Usually, customers who already have solar installed may want to get more solar.

However, often they face a limit on how much “grid-connected” solar they are allowed to connect to their homes.

  • This is because the approval process requires permission from the networks to connect a grid-tied inverter, and there is a size limit on how much solar is allowed to connect to the grid, or had to comply with grid export limits. In many instances, the installer’s existing customers are likely to have had existing systems already at the largest they are allowed to have.

The Hot PV™ system is a completely separate, off-grid solar PV system. It does not need any network approvals to be installed. It is connected directly to the home’s hot water cylinder, with grid-backup for low sun days.

An installer can on-sell to existing customers by demonstrating that they can have additional solar PV on their homes.

An existing customer who is not able to add more solar to the grid-connected system can install a Hot PV™ system targeted at their hot water service. This can have as many panels as required to provide the service they require, and can be sized to provide hot water all year, even in deep winter months with shorter days.

As an off-grid system, all of the panels are able to receive STC rebates.

For the customer, they can have much more solar than the network allows. If they were happy with their existing systems, often they want more solar, not less. The Hot PV™ system lets the existing other grid-connecting system to provide electricity to all the other electrical loads in the home by taking away the hot water load.


So whereas before the installer is unable to sell more solar PV to the existing customer because of network connection limits, the Hot PV™ system allows an installer to go back to all their existing customers and sell perhaps an even bigger solar PV system to them. The installer would be able to effectively double what they would earn, from selling the customer another complete system.

Note: Some customers also may be unable to get more solar without affecting their “premium feed in tariff” arrangements. As a completely separate, stand-alone off-grid system, the Hot PV™ system does not affect premium FiT arrangements, and indeed frees up the electricity used to heat water during the day, so that this electricity can go back into the grid to earn more premium FiT.

The Hot PV™ system has a programmable grid-backup controller to ensure that on low sun days, the home still gets the hot water they need through grid-up.