With the dual coil cylinder now in place we had the job of getting the panels on the roof. Many suppliers of solar panels are sourcing their kit from the same place so realistically there isn't much to choose between them. Where they differ is in the small details such as the brackets and connections. Halstead use 3 sensors to read the top and bottom of the cylinder as well as the panel. The control system is also suitable for evacuated tubes. They also give you the option of using stainless steel flexible hoses to connect the panels. This simplifies the job no end, and I would definitely recommend them and will always use them on future installations. The pump station was also very easy to mount on the wall with a couple of spring clips. There wasn't much room in the airing cupboard so it helped greatly to be able to assemble the pump station and pipe work and then just pop it onto the lugs.

The area where I think solar hot water really needs to be looked at, not just by Halstead but by all manufacturers is in the panels themselves. The size and weight of the panels makes them very difficult to mount on the roof. I have carried out a number of installations now and they don't get any easier. For a start it isn't a one man job and getting help on a roof is not always easy. Panel manufacturers need to learn from roof window manufacturers or there will come a time when roof window manufacturers cotton on to this market and make their own solar panels.

If and when they do they will steal the market with a smaller panel that clicks into a frame. Had the panels been half the size we could have even taken them out through a roof window. I considered hauling them up on roof ladders but having done this on the last installation I swore never to do it again. In the end the best option was to hire a two man ‘cherry picker’ which had enough capacity to get me and the panel over the ridge. Even then it involved a lot of acrobatics to get the panels off the picker onto the rails. Having a lifting eye on the panels would have been a great help.

The roof brackets on the Halstead panels are robust and well designed and I found them easy to integrate with plain clay tiles. Each bracket was coach bolted to a rafter. I took no chances with the weathering in and made sure that each bracket was backed up by a lead soaker underneath but as it was the tile coverage over the bracket was near perfect. Even so it was a full day’s work just to put in eight brackets and secure the rails. I began to think that it might have been easier and quicker to strip the tiles and fit the panels as an integrated system with flashing kits. Again this is roof window technology.