Solar PV and
Electronic Security Systems

Solar panels

With the advances in technology reliability over the last year or two, solar panel efficiency has gone up, with panels of 435watts or more readily available and come with 25-30 year guarantees.

Panels can work in daylight and do not need direct sunlight to work.  They can work all year around but will perform best in summer with the longer days and more intense light.  Contrary to belief, we in Ireland actually have a very good level of solar irradience which means that solar works very well here.

Inverters

An Inverter is a device that turns the DC electrical current that comes from your Solar PV panel array into usable, grid-synchronised AC current that we use.  Inverters are available as Hybrid inverters for use in conjunction with batteries or String inverters which cannot be used with batteries but are considerably cheaper.  The inverter also manages the export of excess electricity back to the grid which will result in credit being applied to your bill, saving you even more.  We use Solis inverters which have warranties of between 5-10 years (depending on specification of the inverter).

Batteries

Battery Energy Storage Systems (B.E.S.S) are a great way to save even more by storing excess solar power generated for use later on in the day when the sun goes down. Batteries can also be charged from the grid at the cheaper night rate and discharged during peak hours when the rates are higher.

For example: You could charge the battery from the grid on a night-rate of €0.09 per kWh, but discharge the battery when the import price would be €0.30, therefore making a huge saving on your imported energy price. We use Weco batteries with a life cycle of >8000 cycles.