Solar Panels With Microinverters, Brentford TW8

Solar with a microinverter on every panel, in Brentford

We installed a compact solar system on the slate roof of a single-storey extension in Brentford TW8, with 445W panels and an Enphase IQ8AC microinverter on each panel. Each panel works on its own, so shade or dirt on one does not reduce the output of the others. The microinverters carry a 25-year manufacturer warranty, and the system was certified to MCS standards with the DNO notified.

The extension roof is small and close to the walls of the house, which is exactly where shade moves across panels during the day. That is why this system has an inverter per panel rather than one for the whole array. Bird mesh is clipped round the edge of the array, so pigeons cannot nest in the gap under the panels, which is the most common cause of mess, noise and chewed cables on a London roof.

With a single string inverter, one shaded panel pulls down the whole string. With a microinverter behind each panel, every panel produces what it can and a fault on one never stops the system. The system reports each panel's output separately, so a problem shows up as one panel, not as a vague drop in the total.

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The job in short

• Where: Brentford TW8, west London
• Panels: 445W high-efficiency panels
• Inverters: Enphase IQ8AC microinverters, one per panel
• Roof: Slate roof of a single-storey extension
• Also fitted: Bird mesh round the array
• Monitoring: Panel by panel
• Paperwork: MCS, DNO notification, Electrical Installation Certificate

Photos from the job