Will Solar Panels Work For Me?
Solar technology has been around for quite some time on the general market and solar panels are probably the most commonly installed sustainable fuel generation now added to our homes. The panels themselves are a lot cheaper than they used to be, although you will probably find that a large proportion of the cost will be the installation itself rather than the cost of the equipment, as they are normally on the roof and therefore required scaffolding to install. There are a number of financial incentives available depending on your location and availability of other fuel sources, which I’ll get into a little later on.
If you are looking at getting these installed, there are a number of things you need to be aware of, as they are not a one size fits all solution, and you may find that they’re just not feasible for your type of property or the payback period is too long.
What are they?
In a nutshell, they are a glass encased unit which contains a semiconductor material (mostly Silicon), which when exposed to sunlight, release electrons that creates an electric charge. Other types of solar panel design are also now available following extensive research and development, and more are coming to the market (thin film and solar windows) as the increased need to generate “clean” energy extends. The larger the area of solar panels you have, the more charge created. The energy created by the panels can either be used directly by the user, it can be imported back to the grid (more about that later), or it can be used to charge a battery, so that the energy can be used at a later point.
How do they work?
Simplistically, when photons of sunlight hit the panels, electrons within the semi-conductor material are energised and start moving around rapidly. This creates an electric charge. The charge is transferred along a cable to a device called an invertor which converts the direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC) which we can use to power devices in our home, charge a battery, or put back into the electricity grid.
See the short video which shows this in action!
Will they work on my house?
If you have an area on your roof (or anywhere else really that remains largely unshaded) that is exposed to daylight (it doesn’t even have to be direct sunlight), then undoubtedly yes they will, although how efficiently they will work will depend on individual circumstances. Note that I mentioned they will work even out of direct sunlight, however there will be a trade off in efficiency. They will of-course work a lot more efficiently in direct sunlight, so positioning is pretty important. If you have panels on a south facing roof for example, they will generally be about 40-50% more efficient than if they were on a north facing roof. What this effectively means is you will need 3 panels on the north facing roof to generate the same power as 2 panels on the south facing roof. You will also have shading factors and locations factors to consider. For example, MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme, an organisation tasked with regulating the industry), have created irradiance datasheets, which that energy generation for panels in the far north of Scotland is around 20% less than those in Devon and Cornwall.
For a more in depth look into their suitability for your house and to work out a potential payback, I have produced a worksheet that you can go through to figure this out. Just Subscribe to my site and I will send this through free of charge!
How much will they cost and are there grants available?
This is a bit of a subjective question and will largely depend on the above and their suitability for your house. There are a large number of companies out there and finding the right one to give you a fair price will also be a challenge. It’s worth doing your research first though before diving into this, and determining for yourself whether it’s worth doing, then have a bit of a shop around to gather some prices. In general, you will probably be looking at an 8-10 year payback on the system.
There is funding available, however this is not as good as it used to be and you will more than likely have to fill in an application to determine whether you qualify for it or not. There are incentives throughout England, Scotland and Wales through Green Deal and eco4grants.
To give you an idea of the general criteria for qualifying for a grant, if you have Pension credit, Universal credit, Jobseekers allowance (amongst others) and also if household income is less than £31,000, then a grant is worth looking into further.
Will I still need another electricity source?
You are highly likely to need another electricity source. In the winter months specifically, you will be generating very little electricity compared to those long, warm summer months. To put it into perspective, a house in the south of England, with 16 panels, perfect south orientation, and with no shading will make maximum 7.4KW on a good summer day (conservative estimate around 59KWh per day). You will be lucky to make a peak of 0.74KW at the peak of winter (conservative estimate around 14KWh per day)…..OK, so I picked a bad example there, as arguably that may actually be enough for an average household (10KWh/day for the average UK household), but hopefully you get the idea that it is only just feasible with near perfect conditions!
It's also worth noting that if you do have a connection to the grid, you will also be able to sell any generated electricity back to the grid, so if you’re not at home and not using any energy, you could be actually earning some money from your panels! In general though, given the low rate of buyback, it makes better financial sense to use it, or store it via battery, so you can use it when the sun is not shining!
