Saint Antony’s of Parmiers is a grade one listed church which was built in the thirteenth century. We installed a 4.0 kWp PV array comprising 16 x Sharp NU-R250J5 modules on the south facing side of the church, providing the parish with a source of revenue which will help it to offset the costs of maintaining a beautiful and historic building. Annually the array can be expected to contribute revenue of about £1,750 to the parish coffers.
Obtaining planning permission to install photovoltaic panels on a building of architectural and historical significance is necessarily an exacting process. We worked closely with the parochial committee to prepare and present its application.
The array itself is hidden from any direct view from the ground by a stone parapet. Cable runs have been laid discreetly to minimise their visual impact. To preserve the weathering of the building we fabricated spring-loaded ‘roll’ clamps which attach the array securely to the leadwork of the roof without requiring any penetration of its fabric or heavy ballast.
To mitigate the impact of shading from a nearby tree at low angles of solar incidence, a Solar Edge 4000 inverter was employed. Each panel is linked to a Powerbox, which provides maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for that panel. This means that shading on one panel does not reduce the performance of other panels in the array.
