Making it through covid and seemingly endless lockdowns has influenced a lot of us to look at the way we live. 

Following the growing trend of moving out of the city and finding more greenspace to lay roots and set up shop from home, our clients in Newham were rearing to transform their vacation home. This family looked at their country home as an opportunity to escape the harsh lockdown environment and create a place that allowed them to work and live without restriction for their family.

However the existing system, a 10 year old 2.5 kW PV array, didn’t quite bear the load of full time residency. A major factor in leaving this beautiful home as a getaway for so many years was the lack of confidence the family had with basic access to electricity. 

The area is very familiar with rolling brown and black outs, making it virtually impossible to live on the property without proper infrastructure in place. The property struggled to keep the fridge going on a stormy night, much less trusting it could support their daily life and charging the family’s multiple electric vehicles. 

It was obvious to us that the client was already extremely energy conscious but what they urgently needed  was predictable, reliable power. With the family looking to transform this property into a full time residence and place of work it was essential that we had a grasp of the load demand, so we could properly cater to their specific needs. Through thorough communications we learned that the clients' needs were fundamentally simple; build a system that allows them to realize their dream of living in the country. 

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Even though the job at Newham had simple objectives, these projects quickly become complex behind the scenes. Starting with design, it's important for us to maintain cohesiveness with pre-existing structures and environments. 

So to keep with the industrial feel of the house we opted for all black panels and replaced conduit with cable tray where possible.

This  minimized the optic impact of adding panels to a roof with high visibility and integrated with the existing architecture.  

Design isn’t solely how a finished product will look but how well it functions. It became apparent that splitting the system to cover both the east and west facing roof surfaces would maximize battery charging and flatten the production curve we generally see throughout the day. 

The installation of two Tesla Powerwalls was our intentional resolve to the clients doubts about reliable power. With an itemized list in hand we made sure that with over 25kW hours of back up battery power, the Tesla powerwalls would cover all of the necessary load requirements in any case where power is lost. 

Both the Fronius inverter and Tesla powerwalls provided the customer with unparalleled monitoring capabilities, along with a Tesla notification system that alerts the residents when grid power has gone out. This allows our customers to feel peace of mind regardless of environmental variables. 

For us, pairing this installation with a Zappi Electric vehicle charger was a clear choice for multiple reasons. Firstly the customers needed something that was both Tesla and Jaguar compatible.

We also wanted a charger that was compatible with the clients green way of thinking. Zappi Chargers have multiple charging modes that allow the consumer to utilize 100% of green energy generated from the solar pv and battery. This means that even in the event of a blackout it is entirely possible to charge an electric vehicle. Finally, as a company, we love that all of their packaging is recycled and recyclable.

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