The advantage of choosing a bespoke home solar panel solution
With many solar panel installers operating throughout the UK offering package deals, they can appear attractive, but when you dig below the surface a basic off-the-shelf system might not be the right option.
To demonstrate this, we thought we’d look back at one of our home solar panel installations from a year ago in Benfleet, Essex. We installed solar panels on a flat roof and combined it with battery storage to maximise the use of the electricity generated. The client chose SolarTherm UK because we could offer a bespoke service to create a system that kept her property aesthetically pleasing, and we were local and well-informed.
“I would recommend SolarTherm due to good customer service and I felt as though you are a good honest company that wasn’t trying to oversell what was needed.”
One year on, our customer is very pleased with the installation of her home solar panels and battery storage, as the savings achieved have been greater than predicted. The increasing energy costs and higher yield from the system resulted in greater savings.
| Predicted | Actual | |
| Solar Panel Generation | 11,170.8 kWh per Year | 11,372.40 kWh |
| Year One Savings | £2,046.66 | £3414.60 |
| Year One Export Payments | £178.17 | £62.55 |
| Total Year One Saving | £2,224.83 | £3,477.15 |
In the case of this particular home solar panel system, the export payments (money received for selling solar generated electricity back to the grid) are fairly low as the homeowner used or stored most of the electricity they generated. This means more of the electricity has actually been used by the customer, rather than exported to the grid at a lower rate.
“It has definitely been worth investing in solar for our home. Our electricity use is very high and it has reduced the money that is spent.”
Each year the savings figure is estimated to increase by approximately 7.04%1 so we would anticipate savings of £3,686.46 in year two and £3,908.61 in year three. Over the 30-year lifetime of the solar panel system on this home, the average annual savings are projected to be £7,530.11, so the total savings minus the cost of installing solar would be £175,035.60. This figure factors in panel and battery degradation, as well as battery and inverter replacement costs.
Why choose a bespoke home solar panel system?
A bespoke solar panel system for a home will be not only tailored to meet the needs of your household for optimal yield and design, but it will also take into account your electricity usage patterns. Our home solar panel systems are designed around you. So with this example, we used our own flat roof solar panel mounting system to maximise the placement and orientation of the panels whilst retaining the property’s style and utilising all the available roof space.
We were also able to design a home solar panel system that catered for their usage which included charging an electric vehicle. So battery storage was an essential part of the design to enable the car to utilise the electricity generated from the solar panels in the evening.
Home solar panel system comparisons…
So how might the advanced and the basic systems compare? Take a look at the comparison below.
| Basic System | Advanced System | |
| Panels | 29 x 385W Panels with a 30 Year Warranty | 29 x 400W Panels with 30 Year Warranty |
| Inverter | Standard grid inverter with a 7 year warranty | 3 x SE3500 Inverters with 12 Year Warranty |
| Battery | No Battery | Wonderlux 7.2 kWh Battery |
| Year One Saving | £2,650.18 | £3414.60 |
| Average Annual Savings | £6,048.13 | £7530.11 |
| Total lifetime savings minus system cost | £131,203.29 Over 30 Years | £175,035.60 Over 30 Years |
As you can see in the comparison, the advanced home solar system offers much greater savings than a basic system which can really add up over the years, with the advanced system averaging £1481.98 more savings per year. Even taking into account the extra cost of the more advanced system, the total lifetime savings are £43,832.31 higher than the basic system. So paying a bit more initially will soon be recouped making it worth the extra investment.
If you are considering installing solar panels for your home, the benefits of a bespoke system designed to work specifically for you are likely to prove a better long-term investment with greater returns. Our expert team at SolarTherm UK have been designing and installing custom solar panel systems for homes since 2010 – over 14 years! If you would like to see what we could design for you, get in touch today and we can provide a free, no-obligation design for your property.
11 The rate of energy price increase is an average of the Office of National Statistics data for the period 2005-2019 – www.ons.gov.uk
