The total available budget amounted to £600 (i.e. £100 per group member); and the project budget was revised on an ongoing manner following the development of the system design. At the Interim Report stage, the proposal budget was deemed to have been overestimated at £500 for our very rough list of requirements. The budget at the interim stage was revised to be £319.90. At the Final Report stage, the budget comes to £556.08. This is significantly higher than the interim stage budget for several reasons:

 

• The necessary purchase of a second fan

• Originally excluded VAT

• Shipping and tax duty for heaters

• Control system - £235.70 - 43% of total spend

​

Despite the unknowns of the control system, the project was brought in under the standard £600 budget. This was important as the feasibility of a PV system largely depends on the cost. It is important to note that many of the components would be suitable for use in multiple PV systems, and that a commercial level system would not incur the same costs in experimental equipment etc. We did manage to source some required components through the university and, in addition to this, the group benefited from the time and expertise of many of the University staff. In reality, this would have added an associated cost to the budget. Fortunately many of the components purchased could also be considered an investment to the university. In some cases, a minimum quantity order was necessary and so this resulted in spare components and many components could be reused if/when the system is dismantled. For full details of the project budget please click and download the budget tracker provided below.