Key Solar Panels Comparisons

With the growth of solar panel installation in the UK, having now been installed on over 900,000 homes and producing enough energy to power 3 million British households, solar panels are more popular than ever. Having become more efficient over the past decade, solar panels are becoming an increasingly financially viable solution, especially when considered the ever-increasing price of energy bills. Despite this, there are still several considerations that any homeowner or business owner should factor in when deciding on solar panels.

If you’ve decided to go ahead and install solar panels, you may be asking yourself if there is a particular manufacturer, type or installer of solar panels you should be considering. As solar panels can last for 50 years, ensuring that you’re making the correct choice of solar panels is important. With several different solar panels & installers on the market, choosing the correct panels will impact the energy yield and the safety of your home or business.

Key considerations include:

• Manufacturer history
• Rated wattage
• Customer service
• Installation price
• Roof (installation location)
• Planning permission
• Solar panel financing and incentives schemes
• Return on investment
• Installer

At SolarTherm UK, our expert team will help advise and guide you through the installation process, as well as the key considerations mention in this article.

Choosing an installer and solar panel manufacturer that is established and can offer a warranty is essential. At SolarTherm UK, we back up any installation as standard with a 2-year parts & labour warranty and a 10–20-year panel product warranty. It is useful to note that a reputable installer such as Solartherm UK will also offer, at no extra charge, a 10-year insurance backed warranty. There are many smaller or non-established manufacturers and installers that won’t be able to provide an adequate level of cover should something happen to your panels. At SolarTherm UK, we’ve been installing solar panels since 2010 and have thousands of happy customers across the UK. We have used this time and experience to become synonymous as a reliable and trusted solar panel installer.

This is the critical output of any solar panel and the reason that they are installed, to generate electricity. With several different manufacturers on the market, some solar panels generate more wattage within a smaller space, and some generate less wattage with a larger space. Simply put, the higher the wattage the higher the electricity output and therefore the savings from your energy bill. When considering quotes and installers, ensure you’re also considering the wattage output from the solar panels being installed.

In most cases, solar panels need little to no maintenance throughout their lifetime. However, components such as the inverter will need replacing before the panels themselves. Good reliable customer service is essential, and a reputable solar panel installer such as SolarTherm UK will make this process as easy as straightforward as possible.

Those new to renewable energy will often have several questions. Our friendly team at SolarTherm UK will help answer any queries you may have on any part of your panels, including the installation process.

When considering the price of solar panels, going for the cheapest options isn’t always a good idea. There are several low-priced solar panels on the market that can be inefficient or even unsafe. When considering the price of any installation, considering the above factors is important when determining the quoted price of the installation.

When considering solar panels, your roof is an important factor in determining the type of solar panels to be installed, how many solar panels can be installed and whether any structural work needs to be carried out on your roof before installation.

If the roof of your house is old and may need replacing with a new roof, it might be worth considering the timing of getting solar panels installed. If repair work is required on the roof, it is recommended that those repairs are carried out before solar panels are installed. This will save on the additional time that will be taken to dismantle and reinstall the panels on your new roof.

The shape of your roof can impact the number of panels that can be installed. If the roof isn’t the ideal shape for solar panels, this can impact the expected return on investment from your solar panels.

Orientation of your roof can play a factor in determining how efficient your solar panels will be. Solar panels that are south facing are the most efficient as they will get daylight through the whole day, therefore enabling them to generate more electricity or hot water. By no means does that mean that solar panels cannot be fitted to a roof that isn’t South facings, however, installers will always recommend panels facing in this direction if possible. There can be circumstances where this is not the best option, such as too much shading by trees or other buildings, which can impact panel efficiency. When installing solar panels with SolarTherm UK, our team will conduct a site assessment to determine the best positioning for solar panels on your house or commercial building.

There are many types and construction of solar panels which will impact the weight fitted to your roof.

With each panel weighing between 18-23kg, it’s important that your roof is assessed to ensure it can take the additional weight that fitting solar panels will add. As panels are often fitted on the roof, high winds and adverse weather can also add additional stress to the roof.

Most houses in the UK don’t require additional structural work before installing solar panels, however, it’s important to check as a solar array with a 3kw output can add an additional 200kg on the roof.

Generally speaking, most houses do not require planning permission to install solar panels as they’re considered a ‘permitted development’. However, depending on your local authority, it may sometimes be required to apply for planning permission before installing solar panels on your roof. This is typically most common within areas such as the green belt or where solar panels will impact the architecture or surrounding area.

Even when planning permission isn’t required, building regulations must always be adhered to with an installation. This will ensure that the panels meet the required safety measures that are set out.

At SolarTherm UK, we always recommend consulting with your local council or authority to ensure that the installation of solar panels meets the laws or guidelines set out in the area of installation.

With SolarTherm UK, we offer several funding options for financing your solar panels. This will allow you to spread your solar panel installation into affordable monthly payments. This can often mean that your monthly cost will be less than you’d have typically spent on energy bills; however, this can vary depending on several factors.

At SolarTherm UK, we are authorised and regulated by the financial conduct authority. We act as a credit broker and not a lender and work with several carefully selected providers to meet any personal requirements.

As solar panels can save hundreds on your energy bills each year, weighing up the installation costs of solar panels versus these savings is an important consideration. While installing solar panels on your house can increase its value, it’s also worth considering the savings you can recoup through the reduced energy bills and the amount of time it’ll take until you start saving money above that of the installation cost.

At SolarTherm UK, we can provide an assessment to determine several factors including the amount of time it’ll take until you’ll have recouped savings about that of the installation cost of your solar panels.