Tadley, Hampshire
Flat-roof solar and FOX ESS storage in Tadley, Hampshire
Twelve black panels raised across a flat roof, with the inverter, batteries and protection consolidated in the plant room — and 33 metres of armoured cable to get there.
- Solar PV and battery storage
- 5.16 kWp — 12 x 430W Canadian Solar
- 5 kW FOX ESS
- Plant room installation
Photographs from the installation
Every photograph below is from this installation in Tadley.
The finished array, raised to pitch across the flat roof and set out around the rooflights and parapet walls. 
Panels going onto the frames. Spacing between rows matters here — set them too close and the front row shades the one behind for half the winter. 
The frames installed and positioned before any panel was fitted, worked around the existing roof layout. 
The 5 kW FOX ESS inverter and battery equipment in the plant room, with the isolation and protection alongside. 
The dedicated PV consumer unit, with 32A RCBO protection and surge protection fitted.
The brief
Solar generation with storage, on a property whose flat roof was available but whose electrical supply was a long way from where the equipment needed to live. The layout of the building shaped the job as much as the roof did.
The array
Twelve 430W black Canadian Solar panels were installed on a raised mounting arrangement across the flat roof, giving 5.16 kWp.
A flat roof gives you freedom over orientation and pitch that a tiled roof does not, but you pay for it in row spacing and in working around what is already up there — in this case walls and rooflights. Careful positioning let the available area be used properly while keeping access around the array.
FOX ESS solar and battery system
A 5 kW FOX ESS inverter was installed in the plant room alongside the FOX ESS battery equipment.
Putting it there gave a single dedicated area for the inverter, the batteries, the isolation equipment and the solar electrical protection, rather than spreading them across the building. It also keeps the working parts of the system out of the living space entirely.
The electrical installation
The distance between the plant room and the incoming supply was the awkward part. Approximately 33 metres of armoured cable runs the length of the building and terminates into a 60A fused switch, which connects into the main metering arrangement. The installation also includes 16mm tails and a short section of 6mm three-core rubber cable.
The property has EV charging, so the arrangement was configured with that in mind — specifically so that charging the car does not quietly discharge the house battery, which is a genuinely common and expensive oversight.
Testing and commissioning
The completed electrical installation was tested before handover, confirming the electrical protection and the associated solar equipment were operating correctly.
The result
A 5.16 kWp array making effective use of the flat roof, paired with storage so daytime generation carries into the evening. The inverter, batteries and electrical equipment sit together in one dedicated location, which makes the system easier to understand and easier to service.
We work across this area regularly. What we install in Basingstoke.
Related services
- Solar and battery systemsPanels, hybrid inverter and storage designed as one system, on one scaffold, with one commissioning.
- Flat roof solarBallasted and mechanically fixed arrays on flat roofs, designed around wind loading and the membrane underneath.
- Battery storage installationHome battery systems sized against your consumption, sited properly and commissioned with the tariff in mind.
The technology behind it
- Hybrid invertersA single unit managing array, battery and house demand, and when fitting one is worth the extra cost.
- Mounting systemsHooks, rails, clamps and fixings — the part of the installation that decides whether the roof stays watertight.
- Monitoring systemsWhat generation, consumption and battery data actually tells you, and what a system needs fitted to produce it.
Property and roof guides
Further reading
- What size battery do I need?How evening consumption, array size, tariff and inverter power rating together decide usable battery capacity.
- How much can solar panels save?Where the savings actually come from, and the assumptions behind the numbers people quote.
- Smart Export Guarantee explainedHow export payments work, which tariffs pay best, and what you need fitted to claim them.
Where we work
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