PV Panels on a vertical wall

[binky]

I can't believe I am facing so much resistance from the installers in the north west.

Lack of imagination and can't be arsed when they have so many customers..

 

[bladerunnerpv]

Hi Bob,
is using rest-uk.com kit still your preferred solution for wall-mounted panels?

I see in another thread that wall-mounted panels are part of your installation plan

thanks

 

[Bob Smith]

Hi Bob,
is using rest-uk.com kit still your preferred solution for wall-mounted panels?

I see in another thread that wall-mounted panels are part of your installation plan

thanks

They have been short-listed even if at some point they clearly forgot about me for nearly 2 months. I am very patient.
Yes wall mounted panels are part of the plan

Is that part of your installation?

 

[bladerunnerpv]

It was a possibility I started looking at as the gable end of the house is almost due south, but I had discounted it as not appearing viable, mostly due to wind concerns.

During a 20yr usage lifetime a wall mounted panel installation is going to get storm force winds often enough to make the damage or destruction of panels a possibility in my mind and I just didn't get that warm happy contented feeling that they would be secure enough to prevent being lifted off the brackets at some point!

Happy to be proved wrong though!

 

[binky]

It was a possibility I started looking at as the gable end of the house is almost due south, but I had discounted it as not appearing viable, mostly due to wind concerns.

During a 20yr usage lifetime a wall mounted panel installation is going to get storm force winds often enough to make the damage or destruction of panels a possibility in my mind and I just didn't get that warm happy contented feeling that they would be secure enough to prevent being lifted off the brackets at some point!

Happy to be proved wrong though!

Panels are designed to withstand hurricane force winds. If you check specs you will see numbers quoted like 3000 Pascals ( wind pressure is measured in Pascals) that equates to about 3 tons. Your roof panels get exposed just as much, being wall mounted makes little difference. The modern oddity with roofs is wind coming over the ridge and edges of the roof literally tries to suck the panels off - ohh I say missus ( to be said in your best Frankie Howard impression)

 

[bladerunnerpv]

Hi Binky,
blimey Frankie Howard! I never imagined he would make it into the realm of PV installation! Nor the Bernoulli effect (iirc)

Thanks for the info on the panels, that's reassuringly robust

tbh my gut instinct was more concerned about the mounting system's interfaces. Would the weak point be more likely to be the mounting system's connections to wall or panel?

 

[Bob Smith]

So you will not want them flat on the wall?
Be aware of building regulations. I posted the national regulation which is sometimes overwritten by the local councils. Near Birmingham I was told they allow up to 4 inches of protrusion.

Once you know what you are allowed without planning, then it will either be obvious that it will be strong enough because they won't be that much on a slop.
If you go for the ideal angle, you may need permission.

As for your concerns about the wind, just make sure you select strong enough mounting kits. The manufacturer will inform you

You may have seen from my photos that I also have a flat roof. I originally thought I could have 2 panels on ballasted support with 25° incline from Resolsun (I think)
after talking to them I realized that they would have been too close to the edges and therefore not recommended.

I am pretty sure you'll find a technical solution. Now, will it be cheap enough? That's the question

 

[binky]

tbh my gut instinct was more concerned about the mounting system's interfaces. Would the weak point be more likely to be the mounting system's connections to wall or panel?

Schletter frame rails on roof hooks can have upto an unsupported span of 1.4m. So, the frame rails are strong. Drill some 10 mm holes in frame rails and use Rawl bolts with a stud to fix the rails to the wall ( that would be flat to the wall rather than at an angle) and you will be fine. No different to fixing say battens for cladding, which from what I've seen is probably far weaker as it relies on flimsy timber battens.

 

[OddLion]

I quite like a little challenge job, keeps my engineering brain working. In this site it was not possible to roof mount, and the cutomer didnt want to see the panels, or a canopy type array, so I built a frame below a stone wall, consisting of unistrut cemented in the ground, added tie bars to the wall fixed in with chemical reasin and then bolted the panels to the unistrut.

Very creative solution, but I assume also not MCS compliant, right?

 

[OddLion]

Thinking about what you have done with those vertical panels. This is actually pretty neat. I can't believe I am facing so much resistance from the installers in the north west. The bizarre thing is that they don't even mention planning permissions or legal constraints which shows they have no clue. Fortunately, I have the answer (see at the beginning of this post).

Bob, I've been trying to find an installer who will even entertain the idea (we have a big and unshaded wall that gets great sun). Lots of bluster about 'not sure it's possible, not sure it's allowed' etc. Please let us know what you decided to do with this, and how it worked out.

 

[binky]

Very creative solution, but I assume also not MCS compliant, right?

MCS is irrelevant, there is no FiT payments for which you would need MCS.

There's plenty of options for mounting solar panels on a vertical wall. Entire buildings are clad with panels.

 

[Bob Smith]

Bob, I've been trying to find an installer who will even entertain the idea (we have a big and unshaded wall that gets great sun). Lots of bluster about 'not sure it's possible, not sure it's allowed' etc. Please let us know what you decided to do with this, and how it worked out.

Hi OddLion

I am so glad to see more and more people realizing the potential of having panels on the walls. Of course this should not be the location of first choice for obvious reasons.

I assume you have found the links I have provided and read the one from the building regulation gov website.
Apparently, each council can have different requirements but not least what the UK gov says. So the minimum is 20cm.
My council is useful less and did not even know the 20cm requirement, they wanted me to submit a planning application.

As for the installers. Well if some are on that forums, they must get quite upset with the reputation of their industry. I have had so many installers clearly taking me for an idiot with all sorts vague responses, and misleading information when, indeed, they had no bloody clue. One told me there was no MSC-approved mounting kit!!!

I have found, since, I found REST (mentioned above) other companies that were OK with wall installation.
-TB Electrics (once I gave them the link) but then could not come up with a design that would work (They told me to stop asking for changes while I had to explain to them there was no changes to my initial requirements but they clearly could not understand it (for instance suddenly reducing the number of panels with no explanation). They wasted me 6 months!!
-Another one (I forgot the name), after a 2hrs site visit with 2 people, ended up not sending me a quote despite me chasing them and getting "oh let me check you should have received it
-Finally, another one which I won t name yet as I am working with them and so far so good.

I am not sure what else I could tell you. Just keep ringing them, and ask, you'll end up finding one more competent than the others

Good luck