Solar with Sigenergy storage in Herriard, Hampshire

The brief

A complete home energy system rather than panels with a battery bolted on afterwards: generation, substantial storage, and something intelligent enough to decide where the electricity should go at any given moment.

The array

Twelve AIKO A475-MCE54Mb 475W panels were installed, giving 5.7 kWp of installed capacity. The all-black modules sit cleanly against the existing roof while getting a high output from the area available.

Generation is prioritised for use inside the property first. Only once the house has taken what it needs does surplus go to the battery, and only once the battery is satisfied does anything go to the grid.

The Sigenergy system

The array was paired with a Sigenergy SigenStor EC 10.0SP inverter and a SigenStor BAT 27.0 battery.

27kWh is a substantial store for a domestic property. It is the difference between covering the evening and covering the evening, the night and the following morning — which is what makes a time-of-use tariff genuinely worth having.

Intelligent energy management

A Sigenergy SIG-GATEWAY-SP-12K was fitted to manage communication between the array, the battery, the household circuits and the grid connection.

In daylight, solar covers household demand first, surplus charges the battery, and anything still left over is exported. When generation drops, the property draws from the battery instead of the grid. The gateway is what makes those decisions rather than leaving them to a fixed schedule.

Monitoring

The system reports through the mySigen app, showing current generation, daily, monthly and yearly totals, battery state of charge, grid import and export, and household consumption.

Monitoring matters more than people expect. A system you can see is a system you can change the habits around — and it is how you spot a fault in week three rather than at the next service visit.

Expected generation

The 5.7 kWp array is estimated to generate approximately 5,523 kWh a year. Paired with storage of this size, a far greater share of that generation stays in the property instead of being exported for a few pence.

As always, an estimate is an estimate — weather, shading and household routine all move the real figure.

Certification and handover

The homeowner was given a full system handover manual covering operation, monitoring, maintenance and emergency shutdown.

Project documentation includes MCS certification, the Electrical Installation Certificate, a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate, DNO notification or approval, product datasheets, manufacturer manuals, commissioning records, electrical test results and warranty documentation.

The result

A 5.7 kWp array, 27kWh of storage and a gateway managing the flow between them — a complete home energy system built around keeping as much of the generated electricity in the house as possible.