17/07/2026
We returned to a home in Hemel to re-fit the panels we had removed from the south-facing roof back in May to make way for a dormer. The customer had purchased the property with an existing solar and battery system and wanted to re-use as much of the original equipment as possible. These types of re-fits can often be straightforward, but this one was not.
We discovered a number of issues:
⚠️ 5 of the 12 panels had damaged DC cables caused by rodents chewing them, despite some basic pigeon protection being in place.
⚠️ A 3-phase outdoor-rated AC cable (containing 4 x 6mm² conductors) had been used in place of proper DC solar cabling between the inverter and the two panel strings. This is not compliant, as it cannot withstand the temperature requirements of DC solar installations.
⚠️ The rotary isolator between the panels and the inverter was actually an AC isolator, despite being dressed in the black and white colours typically associated with a DC isolator.
⚠️ GivEnergy went into administration a few months ago, so we wanted to avoid doing anything that might disrupt the existing system.
As scaffolding was already in place around the house and garage, we took the opportunity to give the existing panels a good clean before testing them and mounting the five usable panels on the garage roof. We then installed the new panels on the north-facing roof so the customer could continue generating as much solar energy as possible.
Although we were unaware of the cabling and isolator issues beforehand, we had already planned to install new DC cabling and isolators so that we could fully stand behind the safety and compliance of the system. New wire mesh pigeon protection has also been installed around both arrays, which should keep the cable-chewers at bay.
