REI Mar-Apr 2012 - Renewable Energy Installer

Knowledge: Solar PV
Team effort pays off
olfex Energy Systems and
S southern regional installer Ocean
Solar recently undertook a 16kw
system in the South West of
England. This comprised of 66 panels of the
Kioto 225w/p module.
The installation was carried out on
The New Forest Enterprise Centre, local to
the New Forest National Park, an area of
renowned natural beauty.
The investment was discussed prior to
the install being taken out due to planning
and also the return of investment. As this was
a major investment the New
Forest Enterprise Centre confirmed how
pleased it was with the saving made on CO2
emissions.
Ken Budden of Ocean Solar, commented:
“This is a very nice project to be have been
involved with and also having carried out a lot
of installations in the surrounding areas, this is
the most bespoke system and largest we have
68 | www.renewableenergyinstaller.co.uk
carried out.”
The company used the Kioto KPV
module with a 12 year manufactures product
guarantee, a 97 per cent module efficiency for
the first year which then drops by 0.75 per
cent reduction per annum. This was proven to
the customer using independent simulation
software, which highlighted that the modules
outperformed some rival cell modules,
producing up to 10 per cent more Kwh per
annum.
The module also boasts a low weight
of only 16.5kg, which, says Solfex, was also
ideal for this installation as 66 modules had
to be lifted into place. In addition, the module
was a low profile of 33mm. All these factors
were taken into consideration because of the
number of modules being installed.
The module has also passed IEC 67101
(the salt mist corrosion test) the atmospheric
details for the salt mist corrosion with highly
concentrated atmosphere so the end user
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is assured of a robust top quality and high
performing module with the best warranty
conditions. Also being so close to the south of
England the salt mist corrosion was also taken
in to consideration before the installation was
carried out.
Solfex and Ocean Solar both use inhouse
design engineers and all the necessary
calculations such as the correct inverter
selection for this project for the maximum
yield and also the calculation of the wind
loading structure were undertaken. The
mounting system chosen was the On-Roof
Tau system – this was due to the roof being
a trapezoidal roof and Solfex was able to offer
the lateral fastening of fix clips to the raised
bead for this particular project.
Solfex is delighted with the way this
project was carried out and that everyone was
pleased with the results. The entire system
was installed in two days from start to finish.
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