5.4kW solar panel and battery installation in Westbury, Wiltshire

The story of this install

A big-usage bungalow

Wayne and his wife use far more electricity than most homes: over 11,000kWh a year, more than three times a typical household, from a single-storey bungalow. They came to our Melksham showroom wanting to know whether a modest roof could still make a real difference.

Making the most of a small roof

Most of the panels sit on the main roof face, a little east of south at a steep 44°, with one more on a smaller face. One section gets some shade, so it has an optimiser to stop it holding the rest back. In all, 11 LONGi 490W panels (5.4kWp).

With usage that high, the battery matters as much as the panels. A GoodWe 6kW hybrid inverter runs three GoodWe batteries for 24kWh of storage, so the bungalow can store cheap overnight power as well as its own solar. Their quote also included our 30-year LONGi panel replacement warranty, which covers the labour and access costs of swapping a panel, and a GoodWe gateway to be added once GoodWe launched it.

Encouraged to compare

Wayne's own review mentions something we're proud of: our team suggested they get quotes from other installers to compare against ours. They came back to us anyway.

In his words, “the install went like clockwork and the team were punctual, polite, and finished ahead of schedule.” MCS certification and network approval were handled for them, and the system went live in August 2026.

Living with it

A household using this much electricity will always buy some from the grid, especially in winter. The aim was to cut that as far as the roof allows and to shift the rest to the cheapest hours. The app shows exactly where each unit comes from.

Yearly generation is the MCS estimate made for this home before installation, using the standard MCS method. Real output varies from year to year with the weather.