I have bought a Mastervolt grid tie inverter from the Mastervolt UK
dealer (via their website), and have it running off 20 watts of solar
panel, this little inverter is built in to a plug, and looks a bit
like a mobile 'phone/battery drill charger, so it just plugs straight
in to the wall, and takes the power straight from the panel and puts
it in to the mains. I also have a load of solar panels coming so I'll
be able to generate more power.

As for the solar water heating, I have a roof ladder coming to
facilitate the fitting of to the roof, that's all I have to do to get
it running - everything else is ready for it.

Clive :-)