Solar Panels

We can’t escape the fact that global warming is big news. Just recently lots of famous musicians were ferried around by private jet to put on lavish energy consuming shows worldwide to make us more aware of this. See, they selflessly wasted all this energy to get the message across and now we have to make the changes to put it right. We are all aware of the easy steps we should take in the home to lower our energy consumption from using low energy light bulbs, turning electrical items off rather than leaving them on standby and not using appliances such as tumble dryers and dishwashers unless absolutely necessary.

Now imagine if there was a way of saving energy that would eventually lead to free energy and may even end up earning you money! Sounds almost too good to be true doesn’t it; well these are some of the things that have been said about generating electricity and heating water with home mounted solar panels. Lets have a look.

Type & Cost

The first thing to bear in mind is that there are two main types of solar panel, which can be used on your home; solar water heating panels that use the energy from the sun to heat water and solar electric (photovoltaic) panels that convert the suns energy directly into usable electricity.

Solar water heating, also known as solar thermal, is currently the most commonly used form of home solar energy in the UK with around 40,000 households already enjoying the benefits. There are two types of solar water heating systems, flat plate collectors and evacuated tubes; both contain water which when heated travels to a coil in a hot water cylinder to heat the water there.

The evacuated tube systems are the most energy efficient of the two as they are made of highly insulated glass as opposed to flat metal plates; this does however mean that they cost more. A commercial flat plate system, including installation, will, on average, cost between £2,000 and £4,000. Evacuated tube systems usually range between £3,500 and £5,500. If you are thinking of installing the cheaper flat plate system then you can always install a larger surface area to make up for the lower efficiency.

Solar electric, also known as photovoltaic panels, are familiar to us all. They are found on solar powered calculators, watches, burglar alarms and even parking meters in Milton Keynes. Advances in photovoltaic technology mean that it is now a viable means of generating electricity for our homes in a clean and renewable way; there are currently around 6,000 households doing just this here in the UK. The main advantage is obvious, the fuel, sunshine, is free; it’s just a shame that the main problem for the majority of us is that, at present, solar electric is an expensive technology to invest in; the cost of an average commercial system with installation is around £12,000.

Return On Investment

The environmental benefits of going solar powered are easy to see but with the cost of the initial outlay being what it is a lot of us are going to be wanting to know if the investment will pay off in financial terms as well.

Solar water heating is a wise choice for those of anyone looking for a realistic return on investment. An average system for a three-bedroom house can provide 70% of your hot water annually; nearly 100% during the summer months and around 50% during winter when your conventional boiler will back up the system.

With factors such as rising fuel prices to take into consideration and with hot water consumption and conservation differing per household it is hard to pinpoint an exact time to begin expecting ‘payback’. Conservative estimates give between 6-15 years whereas more optimistic sources give 4-8 years. Both figures seem quite good considering that after these periods you are effectively heating most of your household water for free and without producing carbon emissions. Given that the majority of the systems commercially available are guaranteed for 20 years and have a life expectancy of 35 years you can expect 5 years of free water heating at worst and 31 years at best! Most importantly of all such a system will reduce carbon emissions by up to 500kg per square meter of panel a year.

Due to the higher cost of solar electric (photovoltaic) panels it takes much longer to gain a return on initial investment. The good news it that you may get you a higher price for your property if you choose to sell it. More and more people are seeing integrated solar power as a desirable addition when purchasing; in some cases it has been reported as helping push prices up by as much as 10%. The average household in the UK consumes approximately 3750 kWh of energy a year. A typical 2kWp photovoltaic system costing around £12,000 will produce roughly 1500 kWh a year, which is 40% of the average domestic usage. A downside of this is that most of this electricity is generated during the day when most members of the household will be out and not around to make use of it. But the good news is, and this is the part most people like, that energy companies will buy this surplus electricity back from you. The amount differs from company to company but expect in the range of 4.5p-8.5p kWh. This is currently lower then the 15.5p kWh that they sell it to us for but hopefully this will change.

In environmental terms solar electric power is still a sound investment, as you will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide your household produces by roughly 645kg a year (the average house in the UK produces 1590kg). If you run the system along with low energy light bulbs and energy efficient appliances you will see a significant reduction in your bills, it will just be quite a while before you will recover the cost of the system.

To help with the cost of going solar there are government grants available from the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) low carbon buildings program as well as reductions on VAT for equipment and labour. For more information visit www.energysavingtrust.org.uk and www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk/home.

Installation & Maintenance

To get the most out of your system it is important to get it professionally installed, this is usually quoted as part of the cost and is highly recommended. Before buying it is important to work out how much electricity you wish to generate and therefore what size system you will need; some people choose to become self sufficient whereas some just simply want to reduce their existing fuel bills. A south facing roof is the best location to place a solar panel to achieve maximum efficiency (south-west to south-east is also fine), but don’t panic if you house faces another direction, any un-shaded roof will be sufficient enough. Panels can also be attached to a flat roof but they will need to be placed on an ‘A’ frame at an angle of 20 to 50 degrees to the horizontal.

Once installed the systems require little maintenance. The most you will probably need to do is make sure the panels are free from snow and debris such as fallen leaves. Most panels on the market are guaranteed for 20-25 years and they have few (solar water heating) or no (solar electric) moving parts, so there isn’t much that can go wrong.

Myth Buster

This is the part where I just get to correct some myths surrounding solar power.

The UK does not receive enough sunshine to run solar panels; this simply isn’t true. Solar power runs off the sun’s light not heat and we have more than enough here in the UK.

Solar power won’t work in the winter; again for the same reason above (light) this isn’t true. The panels will produce less power than in summer months due to the lower sun and shorter days but they will still make a significant contribution. Anyway, all systems have a conventional backup so you won’t be left without sufficient power.

The installation of solar power is time consuming and disruptive; maybe if you try to do it yourself but professional installation will usually take two days and once fitted the system is un-obtrusive and as easy to operate as your existing hot water/electrical system.

Benefits

I have left this bit until the end. Most of you may have made your mind up by now but after a paragraph of figures it may be worth a recap of the benefits of going solar:

First and foremost, solar power provides you with a clean, quiet and environmentally friendly way of producing your own energy and reducing your household’s carbon emissions and impact on the environment.

With fuel prices ever on the increase becoming less reliant on external supply will help protect you from paying more in the future and help reduce our countries dependence on foreign oil and gas.

Going solar will add to the value of your property.

Surely the biggest benefit is that the fuel (sunshine) is free, and don’t forget that energy companies will buy excess energy back from you.

If impressing the neighbours is your thing then nothing ensures you and your families green credentials more then going solar. Plus if you are the first in the neighbourhood to adopt the technology you may encourage others to do so.

Power cuts are a nuisance for us all, but if you are generating your own power you can still enjoy that cup of hot tea while watching daytime TV as the rest of your street are left twiddling their thumbs.

Don’t forgot that there are government grants on offer as well as VAT reductions to help you with the cost.