PV panels on barn

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PV panels on barn

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Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 21 12:15 pm Post subject: PV panels on barn

I don't have the ideal house roof for PV panels - it's an odd shape and over shadowed on one side etc.

I do have a barn a bit of a distance from the house that has a south facing roof that might be ideal. There is currently no power in the barn. How viable would it be to put PV panels on the barn? I mean to power the house, I don't need power in the barn itself. I realise a trench would have to be dug back to the house, and that power is lost over distance etc... would it work? would the cost of panels plus cabling never be earned back?

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 21 1:17 pm Post subject:

i do not know current costs, but the practicalities are plausible

if you factor in a battery bank and/or grid connection, a barn size rig should give more than enough power for a household some of the time and a reasonable excess or nowt at others

iirc richard is the expert on domestic rigs, i do rough electrical engineering for a few items rather than a household

it would probably pay for itself if you plan on staying at those premises for quite a while and can sell any surplus for more than any lack you need to buy in
the feed in bonus tariff thing is not there any more afaik, but panels and batteries etc are far better per £ than they were even a few years ago.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 21 1:18 pm Post subject:
ps have you got 3 phase?

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 21 1:27 pm Post subject:
How far is the barn from the house?

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 21 1:49 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

How far is the barn from the house?

85m according to google maps

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 21 1:50 pm Post subject:
an alternative would be placing them in the field nearby - assuming this was allowed in a NP, which would be marginally further, probably more sunlight. I prefer the barn option cos it wouldnt be seen

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 21 1:52 pm Post subject:

dpack wrote:

ps have you got 3 phase?

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 21 2:25 pm Post subject:
Any sparkles on here? We had a similar situation and the installers said no to using the barn, not sure how big the losses would be. We have a battery too made sense for us

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 21 5:44 pm Post subject:
85 m is a long way for a household supply from PV, even with a very fat cable i am not even going to try the maths with those parameters closer seems essential as part of a spec for practical and value for money reasons no 3 phase makes selling significant amounts difficult near the house, battery bank, keep the mains as back up might be a direction to explore

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16004

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 21 7:40 am Post subject:
If the solar panels are on the ground in your own garden there shouldn't be a problem, but you need to check with your local planning authority. I don't think being in a NP should be a problem.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 21 12:18 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

Any sparkles on here?

We had a similar situation and the installers said no to using the barn, not sure how big the losses would be. We have a battery too made sense for us

if you were able to park your car next to the barn - might be worth considering a set up for EV s? I cant park next to barn so that wont work for me.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 21 12:35 pm Post subject:
In the end we had them on the roof, there was just more roof space on the barn.

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