Two of the most popular questions we get asked is “how much money we can save by installing solar panels?” and “how much will it cost to install solar panels?”
So, we thought we would create a solar calculator that can be used publicly on our website.
At SolarTherm UK, we use sophisticated in-house software, approved methodologies and our team’s technical expertise to provide our customers with tailored quotes every day. Over the years, this has provided us with a lot of facts and figures about many different shapes and sizes of solar panel installations. With all this data we decided it was possible to create a solar PV calculator that can give a good initial estimate for people who are considering starting their solar journey!
Our solar calculator is super-easy to use, and just requires a little information to enable it to generate a reasonable estimate for your home. You will need to think about what size of system you would like to have, and we have given guidance wherever we can. For example, we know that a three-bedroom house can typically accommodate around 12 panels and we detail how much space you would need for the number of panels selected.
Once you have chosen the number of panels, you can select whether you want to include battery storage, and if so, which size you would like.
One of the best things about the solar calculator is that once you have filled in all the details and the estimate appears you can play around with the number of panels and battery storage so that you can see how this affects the price, savings and return on investment.
You will need to add an estimated annual electricity usage as this helps work out how much you can save on your electricity bills. Most energy suppliers include your annual electricity usage on their bills in kilowatt hours (kWh) so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find out.
The solar panel calculator displays four key pieces of information as a result:
- The estimated cost of installation – this is given as a range as it factors in variable costs such as scaffolding which are not standard.
- The estimated bill savings are represented as both a percentage and a monthly figure. Both of these are a range as these can vary depending on the location of your property, roof orientation and pitch, and the amount of solar energy received each year.
- The estimated return on investment – this is the amount of time that the electricity bill savings will take to pay for the cost of the installation of solar panels.
- The finance option available and what the cost per month might be for the installation.
You can have the estimate sent to your email address so that you can refer back to it at a later date. The solar calculator is a great way of getting an initial idea of what the cost of installing a solar PV system might be as well as understanding what the savings might be. The solar calculator does however make several assumptions as it is an estimate and we advise that you contact us for a full consultation to get a more precise quotation with savings projections that are fully tailored to your home.
