@fafrd Local planning shouldn't need to get involved, as the actual panel install is covered by permitted development. However the electrical work is, specifically the mains 240v, and a qualified electrician should be used, they will sign off the work and notify the local council - in the UK it's reffered to as Part P. You can do electrical work yourself, and the council would have to inspect it, but many will not, and it can get horribly complicated. My install is a whole house back up, I've diverted the incoming mains via my garage which will house a Victron Quattro 48/10000 and around 28kWh of batteries.
I'm not great with digesting lots of technical info, remembering it, and then making sure its done 100% right, hence also using an electrician.
For those that think its easy, I wonder just how many of used the wrong type breakers, which if wired incorrectly could actually catch fire in a fault scenario?
We already have 4kw of solar on our house roof, which was installed in December 2015, this is comprised of 16 panels witha Solaredge inverter and optimisers, and uses the best two roof's of the house. As some of you might be aware on the solar thread I've been looking into getting an additional...
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OK, so it sounds like as far as planning, permitting, and inspection, you’ve got nothing to worry about except for electrical.
For the AC electrical work itself, your electrician should be able to help you with sufficient efficiency so that it does not cost you an arm and a leg in terms of hours.
From my perspective, all of the ‘risk’ in this project and the potential hairball you run into centers on the battery (possibly including the DC wiring depending on your electrician’s experience with DC).
I have a similar DIY battery to yours I’m my basement (but not nearly as attractive as yours).
California will not allow me to get a permit ir pass an inspection with a DIY LiFeOO4 battery.
If/when I complete my system and want to get it permitted and inspected, I will need to ditch my DIY 14kWh LiFePI4 battery for an OTS battery on California’s list of ‘approved’ batteries.
I believe that Victron is listed for residential install in the UK, do you should have no issues there, but I’d suggest that you or your electrician look into permitting / inspection requirements as far as batteries before getting ahead of yourself.
They ‘grey zone’ that many exploit over here in California is to get permitted and ivspected got a modest-size battery backup system using a small number of Lead Acid batteries which they then switch out for larger LiFePO4 batteries (either DIY or OTS but not on the ‘approved’ list) once the inspection has been passed.
You’ve got your electrician involved, so whether you wire up AC breakers and he signs off on the AC wiring and the breaker sizing, you should have little to worry about there.
You should familiarize yourself with DC wiring and DC breaker sizing enough to not be nervous about it (especially if you are using a DIY battery) and you should also understand the level of experience your electrician has with DC wiring before moving forward with him.
Any licensed electrician will have little difficulty understanding DC wiring and safety requirements for DC wiring, but if your electrician has no experience with ether, you’ll be paying him a lot of hours to learn.
Spending those hours yourself and paying the electrician only to check the rules / regulations you followed and to confirm you interpreted them all correctly should cost you much less of his time (and will benefit you from reducing / eliminating your nervousness).
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