It's a beauty

J

JulianC

Was googling for solar pv wall mounts, as you do, when I came across this:

Photo.ashx


http://www.checkatrade.com/Handlers...5-4ca8-9275-932846004931&width=716&height=537

Erm, impressive ain't it :pimp:

Anyhow, now that I am free from the shackles of MCS, I am launching headlong into the heady world of DIY eco-bodgery. I have a couple of amps spare capacity on my 16A G83 limit, a Soladin winging its way to me as we speak, and a short section of suntrap-esque south facing fence close to the house that's begging to be clad in a pv panel or two (well, three to be precise - I'm off to Dulas to pick up some of their snazzy Solar Frontier 150 thin films next week. PVSyst reckons 450W of these will far outperform 500W of crystalline for a similar outlay, mainly 'cos they'll be mounted at around 60degrees from the horizontal, to minimize loss of patio and maximise winter generation to dump to space heating). Which leads me onto my question - does anyone know of a proprietary, lightweight alu. mounting frame that can be hung vertically to provide around 60 degrees of inclination for Solar Frontier panels in portrait, which are a shade under 1300 x 1000? Or shall I just butcher some timber and cobble together a frame to suit?:cowboy: Yee haw!
 
i've never seen a monkey's abortion, but now at least i know what it looks like.
 
You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait till I've siliconed my three panels to the shiplap fence and hid the inverter under a plastic bucket to keep the rain off. I may post a pic. I may not.
 
JulianC said:
You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait till I've siliconed my three panels to the shiplap fence and hid the inverter under a plastic bucket to keep the rain off. I may post a pic. I may not.
Click to expand...
cable ties and carrier bag should be sufficient, not need to splash the cash on expensive silicon and buckets.
 
love the way this one's got the installers name embeded into it, so they can be imortalised across the web for it.
 
Bodgit and Run They Are obviously proud of these types of installs
Portfolio

20120702_110810.jpg
 
And don't comment on the H&S aspects of that scaffold either.


Probably just scrambled up the neighbour's roof to take the photo as well!!
 
must admit there's probably 2 we've done that are a bit similar to that where the customer basically insisted on us squeezing every last drop from the roof space, I guess it depends a bit on whether anyone can actually see the system or not - one of ours it can pretty much only be seen by cows, the other we really did try to talk them into a more sensible design but they could see that we could squeeze a couple more panels down the side of the velux's and insisted that's what they wanted.

Saw this last pair at the show last weekend actually, and they were loving their installation, happily stood on our stand for 20 minutes telling everyone how good we were, so I suppose there are instances where the customer should be allowed to over rule our judgement (not often mind).
 
erm actually I take that back, I just realised that they could have actually got all the panels lined up instead of just throwing them on.... so fair enough that is **** poor.
 
Jesus Christ.... and these are the ones they put on their website? I actually laughed out loud.

Frankly, the council should be demanding that they take that lot down.
 
So are we actually going to let a guy that is clearly proud of his appalling and dangerous installation practices get away with it, or is someone going to drop a line to the H&SE ?

The way he has posted these as good examples of his work mean that he is actually putting himself and his employees life at risk, not just once, it is on a regular basis and he either doesn't care or is completely ignorant (in the proper sense of the word)

I know we aren't all perfect, however there is something unsafe on every picture during construction. (let alone how the PV has been installed)

p.s. dansk, you missed this one :) http://www.rdbgreen.com/images/scroller//larger/dscf0057.jpg

This really must be the worst portfolio of work from one installer that I've seen
 
I'm staggered that someone would put that kind of stuff on their website. They are clearly ignorant of what makes a good job.

But lets not be hasty here. This is a family business. If there is anything wrong with the quality of the work then it is up to MCS or the customer to get involved. If we are genuinely concerned about H&S then fair enough but to be honest the one roof with no scaffold is a single story, low pitch. I wouldn't use a scaffold either.

After all, a potential customer must surely be looking at their website portfolio before signing contracts, right?
 
There is no minimum height at which the Working at Heights Regulations 2005 apply.
A fall from 2m (single storey bungalow) is just as likely to cause serious injury as one from 6m, the only difference: You don't bounce as high.
Note these are legally enforceable Statutory Regulations, NOT guidelines or BS's. You can be JAILED for breaking them.
 
From memory: I believe most of us posting on this thread have used boss type towers on bungalow installs and they do not comply with the working at height regs when installing solar panels. But hey ho, when it's someone else..............
 
Worcester said:
There is no minimum height at which the Working at Heights Regulations 2005 apply.
A fall from 2m (single storey bungalow) is just as likely to cause serious injury as one from 6m, the only difference: You don't bounce as high.
Note these are legally enforceable Statutory Regulations, NOT guidelines or BS's. You can be JAILED for breaking them.
Click to expand...

I agree but as it is always me who works on the roof, I'm not putting anyone else at risk. If the pitch is shallow enough, I am sure most of us know we are safe enough to not take worry about the risk.
 
infinity said:
Looks like they are a local competitor of mine as well! Better remember this website for future customers :)
Click to expand...

Not on MCS and FiT info well out of date on website. Possibly out of the industry already. Plenty more like them though. :confused:
 
RDB Green Ltd are listed on the NICEIC website with an address in Fareham

Alistair Colson Born: 28 years ago
Directorships:
Rubicon Design & Build Limited
06355929 (In Liquidation)
Possible Adverse Information19th July 2012
Director, Electrician
06 Apr 2009 — Present (4 years, 7 months, 4 days)

Rdb Green Limited
08275877
Director, Director
31 Oct 2012 — Present (1 year, 10 days)
 
Worcester said:
A fall from 2m (single storey bungalow) is just as likely to cause serious injury as one from 6m, the only difference: You don't bounce as high.
Click to expand...
That's completely wrong.

There's a very good chance of landing without injury from 2m for anyone who knows how to land, vs a good chance of serious injury if you land from 6m (though I remember falling about 6m from a tree as a kid and just being badly winded, so it is possible to land it ok, but I'd not recommend it).

From 2m you'd be travelling at 6.3 m/s when you landed vs 10.8 m/s if landing from 6m, or 14mph vs 24mph.

Or to put it another way, the landing from 2m is pretty much the landing velocity of a parachutist on hitting the ground, and last time I checked, HSE accepted trained parachutists landing at those speeds as being safe.

The danger would really come from someone falling awkwardly / landing on their back etc, but that can be mitigated via other means than scaffolding in most situations.
 
Worcester said:
Note these are legally enforceable Statutory Regulations, NOT guidelines or BS's. You can be JAILED for breaking them.
Click to expand...
these are the relevant sections of the legislation that clearly indicate that falls from different heights should be assessed differently, rather than applying a blanket approach to anything that's not on ground level.

(3) Where work is carried out at height, every employer shall take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury
Click to expand...
Selection of work equipment for work at height
7.—(1) Every employer, in selecting work equipment for use in work at height, shall—
(b) take account of—
(iii) the distance and consequences of a potential fall;
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Back to the original post, here's some classics from the website of another local installer, what is it about Hampshire???

best.JPG
3.JPG
2.JPG
4.JPG
 
jerriais said:
Back to the original post, here's some classics from the website of another local installer, what is it about Hampshire???
Click to expand...

Too much money, too little sense ? Ok, Ya :)
 
i like the one with the rail over the velux! That could be another way of ensuring rail bonding is not necessary as access through the velux has been prevented… :thumbs_down:
 
infinity said:
i like the one with the rail over the velux! That could be another way of ensuring rail bonding is not necessary as access through the velux has been prevented… :thumbs_down:
Click to expand...
That's good one, - look closely and they've used hanger bolts, and I particularly like the wooden stability block at the top of the highest panel, that'll stop it wobbling in the wind :)
 
Worcester said:
'nuff said : Health and safety in roof work
Click to expand...
not really.

Which section of that document are you pointing to as backing up your previous statements?

I've quoted from the actual statutory document btw, you're now referencing a guide having previously mentioned the statutory regulations involved.

Anyway, from that guidance...

Appendix 7, Edge Protection
4 The decision on which type of edge protection to use must be made by a competent person who has all of the information about the work that is to
be undertaken. Similarly, the person who installs the edge protection must be
competent in its installation and dismantling.


5 Where roofs are steep and/or materials are large or heavy the risk is greater and
so a full scaffold may be the most appropriate. At the other end of the spectrum,
if the work is to be carried out on a non-fragile flat roof then a simple handrail, or
possibly a system using counterweights to support a handrail, will be adequate.

Consider using a system that is also appropriate to the duration of the work – an
access platform that requires minutes to position to carry out minor work may
involve less risk of working at height than a comprehensive scaffolding solution
which takes a large number of man hours to install and dismantle.
Click to expand...

Which bit of this guidance do you think indicates that it's recommending a once size fits all approach to edge protection for all roof heights, types and steepnesses?
 
There's another one where they've got the L bracket upside down on the hangar bolt and cable neatly sandwiched between two concrete tiles.
 
New eco-rail product, made from sustainable managed forests. Maybe the designer told them this job needed some noggins added ;-)
 

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