The best time to install solar and storage isn’t after the project is finished — it’s while the walls are still open. Ted was renovating his Cairneyhill home and came to us early, which meant we could specify the consumer unit, isolator runs, cable routes, and DNO paperwork around the system from day one, rather than retrofitting around them later.
What we installed
- 10 kWp solar array — 22 panels, pitched to make the best of the roof orientation
- 10 kW hybrid inverter — solar, battery, and grid handling in one unit
- 10 kWh lithium battery storage — matched to the inverter so it charges and discharges at its full rated power
- Consumer unit and first-fix wiring specified with the future system already in mind — no ugly add-ons, no surface-mounted conduit, no compromises
Why 10/10/10
The power ratings line up on purpose. A battery with lower kW output than the inverter would bottleneck discharge speed; solar oversized beyond the inverter would clip on sunny days. Keeping all three at 10 kW means the system runs balanced — no single component wasted, no single component throttled.
Why renovate-and-install together
Doing it in one go means:
- One round of electrical sign-off, not two
- No chased walls later to pull battery cable through finished plaster
- Consumer unit sized correctly first time — not upgraded a year later when the system goes in
- Cleaner install, lower total cost, faster commissioning
Outcome
The system is sized to cover the vast majority of the household’s consumption through the lighter half of the year, and to meaningfully offset grid import through winter. Once Ted’s back in the finished house, he starts generating, storing, and using his own power from day one — no second-phase disruption, no patch-up job.