We are all keen to generate less waste, and luckily, there are many ways and means of doing that, from upcycling and making do and mending, to switching to a renewable energy source. With gas prices still high, and the government’s intention to ban the installation of gas boilers by 2035, that last is something that is becoming increasingly important for everyone, alongside insulating your home – the vital first step in decreasing energy consumption.
Solar panels, for many, seem an obvious solution, and stories abound of those who had the foresight to install them years ago, have saved a fortune in bills and sell their excess energy to the national grid for 50p a unit. And solar panels can, technically, power anything, from your washing machine to your television, your air source heat pump to your electric car (yes, really.) However, when it comes to renewable energy, the situation is far from one size fits all.
For solar panels, you ideally need a south-facing roof; east or west-facing does not preclude your fitting them, but they will produce less energy. Any Velux windows in your attic will take away from surface area, and anything that shades the panels, whether another building or trees, will decrease efficiency. Finally, if your house is listed or in a conservation area, you require planning permission, which isn’t always forthcoming. Even if, as in the case of artist and writer Viktor Wynd, your Grade II-listed barn has “an ugly corrugated metal roof that was put on maybe 100 years ago to replace a thatched roof, and it’s not near a public road and cannot be seen from far away. It’s very frustrating.” You can, however, sometimes get around that by fitting the panels onto an unlisted outbuilding that is connected to the main house’s electrical circuit.
Then you need to decide what you’d like your solar panels to do. Some – solar thermal panels – heat water and are popular both for household water use and for heating swimming pools. (You can use them in tandem with a gas boiler, so you don’t need to worry about rationing baths, except for environmental reasons.) Others – solar photovoltaic panels, also referred to as PV – turn the sun’s rays into electricity, with the help of an inverter. The inverter is about the same size as a boiler and can go in a cupboard or in the garage; it’s not advised to put it outside unless it is protected from the elements. When deciding on location, do be aware that some can be noisy when the sun is particularly bright, to the extent that there are older models that sound like a hoover. You also need to decide if you’d like batteries to store the energy produced when the sun is shining for use on rainy days, or if you’d prefer to ‘sell’ the excess to the grid via the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) while having grid back-up. Sadly, that 50p-a-unit payback is long gone and the tariff now is lower (though still not to be sniffed at!).
By no means are we suggesting that a couple of paragraphs is sufficient to make you (or us) an expert, and the next step is to find a solar panel advisor and get quotes and information that pertain to your particular circumstances. It’s a good idea to use an MCS-accredited installation company that installs MCS-certified products (MCS stands for the Microgeneration Certification Scheme), and if by any miraculous chance a new government support scheme for fitting solar panels is announced (there is currently none) then you will probably find that MCS-accreditation is a pre-requisite. Solar Guide provides a comparison service, else we have received several positive reviews pertaining to Project Solar.
There are a variety of types of solar panel – monocrystalline, polycrystalline, hybrid, thin film – and even solar tiles. Tesla have created a solar roof that mimics the look of a traditional one, with a choice of textured, smooth, Tuscan or slate-styled roof tiles, but it is not yet available in the UK. There are also different types of inverter, which an advisor will be able to give counsel on, along with how many panels are needed for your energy requirements, and the size of battery, if you decide to have one (a battery can be installed later).
Other things to consider include the set-up cost, which depends on type, brand and number of solar panels, ease of accessibility and other variables. Some companies will offer a payment plan, so that you don’t have to produce the capital up front, but rather stagger it over the years using the savings that you are making (but look carefully at the contract.) Speaking to a cross-section of early adopters of solar panels, the majority report having recouped their outlay within ten years and are delighted by the lack of maintenance required. But while many PV panels come with a lifetime guarantee, worth knowing is that neither the inverter nor the batteries have the same lifespan, which should be factored into your budgeting.
Detractors like to point out the issues with batteries, the main one being that we’re not good at recycling them in this country. But technology is ever advancing, and using former electric vehicle batteries (EV batteries) is becoming a stronger consideration (the rules are that car batteries have to be replaced once they’re below 80 per cent, i.e. there’s a lot of life left in them.) The same people will point out that making solar panels necessitates burning coal, “but over their lifetime they save the carbon emissions from their manufacture many times over in the form of green energy,” explains Ed Conway, author of soon-to-be-published Material World. The final aspect, is to think about just how much sun your panels might get. Happily, we can report that they work even if the sun is not shining, just as you can get sunburnt through cloud cover – so there is light even on the greyest of days.
