This Valentine’s Day we thought we would share with you our love for solar panels. Installing solar panels is not just a job but a passion for us as we truly love the technology and how it helps each household and business.
Why we love solar panels
To be able to harness energy from something readily available for free like sunlight or wind is amazing. What makes solar PV more special than wind power though is that it is more accessible for most people.
The top 10 things we love about solar panels are:
Energy savings
One of the greatest things about solar panels is that you can reduce your energy bills. In a time when energy bills are constantly rising, we all want to reduce our overheads, so what is not to love about being able to reduce the amount of energy you need to buy by producing your own? Learn more about potential savings in our blog.
Environment
If, like us, you care about the environment and want to leave the planet to future generations in a reasonable state, then we all need to take steps to reduce our carbon emissions. Solar panels are a great way of ensuring that at least some of your energy is from a renewable source which is a clean form of energy.
Energy independence
Many people love being able to be more independent from the grid and have their own source of electricity. If you include a battery as part of your system you can store the energy you generate to use it when you need it as well.
Accessible to most people
Most houses could be suitable for solar panels if they have a roof with the right orientation that is free from shading. The cost of solar panels has also reduced in the last decade making them more affordable and the return on investment period more achievable for more households and businesses.
Work all year round
Despite the factor that the UK doesn’t have the warmest climate all year round this doesn’t mean that your solar panels wouldn’t work for the full year. Solar panels require daylight, not sunlight to work as the electrons in the panels react when they come in contact with light particles. This means that solar panels will continue to produce electricity throughout the year. The amount they produce may be less in winter as the strength of the daylight can impact the amount they generate, as well as the presence of obstructions like clouds reducing the amount of daylight reaching the panels. Output can be reduced to 10-35% of the normal output.
Fit and enjoy
Solar panels are very easy technology to maintain and can be pretty much installed and forgotten. They are low maintenance as they require very little upkeep as they tend to be self-cleaning due to them being tilted and rain cleaning them. They don’t need regular servicing or maintenance checks. During their expected lifetime of 30 years, you will need to replace the inverter but otherwise, the system should run itself.
Battery storage
One of the things we have started to see more and more as part of solar panel installations is battery storage as the cost of battery storage has come down and more people want to be able to use more of the energy they generate. Battery storage is a great addition to any system and provides you with the flexibility to use the energy generated whenever you need it. It also has become popular to support electric vehicle users as it can store the energy to release it for charging the vehicle.
Generating an income
Part of the energy savings that you can make can include an income from selling the energy you generate to the grid using the scheme called Smart Export Guarantee (SEG). SEG provides you with a fixed price for the energy you export which is paid by your energy supplier. There are also other ways you can utilise your system to generate an income which include the Octopus Flex scheme if you have battery storage. The Octopus Flux scheme incentivises you to use your battery storage to benefit the grid. You fill your battery with cheap electricity during the night and release it during the peak demand period early evening to get the highest export rates (this can all be set up to be done automatically). You can find out more about Octopus Flux in our blog.
Long lifespan
Solar panels can last for up to 30 years and are backed by product warranties, which means you could be reaping the rewards of the investment for decades and benefiting from free electricity.
Home desirability
Homes that have solar panels fitted are more desirable when being sold as buyers know that they will benefit from free electricity without the cost of having to install the solar panels themselves.
