Domestic Solar Panels . FAQs for Solar Panels . Solar Heating Systems . Solar Panels Technology . Domestic Solar . Solar for Homes UK
Evacuated solar tubes (left) Flat plate solar panels (center) PV electric solar panels (right)
Solar panels in the UK climate
How can solar panels work in the UK ?
The UK receives 60% of the solar energy compared with the equator. Each square metre of the UK receives between 900 – 1200kwh of solar radiation each year.
Why solar, not wind?
Wind is great on larger scale installations or on coastal areas or wind swept hills, but your average urban location means performance and efficiency is low. You need a very large turbine to make a sizeable dent in the average domestic energy bill, and has been confirmed by government testing. Urban locations do not have the correct wind speeds and vibration problems could lead to structural building damage.
"The likely output of a micro-wind turbine on a pitched roof house in a large city such as Manchester would be less than 150kWh a year; 2% of the energy consumption of an average house"
Is there enough sunshine in the UK for solar energy?
Compared to the equator, the UK receives approximately 55% of the energy received there, ample to operate an efficient solar panel system if you have a south facing roof, even in the north of Scotland.
Technical questions about solar panels
There are 2 types of domestic solar panel, which is best?
Both do very different jobs with different pricing. 1. Solar heating panels and 2. PV systems solar panels (electric generating).
Which you choosevaries per household, but it basically depends on which type of energy cost you want to reduce. A solar panels system is basically an investment into your home and energy future.
There are also 2 types of solar heating panels?
Yes, 1. Glazed flat panels, 2. Evacuated solar tubes. Usually a flat panels salesmen will say his system performs best and solar tubes salesmen will say the same. Independent testing has concluded that evacuated tubes perform best in the UK climate and flat panels closely second.
A third type of solar panel called Solartwin use unglazed plastic and rubber panels. This type was one of the lowest performing of the technologies tested.
Why install a new hot water tank?
Imagine converting your car to LPG, then running it on semi-flat tyres. Your old tank is very in-efficient and probably scaled up with limescale. In order to maximise the efficiency of your solar panel system, a modern super efficient tank is installed as part of the installation to bring your heating system up to modern efficiency standards. Ultimately saving you money in the long term.
What is the science behind solar panel technology?
In a nutshell when solar radiation/solar energy enters the earth's atmosphere, it does so as a short-wave. When these short-waves hit something, be it a person, building or solar panels, then the short wave converts to long-wave. This process expels energy and this energy produces heat.
Do I need planning permission?
No. From 6 April 2008 planning permission will not be required for solar panels, unless you live in a listed building. Even then most councils will allow installations in most cases.
Can solar panels be added to flat roofs?
On an "A" frame to angle the panels at 20 and 50 degrees to horizontal.
Is there any ongoing maintenance needed?
The system is kept clean by weathering, just like velux windows. A periodic check every 3-4 years is recommended to check the PH level of the antifreeze solution, but other than that you can simply fit it and forget it.
The benefits of solar panels for heating
Can solar panels can add value to my property?
Yes, your homes value will increase in todays climate of high energy pricing.
A recent survey by MORI found people are willing to pay up to £10,000 more for a home built to high environmental standards and estate agents are now de-valuing homes for sale with poor 'Energy Assessments' results, due to HIPS reports.
How long does solar technology last?
Solar technology has been around for a century now, but evacuated tubes have a longevity of around 30+ years. PV solar last much longer, but PV solar panels installed in the 60's is still working.
Will solar panels replace my energy bills fully?
No, you will not be able to totally replace your current energy or power supply to the use of solar energy, but you could get close with a realistic budget and the implementation of different energy sources such as a bio mass and solar panel combination.
We do not use much hot water, how can this help us?
At the moment the water in your hot water tank has to stay above 60 deg C (to prevent legionella), which means your current heating method is constantly firing up to stay above 60 deg C. If you use the hot water or not, your boiler or emmersion heater will still be keeping it heated up, so yes solar still benefits your heating bills
Save 70% on your energy bill, how?
There are many reasons for installing solar-powered hot water heating systems into your home; increasingly, people are making the decision to install sustainable energy for cold, hard economic reasons.
A solar hot water system should reduce your water heating bills by about 70%, with the system paying for itself in 5 to 10 years, depending on your household’s water consumption.
During the spring, summer and early autumn months, The Solar Company system should generate all – if not nearly all – your hot water requirements. Even in the coldest winter months, it should generate around 50% of your requirements, meaning that your existing boiler merely has to ‘top up’ the temperature of the water to the required level, rather than heating it from almost freezing!
What solar panels CAN do?
Solar keeps an abundent supply of hot water in your hot water tank, thus extending the life span of your boiler because for most of the year, your boiler will not be used at all.
From March - September, solar will do most of your water heating needs, and then half that in the winter.
How much conventional energy will it produce?
Independently tested, our solar delivered 900 - 1400 kWh (3.6 GJ) of clean green energy (depending on geographical location) as solar hot water a year in UK. It saves far more bought-in energy. Peak output is 1.6 kW, similar to an immersion heater.
(Performance varies per domestic household, depending on your micro climate and geographical location, but on average, an evacuated tube system will supply all your hot water needs from March - September, and most, but not all, in the winter months)
What temperatures can I expect from a solar hot water?
On sunny days possible temperatures of possibly up to 75C can be achieved (45C hot enough for bathing), but this is dependent on your micro climate and geographical position within the UK and solar panel system you choose. On cloudy days this will still reduce the need to use your boiler, thus extending your boiler life too.
Do I get hot water during the winter months?
Even during cloudy days in winter you can expect some gain, through diffused solar radiation which bathe's the earth even on cloudy days, although evacuated tubes are designed to run alongside conventional heating methods.
Solar installations will get cheaper with time, won't they?
Unfortunately the indicators are that price's will rise.
As a recent Financial Times article points out, the cost of energy, resources, materials and manufacturing is rising globally. It's likely that solar panels will never be cheaper than they are now as future panels and installations will consist of inputs {energy + materials} that cost far more than today.
Although we do our best to keep prices reasonable, their are customers we spoke to 2 years ago who wished they had bought back then.
Which solar companies?
The solar industry is a minefield of poor quality and dated systems.
As independent solar experts, we are not contracted to sell any one particular technology (think freehouse) unlike other installers who are contracted to a specific technology. Thus we only sell the best performing and best quality systems available, so we can uniquely offer our 'no quibble guarantee on quality'.
Quality matters?
Sadly, we get contacted by people who installed cheap solar technology and now require expensive repairs after a short time in use. A good quality system will last 30+ years. As independent solar experts, we only install premium quality flat panels or evacuated solar tubes for longer term benefits for you the homeowner.
Which is best for me, solar tubes or flat panels?
Some people prefer the aesthetics of flat panel solar, but solar tubes are more efficient. Saying that though, the flat panels are the best efficient of all the flat panels on the UK market today. With both systems being of excellent quality, this is the main reason we promote both flat panels and solar tubes, so you can choose on aesthetics reasons.
The benefits of PV electric solar panels
Will PV solar produce all my electric needs?
In most cases, no, but this depends on you energy consumption rate and size of system installed.
What does on-grid mean?
When PV is producing electricity, and you are not using it, then it will automatically feed the electricity out to the National Grid, were your will be credited for your contribution. With modern feed in tariffs, you now get paid for the power you consume too. It has never been such a good time to install PV solar.
How much energy can PV solar panels produce?
Each case is different, but a PV system installation would generate approximately 750kWh/year per kWp installed. So a typical 2 kWp system would generate around 1500 kWh per year. A hot water solar panel at Peak output is 1.6 kW, similar to an immersion heater, or 1,500kWh and 2,000kWh annually.
Does PV have to be installed on our roof?
No. PV can easily be installed on frames within your boundaries, or out buildings with suitable roofing.
Is there any ongoing maintenance needed?
No, Just like velux windows, they are kept clean by weathering. Simply fit and forget.
Miscellaneous
Why don't you offer finance deals?
As an ethical business, it would not be right for us, to put you into further debt for our products. Yes solar saves you energy, but the benefits would be taken away, if you start paying silly finance deals.
What about payback?
We are often asked, “what is the payback period?” for a solar panels.
Well, first and foremost it does have a payback. If you buy coal, oil or electricity or gas the supplier does not offer you any pay back at all. No matter how much gas, oil or coal you buy and no matter how long you buy it for, you never get your money back. You have to service, maintain and renew you fuel burning equipment. Similarly the electricity company never offers you a payback
Various government bodies define sometimes payback as the annual fuel bill savings divided by the capital cost. This is simply inaccurate misleading and wrong.
If you take a proper view of payback, you have to factor in future energy increases, take account of inflation, look at the savings in boiler servicing and the ability to make a boiler last longer. Doing the sums properly most thermal systems offer a pay back of between 6 and 15 years, depending on the fossil fuel displaced, the future fuel inflation factor you use and the amount of hot water you use.
If the product is built as part of the housing infrastructure it will last for around 30 years with minimal maintenance. If the product is built into a home in the course of construction the pay back period declines rapidly.
Although payback is one way of looking at the cost it is perhaps more accurate to look at the return on your investment that solar panels offer. Typically the financial savings of a good solar thermal system will be equivalent to a tax free return on investment of between 8% and 12%.
Recently HIPS reports have for the first time in history, allowed homes with renewable energy including solar panels, to be valued higher, than those without, so solar installations have now become a real financial investment opportunity, considering there longevity or and long life spans (25 - 30 years), against the higher UK energy pricing policies, and the ever increasing costs of peak oil.
"The golden age of cheap energy is over. Domestic solar panels have
never made such financial sense"
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