tesla powerwall installation reading

Best Ever Testimonial for Installation of Green Energy Products

Installation of solar panels, Tesla Powerwall battery and Air Source Heat Pump

This project in Caversham has been a full installation of Green energy products. We installed 10Kw of solar panels with a supporting Solar Edge inverter and hot water diverter, a Tesla Powerwall battery, an Air Source Heat Pump from Midea, and a Mixergy smart tank. A fully integrated solution. So much so that the client has had his gas supply removed.

Please read Nigel’s glowing testimonial below.

“From the moment we contacted Carter Electrical, they demonstrated a deep understanding of our renewable energy goals and provided a high-quality service.

Renewable energy solution

Their team worked closely with us to design and implement a custom renewable energy solution for my home, covering; solar, heat-pump, battery, smart hot water tank, underfloor heating and car charger.

The installation process was completed rapidly, with Matt getting us up and running before the winter set in. The team were flexible during the installation and were able accommodate additional panels on our roof.

Since the system was installed, we’ve seen significant reductions in our energy bills. In mid Feb for the first time we achieved full independence, going a full day on solar and battery alone. We’ve also had the gas meter taken out. Having independence and energy security were core objectives of our project and Carter’s helped to deliver them for us.

We highly recommend Carter’s to anyone who is looking to start saving money on their energy bills and doing their bit for the planet.”

Nigel Markey

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tesla powerwall installers reading

Green Energy Projects-The Heat Goes On.

2023 has started out extremely busy for us here at Carter Electrical Installations. We are working on several projects, both commercial and residential, where clients are looking for Green energy solutions. So as well as having solar panels fitted clients are looking for solutions by adding storage batteries, EV chargers and Air Source Heat Pumps. We described this as the Triple Solution in a blog last year.

Clearly the surge in energy prices last year is driving demand for Green energy solutions. The return on investment on installing these products is so much higher when gas and electricity prices have soared. Also helping is the easing of supply chain bottlenecks, although some products are still on fairly long lead times.

Emmer Green Energy Project

We recently completed a project in Emmer Green where we added more solar panels, an immersion diverter and a Zappi EV charger. This project will be completed next year when we add a Tesla storage battery. This is one of the products that still has a long lead time.

The solar panels were mounted on a K2 system and we installed a Solar Edge 4kw inverter. The EV charger is from myenergi Zappi and we also installed an Eddi immersion diverter from myenergi.

Caversham Energy Project

The project highlighted in the header picture is from our recent work in Chazey Road, Caversham. The client is so pleased with the results that he has cut off his gas supply and gone fully electric. This was a comprehensive project with 10kw of solar fitted to SolarEdge inverter, with optimisers to maximise panel performance and minimise the effects of shading, a Tesla storage battery, a Samsung HTQ air source heat pump and a Mixergy smart hot water cylinder. This is a serious investment by the client but has superb outcomes with lower bills for most of the year and insulated against price increases.

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air source heat pump reading

Game Changer

It’s the new Samsung HTQ (High Temperature Quiet) unit.
Extremely quiet, very efficient Air Source Heat Pump and has the ability to get flow temperatures up to 70°C. This means it has the potential to be a direct replacement for boilers, without the need to upgrade cylinders and majority of radiators.


All of a sudden heat pumps are becoming an affordable option.


In addition to this energy suppliers are offering flexible tariffs to work with heat pumps to give cheaper energy windows for times when the unit can run hotter for hot water generation. 

Want to learn more about the Samsung HTQ? Watch the video on You Tube

The photos below are from a recent project in Thatcham where we installed the new Samsung HTQ. Later in the year Solar PV will be installed so running costs will be very low.

Please do get in touch with us if you want to find out more about installing an Air Source Heat Pump. Please call us 0118 967 7033 or email us admin@carter-electrical.co.uk

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Solar panel installation

2022 and all that

For this our December blog we are going to look back on our blogs posts from 2022. Little did we know how prescient our first blog of the year was going to be. Titled “Coming to your in 2022-Higher Energy Bills” we predicted that the energy cap would rise sharply in April. What we didn’t know was the Putin would order the invasion of Ukraine and send gas and oil prices soaring further. The energy cap will rise to £4,279 in January.

However consumers are protected by the Energy Price Guarantee until March 2024. The Energy Price Guarantee protects consumers reducing the unit cost of electricity and gas so that that a typical dual fuel direct debit bill for January 2023 remains at £2,500 and will be increased from April 2023 to a new level of £3000. Ofgem are also moving to quarterly price cap updates.

Lets hope that energy prices saw their peaks in 2022 and that wholesale prices of gas and oil continue to fall further. We have offered advice in a couple of blogs of how to save money and how to run your gas boiler efficiently.

We further addressed price inflation in our blogs for May and June titled The Perfect Storm-Parts 1 and 2. As well as energy price inflation these two blogs discussed the shortages in the supply chain affecting our electrical business. Some parts have been in acute shortages all year and have affected our work flow and deliverability on projects.

The rapid rise in energy prices has led to a record year for Carter Electrical Installations with our Green Energy projects. We have covered the installation of Green Energy in several blogs this year. Offering advice on the best products to use and how to run things efficiently. We have seen good demand from golf courses to install Solar PV and storage batteries and covered the topic in our July blog-Golf Courses Go Green. We also wrote blogs on Solar Panels and how they work and storage batteries-Battery Power

Carter Electrical are a local to Reading family run company, that has built up plenty of experience in installing Solar PV, inverters, storage batteries, EV chargers and Air Source Heat Pumps. Its this combination of skills combined with our electrical contracting background that makes us quite unique in the industry. The one issue that we continue to focus on is recruiting more electricians with experience of green energy. Though we do offer training in this area for qualified electricians. We covered this subject in our August blog-Are You Looking For A New Challenge?

It just remains to wish all of our readers, customers and suppliers a very merry Christmas and a successful and healthy New Year. Best Wishes from Jon, Matt and the Team

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Nest heating

Getting the best out of your gas boiler.

Heating your home accounts for up to 60% of what you spend in a year on your energy bills (Energy Saving Trust). Therefore anything that you can do to improve the efficiency of your boiler and radiators will lead to significant savings.

Depending on your boiler’s age, a new efficient condensing one could save you up to £315 a year. However a new installed boiler will set you back anything from £1,800 to £3,000 depending on the boiler of your choice and the size of your house.

Adjusting your thermostat at home

If you only have one thermostat for your home, turning it down by 1°C would save around £145 a year, according to estimates from the Energy Saving Trust. For most people, the lowest comfortable temperature to set your heating is around 18°C. 

What many home owners don’t realise is that their boiler can be made to run much more efficiently. The ‘flow temperature’ is the temperature your boiler heats up the water to before sending it off to your radiators. Most gas boilers are set up to operate at what is called 80/60 flow and return temperatures. This means the boiler heats up the water to 80°C. The water returns to the boiler after travelling around all your radiators at 60°C, having given off 20°C to the room.

However an 80/60C flow is too high for a condensing gas boiler to achieve the A-rated efficiencies claimed by the manufacturers. Your installer should have reduced the flow temperature to give the boiler a chance to run in what is known as ‘condensing mode’ as much as possible. This is when you will make a decent level of savings.

Efficiently running your heating in your home

The correct temperature setting for heating on a boiler is ‘as low as possible’, but as a guide most older homes can run their heating systems at 60°C and newer homes at 50-55°C. They start to reach their very highest efficiency potential at 45°C flow temperature or lower, but this can be too low for older properties.

Ultimately how low you can turn your flow temperature down will depend on the size of your radiators, how well insulated your home is and your thermostat temperature. For homes with modern double glazing, cavity walls and good levels of loft insulation you should be able to drop your flow temperature down with no impact on comfort. Even older homes, particularly terraced houses, will be able to do this if they have been modernised and draft proofed.

Smart heating in your home

There are also a raft of smart heating controls like Nest and Hive that allow you to control your home heating via and App. Why have your heating on when no one is at home? Or turn the heating on remotely when you are on your way home? If you add smart thermostatic radiator valves to your smart heating controls you can really start to make savings. At Carter Electrical we recommend fitting Nest and have good experiences with that brand.

Thermostatic radiator valves and a smart heating controller allow you to divide up your home into various zones and then offer smart heating in each zone, so your guest bedroom is heated only when required, the master bedroom is warm in the morning and at bedtime, and the kitchen is cosy at breakfast and tea time.

Get in touch if you would like more advice or if we can help with any electrical and heating issues.

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Solar panels Reading

Saving Energy-Saving Money

We have written several blogs on the subject of saving energy and there are many great blogs out there that also give excellent tips on how to use less power. Therefore we have decided to share some of our favourite blogs from the internet and highlight the best tips to save money this winter.

6 tips to cut your energy bills:

We like this article from the BBC as it gives six simple tips to cut your energy bills that don’t cost a fortune to implement. They are

1) use an air fryer or microwave instead of an oven,

2) install LED lightbulbs,

3) turn your central heating down,

4) insulate and draught proof your home,

5) use your appliances more economically

6) and finally take shorter showers!!

We have previously written a blog about LED lightbulbs

This blog from EDF goes through the house in more detail giving you some more great ideas on how to save on your energy consumption

There are obviously larger expenditures that will save you money in the long run and many of these investments are now showing good returns as the price of energy has soared. Investments such as the installation of double glazing, solar panels, air source pumps can cost thousands of pounds but can indeed save you thousands of pounds over the long run. There are also government grants to enable households to make these green investments.

Installation of storage batteries

Installing a storage battery can also prove to be a good investment as the battery will store the electricity generated by your solar panels or the cheap electricity that is available to purchase overnight. Our latest blog discusses the merits of Tesla and Huawei Luna storage batteries.

You can also take this questionnaire on the UK Government website to see if your home would benefit from home improvements that could make your property cheaper to heat and keep warm.

Please do get in touch with us here at Carter Electrical Installations if you’re thinking about embarking on any of these projects.

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Battery power

Battery Power

Two of the most popular storage batteries available on the market are the Tesla Powerwall and Huawei Luna. We have installed both products so thought that a good idea for a Blog would be to compare and contrast their features. Storage batteries, alongside inverters, are becoming increasingly popular as domestic customers look to store the power created from their solar panels and then release the electricity when needed.

All batteries store DC (direct current) power, and solar panels produce DC power. But home appliances use AC (alternating current) power. This is where inverters and rectifiers come into play.

When solar panels produce DC power, it runs through an inverter, where it’s converted to AC, then flows through your house. If you have a backup power system, excess energy that’s not used in the home will keep flowing to charge your battery. It will need to run through a rectifier to be converted back to DC power in order to be stored in the battery.

Storage batteries have been in limited supply over the last two years due to many different issues. However we are beginning to see an improvement in the situation with Huawei becoming more available. Tesla batteries are still on a 12 month lead time but we do have some coming in soon.

The Powerwall

Our view of the key features:

*built in back up facilities 

*great name and product

*good product for retrofit arrays eg. Solar already installed 

Here’s a snapshot of key Tesla Powerwall specs:

  • Energy Capacity 13.5 kWh
    100% depth of discharge
    90% round trip efficiency
  • Power 7kW peak / 5kW continuous
    Quick backup transition
    Pure sine wave output
  • Size and Weight L x W x D
    45.3″ x 29.6″ x 5.75″
    1150 mm x 753 mm x 147 mm
    251.3 lbs / 114 kg
  • InstallationFloor or wall mounted
    Indoor or outdoor
    Up to 10 Powerwalls
    -4°F to 122°F / -20°C to 50°C
    Water and dust resistance to IP67
  • CertificationsMeets local safety standards and regulations
  • Warranty10 years

Huawei LUNA2000 Battery key features

Huawei LUNA battery

Our view of the key features:

*Comes in smaller 5kw segments so easier to handle when Installing and capacity can be expanded with ease.

*High end product. 5kw max output power. Most other battery products, excluding Tesla, can only produce power up to 2/3.0kw

*DC coupled so no need for DNO application (general applications take 12 weeks)

*Good for new installs

  • High Voltage Lithium (LFP) modules with 100% DOD
  • 5kWh capacity per module scalable up to 30kWh
  • Power output per module, 2.5kW continuous, 3.5kW peak
  • AI-powered internal cell short circuit diagnosis to avoid fire hazards
  • Cell-level temperature control to detect overheating
  • Optimizer-enabled 0V rapid shutdown for safer installation and maintenance
  • Internal heating system for better performance in extremely cold climates
  • 10-year warranty

Modular battery system

The LUNA2000 batteries are made using lithium iron phosphate cells and can be stacked up to three high for a maximum of 15kWh of storage capacity per stack. However, the system can be expanded with a second stack offering up to 30kWh of total capacity with two stacks in parallel. Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) is widely known as one of the safest and most stable battery chemistries available for energy storage applications due to its wide operating temperature range and reduced risk of thermal runaway (overheating).

Compact, slimline design

Storage Battery
Huawei LUNA2000 battery system installed

The Luna2000 system is one of the most compact batteries available with a very small footprint thanks to the slimline design, which is quite appealing compared to some of the other more box-like batteries. The top section of the battery system is the power module, technically known as a BMU or battery monitoring unit, which is similar to other stackable battery systems controlled via a top-mounted BMU to provide the interconnection and communication to the inverter. The Huawei power module has inverter connections for flexible connection options on either side, while the main isolation switch and an inbuilt fuse are located on the right-hand side. The front led display features a round dial of ten LED lights to indicate the battery state of charge; this is a neat and unique way to indicate the state of charge.

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Carter Electrical team

“Are you looking for a new challenge?”

We are currently looking for skilled and qualified electricians, as well as an ASHP Designer/Engineer.  We would be offering a starting salary from £18ph depending on experience – would consider sub-contractors.  These positions would entitle the right candidates to a performance related bonus. Carter Electrical Installation Ltd are a family owned/run business based in the centre of Reading; and are accredited by NIC EIC to ensure we meet strict guidelines for all work carried out.

We undertake all electrical works, including green energy, so there are plenty of interesting projects to work on. Experience of fitting Solar PV and/or EV chargers would be beneficial, although not essential.

Please email your CV to office@carter-electrical.co.uk 

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Solar panels

Golf Courses Go Green

Here at Carter Electrical we are very keen golfers (Some of us are). With our substantial golf course knowledge it has been a real pleasure to work at several golf courses in our region recently. We have had projects at Wentworth, Billingbear and The Caversham over the last year. Also we have have worked at St. George’s Hill and Henley GC. With our expert knowledge of both golf courses and Green energy we bring the best of both worlds to golf clubs. If you are thinking of a Green energy project at your golf club then please do get in touch and we can advise accordingly. Recent projects have involved Solar PV, storage batteries, lighting and EV chargers.

The Caversham: Full electrical and mechanical fit out of the greenkeepers warehouse combined with Solar PV. We also fitted lighting and heating in their temporary marquee during the Covid lockdown.

Wentworth: A large new power supply and fibre optic cable to an events marquee.

Billingbear: We fitted Solar PV and a storage battery to the main clubhouse.

St. George’s Hill: We fitted another marquee with power, heating and lighting. We carried out a lot of testing on power outlets combined with further small works.

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Electric car charging points

The Perfect Storm-Part 2

Following on form our previous blog about lack of supply and high prices we have now had the Price Cap announcement from Ofgem and the government’s response to the expected much higher energy bills this autumn. After a £700 rise in the energy cap this Spring the cap is expected to rise to £2,800 in October. This is a further rise of £800.

The government is helping out the less well off with payments totalling £650 in July and in the Autumn. This money will be given to over 8 million low income families who are on Universal Credit. All households in October will be given a £400 discount on their energy bills

With many households already paying over £300 per month for gas and electricity we are seeing a huge rise in enquiries for Solar PV, storage batteries and Air Source Heat Pumps. With annual energy bills approaching £3,500 to £4,000 the economics of installing green energy in your home are becoming very favourable. It has been possible to install Solar PV and storage batteries for £5,000 in your average UK home. So with energy prices where they now are green energy domestic projects look to be giving a good return on investment.

However the industry is facing critical supply issues.

1. Shortages in Raw Commodities

Heightened demand for certain commodities has resulted in soaring raw material prices as supply shortages continue, a lingering effect of COVID-19. In particular, a shortage of polysilicon, a key component in the photovoltaic (PV) supply chain, has caused solar panel pricing to skyrocket due to exponential demand for solar cells. Other components of PV cells — including silver, copper, aluminum and glass — have also been subjected to inflationary prices as demand outpaces supply.

We have experienced delays in Tesla Powerwalls and Solar PV Inverters. These are two of the biggest parts that we are having supply issues with. Solar panels can be installed but cannot operate without an inverter. Inverters convert direct current (DC) electricity, which is what a solar panel generates, to alternating current (AC) electricity, which the electrical grid uses.

2. Supply Chain Constraints

Commodity shortages are only exacerbated by global supply chain bottlenecks caused by increased shipping costs, factory closures, trade actions and import tariffs. These supply chain constraints hit China particularly hard and have resulted in nearly crippling schedule impacts on the United States solar industry, which is heavily dependent on solar panels manufactured in China. This is having a knock on effect in Europe.

For a variety of reasons manufacturers of solar panels have had to shift production away from China, resulting in higher prices and longer shipping lead times for key project hardware. Shanghai was recently subject to further lockdowns due to Covid19.

Ocean freight rates surged again in April, worsening supply chain bottlenecks. Also issues with P&O ferries have not helped getting supply into UK.

It really is the perfect storm creating product shortages and spiralling prices. We really will try our best at Carter Electrical but patience will be needed from our customers when it comes to completing green energy projects.

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