Installers and customers can select great-looking home solar with total confidence
Solarcentury’s building-integrated solar system Sunstation is the first product to certify to the new version of the MCS 012 (Issue 2.1). This version of the MCS requirements is mandatory for all pitched roof solar mounting systems.The MCS 012 requirements ensure that all manufacturers test and declare the performance of their products to the same standards, and helps installers demonstrate that a given product meets UK building regulations.
Jon Sturgeon, Operations Director for Residential Solar at Solarcentury commented, “At Solarcentury we have more than a decade of experience of testing building integrated PV (BIPV) products to the same standards as conventional roofing. We pride ourselves on our testing philosophy, choosing to go above and beyond the minimum requirements. This is demonstrated in our approach to tests, including testing Sunstation in numerous configurations, identifying worst case configurations and performing multiple test repeats; we really put the product through its paces. All of this combined means installers can now adopt Sunstation with total confidence.”
Sunstation recently gained international recognition for its design by winning an iF DESIGN AWARD 2016 and was the only solar product to receive this seal of design excellence. The award sits Sunstation alongside previous winning products by high-profile brands such as Apple, Sony, LG and Bosch.
John Holden, MCS Certification Manager at BRE Global said “The update to MCS 012 is an important and positive development for both solar providers and consumers as it brings a higher level of confidence and assurance in the selection and installation of roof-integrated PV systems.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
• Sunstation has achieved an AA rating under BS476:3. Sunstation does not have interchangeable components, and was tested in worst case configuration.
• Sunstation has completed weather tightness testing with six different roof coverings, representing a wide range of UK tile types.
• Sunstation was weather tightness tested with both wind-driven rain and a vacuum – this is a much more challenging test than just a deluge.
• All of the weather tightness tests were completed at full-scale with a 4 module array – this is much more realistic than testing small sections of a product in isolation.
• Sunstation completed more than 50 wind uplift tests, including a number of different roof sub-structures and product configurations. Again this translates to increased confidence for customers.
• This accumulates to a suite of testing that gives customers increased confidence in the performance of the Sunstation product.
