Electric car charger with solar

[Robert Irons]

Hello
I wonder if anyone can advise me of something.

I am planning to get an electric charger installed in my garage, which is around 25m from my house. The current plan is to dig a trench from the electricity meter to the garage and run a 6mm cable to the fuse board, where it will have its own dedicated mini consumer unit in the meter cabinet.

However, I am also thinking that I may get solar panels installed. This will include some panels on the garage roof, and also a battery system and inverters etc all in the garage. There will obviously be some rather chunky cables running in said trench for the solar set up.

What Im trying to figure out is - if we install all the solar equipment in the garage, would we also need a separate cable in the trench for the EV charger connected to the original planned CU, or could we just connect into the wiring in the garage that was put in for the solar set up?

Before anyone says anything I am not proposing to do this as a DIY job but will probably be doing the trench and laying cables in the ground myself and just want to make sure we put enough cables in said trench!

Thanks

 

[flameport]

mini consumer unit in the meter cabinet.

Meter cabinets are for metering and DNO equipment only.

Any cables will need to go to wherever the consumer unit is, or will be.
If you want to dig a trench beforehand, put in one or two ducts, 50mm diameter or larger, so whatever cables are required can be pulled in later.

 

[Robert Irons]

Thanks - thats not a bad suggestion actually about just sticking the ducting in for now.
Out of interest how do you actually pull cabling over that sort of distance down a duct? Presumably you lay some ropes through the ducting when it goes in the ground and then attach to the end of the cable and pull a the opposite end do you?

 

[flameport]

Ducting is supplied with a draw cord inside, and immediately after installing that cord is used to pull a polypropylene rope through the duct, which is then left in place to pull the cables through later.

This is the kind of product: https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Conduit_Pvc_Index/Cable_Ducting/index.html
50mm minimum, larger sizes will make it much easier to draw cables in.
Rope: https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/DR11673.html

Cables used in domestic installations can be pulled in by hand for a 25m distance.
There are winches and other devices for larger cables and longer distances.

 

[Robert Irons]

Great thankyou - might get cracking on the trench next week then!
As it happens I have a winch I could use if need be!

 

[Robert Irons]

Sorry one other thing - if I use ducting am i right in thinking you dont have to worry quite so much about laying sand/ gravel etc below and immediately around the ducting/ cables?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

You still want to have a good sand bed round the ducting, the stuff can deform and you don't want a big rock pressing on it and jamming the cable pull.