generated in June!!

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