Following is a series of images showing close ups of the solar electric modules and the solar hot water panels on the roof of the Solar Energy House in Meadowbank, Auckland, New Zealand...

On the LHS is the photovoltaic modules (1.95kW of them)

On the RHS is the 4 solar hot water panels

In the future we are adding another 200m2 of floor space which will mean extending (and replacing) the orange coloured tile roof to the right further to enable another 1.95kW photovoltaic array to be installed on it (to power the office equipment)...

So, lets get up close and personal to the roof...

These are actually a Canon roofing profile designed for the Japanese market, however the hassle and expense to get BRANZ approval was going to be too much of a headache, so it was similar to put them onto an existing roof.

Here they are fixed with a simple aluminium channel, wired together in a series configuation to have 2 sets of 15 modules. Of course I had the house designed to be facing true North and the slope of the roof is ~20 degrees to the horz to give maximum harvest of solar electricity in the summer time.

The reason we have 30 of these PV modules on the roof of our Meadowbank, Auckland house is to provide enough electricity to run the domestic appliances in the house. We also operate 2 businesses from our home and to date we have 7 computers (3 employees) powered from this system. Therefore our power bill each month is ~$35 dollars a month (average power bill in Auckland is ~$133 dollars a month.

As an aside you can see the fantastic view we have from our place. (It took us 3 years to find a property that had an East-West orientation with full sun potential all day - and a great view and location to boot!) In the far distance you can see the Auckland City Sky Tower, at the end of our street is the Orakei Basin, and to the right of the railway line is Purewa Creek which goes out to the Waitemata Harbour...

Here Sam (my wonderful father) is up on the roof helping me to install both the photovoltaic modules and on this beautiful sunny day, the solar hotwater panels....

The solar hot water panels are Chromagen brand, and are made in Israel. They are imported and distributed throughout New Zealand by John and Kathy Beavon at www.SolarHotWater.co.nz

Ideally I wanted to have 6 solar hot water panels, but unfortunately ran out of space to fit them... this would have given us an absolute abundance of hotwater in the summer months (what to do with it all!). Never mind, in practice this has not been an issue at all, as the fireplace with the wetback integrated into it has been absolutely wonderful. (Once again David Howell - the overall designer of the hotwater system - designed a fantastic, cost effective solution!).

Let's Check Out The Attic!

Now lets have a look in the attic of our solar energy house at 19 Manapau Street, Meadowbank, Auckland, New Zealand. Click here to go to photos of the attic space!

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