Solar PV for a listed country house

The Scenario

The client was faced with significant electricity bills on the main residence of a small country estate with no obvious solution to investing in solar PV, given the orientation of the roofs and the sensitivity of a listed property. 

The Solution

JMH Farming & Renewables (JMHFR) suggested a discreet ground mounted solar PV array of 42kW installed capacity sited away from the main house but within an economic cable run back to the main meter.  Grid connection was limited to 30kW, without a significant upgrade in the local electricity wires, so inverter capacity and limiters were fitted to reduce the export potential to just under this figure.  The result was greater performance from the panels over a longer period whilst limiting sharp spikes in production during the midday hours on long summer days when it was not required.

JMHFR was engaged to work alongside the Estate’s retained planning consultants to provide the planning submission which gained approval under delegated powers from the local planning authority.

The Result

The client received a significantly higher return on investment and substantially reduced their electricity costs with no loss of amenity to the house or gardens owing to the discreet siting of the PV panels.

Our Involvement

JMHFR was retained to provide an initial feasibility study, full project management including the management of planning applications, assistance with system design, appointment of solar PV contractors through to administration of the Feed-in-Tariff and installation of a new electricity meter to capture any electricity exported to the grid.