Five Fun Facts About Solar PanelsAbout

The savings you can realize with solar panels are serious business, not just for pocketbook but for the planet. Not everything about solar PV systems has to be deadly serious, though. Here are five fun facts about solar panels that you may not know.

Solar energy is nothing new. Leonardo Da Vinci had sketches of solar concentrators in his notebooks in the 1400s – of course, he wasn’t planning for electricity. That took a few more centuries.

Scientists were exploring ways to use the sun to generate electricity in the 1860s. When they realized that coal and oil supplies would last far longer than the scientists at the time had predicted, interest in developing solar energy waned. Sound familiar? In 1973 and 1979, oil crises sparked interest in developing solar energy again, and solar panels were born in that era. Again, when the crisis passed, development stopped. This time around, concerns about global warming have combined with the instability in the oil-producing nations to raise concerns and the development of solar PV systems has proceeded by leaps and bounds.

The cost of making solar panels has dropped drastically over the past ten years. In 2001, it was estimated that it cost about $3.28 per watt to produce solar panels in China. In 2009, a US-based maker of solar panels achieved the Holy Grail of solar energy production – solar crystals that cost $1 or less per watt to manufacture. The thin-film solar panels were cheaper in large part because they could be produced in about 2 ½ hours.

The earth receives more energy from the sun in one hour than the entire world uses in an entire year. Is it any wonder that we’re trying to harness that energy for use in solar panels?

Solar panels aren’t just for the home. In 1999, the first solar powered plane launched in the United States. In 2010, a Swiss pilot flew a solar-powered airplane overnight, proving that the solar panels affixed to its wings could collect enough energy during the day to fly all night. And in May, 2011, the same Swiss pilot flew the plane, powered by 12,000 solar PV cells on its first international flight.

Of course, you won’t be expecting your house to take off in flight if you install solar panels on the roof, but you can expect to save a substantial amount of dosh on your electricity bill. To find out just how much money you can save with a solar PV system, contact a local solar installer and request an evaluation. That’s where you’ll get the really fun facts about solar panels.

Fun Facts About Solar Panels

As rooftops across the UK sprout shiny, flat solar panels and people throughout the country reap the benefits of lower energy costs, the planet reaps the benefits as well – solar panels produce clean energy that doesn’t pollute the air or contribute to global warming. Most people know the basic stuff about solar PV systems – that they’re made from silicon crystals and generate electricity from the sun. Anyone who has done even the most basic research also knows that most solar PV systems will pay for themselves in about 10 to 12 years. But there are also fun, obscure facts about solar panels that you can drop into your conversation here and there to impress your friends and family with how much you know about the subject. Here are just a few.

What country has the highest concentration of solar panels installed? If you guessed one of the tropical countries near the equator, you’d be wrong. The right answer is Germany, which installed its millionth grid-tied solar PV system in November, 2011. Solar panels account for about 3 percent of consumer electricity in the country, and will account for 10 percent by the year 2020.

Solar panels generate electricity even on cloudy days. In Germany, for instance, most cities average between 9 and 18 rainy days per month – hardly the climate where you’d expect solar panels to be so productive. Germany’s climate and geographical orientation is very similar to that of the UK, suggesting that solar PV installations will be as successful in the UK as in Germany.

There are credible reports that solar panels installed during the 1960s and 1970s are still operating and delivering electricity to their users. When you install a solar PV system, you’re guaranteeing yourself a source of electricity for life.

Leonardo Da Vinci had sketches of systems to use the sun’s energy in his notebooks way back in the 1400s. Solar energy has been around for a long, long time.

Installing solar panels reduces your reliance on outside sources of energy, which in turn, reduces the country’s reliance on outside sources of energy. When you install a solar PV system, you’re helping improve the energy security of the whole company.

Solar PV installation is generally a quick and painless operation. Once your home has been surveyed and a solar company has determined that you have an appropriate roof space for solar panels, your solar PV system can be installed in a few hours – or at most, over the course of a day. And you won’t even have to worry about disruption of your normal electricity. Generally, the installers only need to cut the power to your home for a few minutes to tie the new solar panels into your existing electrical system.

Want to know more about solar panels and solar PV systems? Contact a local company that installs solar panels and schedule a consultation.

Five Benefits of Solar Panels

The government has been pushing solar PV systems hard lately, but many people remain unconvinced. If you’re one of those who are still wavering on whether or not to give over your roof real estate to solar panels, it may be because you’re not fully aware of the benefits of a solar PV system. These facts about solar panels may help tip the balance in favor of installing a renewable energy system on your property.

You’ll Save Money

One of the strongest arguments in favor of solar panels is the economic one. While solar PV systems represent a significant upfront investment, you’ll start reaping the benefits in savings immediately. Solar panels generate free electricity for your use, and you’ll use that electricity before your electrical system draws on electricity from your power supplier. That means that every kilowatt hour of energy your system produces will save you the cost of a kWh on your power bill each month. Even better, your solar panels will continue to save you money on your electric bill year after year, even after you’ve recouped the initial investment – which you’ll recover far faster, thanks to the Feed-in Tariff Scheme installed by the government.

You’ll Make Money

The Feed-in Tariff Scheme provides payments to solar PV system owners for every single kWh of energy the system produces, including the energy that you use in your own home. That’s right – the government will pay you for the electricity you use as long as it’s generated by your solar panels. In addition, the government will pay you even more for any electricity that your solar system generates that you don’t use when it’s fed back into the grid.

You’ll Contribute to National Energy Security

One of the reasons that the government is so keen on micro-generation – the term for very small solar PV systems such as those for most residences – is that it provides what’s called “distributed energy production.” By distributing the solar generators over a wide area instead of putting all the power generators in one large facility, the government reduces the risk that an attack or a natural disaster will disrupt power across the nation. Every residential solar PV system is one more brick in the national energy security plan.

You’ll be Less Prone to Service Disruptions

Because you’ll be getting a portion of your electricity from your own solar generators, you’ll be less affected by power disruptions in the event of outages or cutbacks on service. That puts you ahead of the game if the power goes out. While you won’t have lights at night in that case, you will have electricity to run essential equipment, like your refrigerator, during the day.

Your Property Will be Worth More

Solar panels add value to your property. According to the latest estimates, a solar PV installation will add about 70% of its cost to the value of your home. And if you own rental property, your flats will be worth more rent on the market because your tenants can count on lower energy bills.

If you’re still not entirely convinced, contact a local solar panels installer to get more specifics about how a solar PV system can benefit you.

Five Things You Should Do Before Buying Solar Panels

A residential solar PV system provides electricity for your home in about the most economical and clean ways around. When you mount solar panels on your roof, you’ll have a source of free electricity for up to 30 years, with almost no maintenance or additional costs beyond the initial installation. To make the deal even sweeter, the government has set up a Feed-in Tariff Scheme that pays you to produce the electricity you use – and pays you even more if your solar PV system produces more electricity than you use. Before you queue up at your nearest solar installer’s door, though, there are a few things you should do to ensure you get the most out of your new solar PV system.

Do a full energy audit. Producing your own electricity is cool, but it’s silly to waste the electricity you make. Besides, you’ll still be getting some of your electricity from the grid, so it makes sense to reduce the amount of electricity you’re buying as much as you can. Figure out where you’re using electricity and how much of it is wasted so that your solar panels will be supplying electricity to a streamlined, energy efficient home.

Install a timer system to control your electricity use. Again, conservation measures pay off big, even before you install your solar panels. And since much of the electricity you use is at night when your solar panels aren’t producing electricity, putting your lights, televisions and other electronics on timers definitely helps save you money. After all, why should you pay for the telly if it’s running after you fall asleep?

Learn as much as you can about solar PV systems. Educating yourself will give you a leg up when you start taking quotes on solar systems and comparing solar panels against each other. There are, unfortunately, a lot of fast-talking salesmen out there who’d rather sell you the solar panels that profit them the most rather than the system that will serve you the best. The more you know, the better you’ll be able to protect yourself from being swindled.

Get quotes from several different solar installation companies. There’s a wide range of prices out there for very similar systems, so it pays to shop around. Do be careful about companies that are selling incredibly low-priced solar PV systems, though – sometimes you do get what you pay for.

Have your property properly evaluated by a reputable solar panels installer. About 80 percent of the properties in the UK are suited for installing a solar PV system, but only an experienced, reputable solar system installer can tell you for sure and recommend the best installation for your property.

Solar panels offer many advantages for the homeowner who decides to install them, but there are things you can do before you choose your solar PV system to make it even more advantageous. Follow these five tips and you’ll benefit even more from clean, green solar power.

Solar Panels Are an Affordable, Responsible Energy SourceAre

According to the Department of Energy and Climate Control, the average UK household spends close to £1,200 annually for the electricity to power its televisions, electric lights and other electrical gadgets. In the average UK home, the use of electricity accounts for more than 20% of their entire carbon footprint – 22% to be more precise. Solar panels can reduce both of those figures substantially, helping you save both money and the environment – but just how much effect can solar panels actually have on your wallet and your ecological shoe size?

According to a report published by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, switching from to solar panels for even part of your electricity generation can have a significant effect on your carbon footprint. Scientists measure the carbon impact of various types of electricity generation in gCO2eq/kWh – that stands for grams of carbon equivalent per kilowatt hour. The figures used in the POST publication take into account the entire life cycle of the method – in the case of solar panels, the figures include the carbon cost of mining the silicon and producing the crystals, as well as an attempt at including the cost of transporting the solar panels from their point of manufacture to your home. The result?

Electricity produced by coal-fired energy plants cost the environment 1,000 gCO2eq/kWh or more. If your home uses electricity from a gas-fired plant, it’s putting out about 500 gCO2eq/kWh – that’s about half of the amount of coal. Solar panels, on the other hand, cost just about 55 gCO2eq/kWh – just over 1/20^th the carbon cost of coal-fired electricity and slightly more than 10% the cost of producing electricity with gas. That’s in the UK – solar panels in Southern Europe save even more because they can produce more electricity.

How about the savings for your wallet? When you install an approved solar PV system, you can register to receive payments for the electricity your system produces, including the electricity that you use in your own home. This Feed-In Tariff Scheme kick-starts the financial advantage of switching to solar panels by providing a guaranteed payment for every kWh of electricity your solar PV system produces for the next 25 years. Once the fee is set, it’s guaranteed to remain the same for at least 25 years even if future laws change the tariff for those who join the scheme in later years.

The tariff scheme is in addition to the savings you’re realize simply because you are replacing a portion of the electricity you buy with electricity you generate for free from the sun. Even if there were no tariff at all, you’d still be saving the cost of every kWh of electricity you’re not buying from the electricity company.

As you can see, solar panels are a good idea for both your wallet and the planet. When you install a solar PV system, you’ll see benefits that are green in more ways than one.

Why Consider Solar Panels?

The decision to install solar panels on your roof may seem like a no-brainer, especially when you count the FiTS incentive that will pay you regular income for the electricity you generate from your solar PV system. The FiTS – the Feed-in Tariff Scheme – is a payment offered by the UK government to people who install microgeneration units like solar PV systems on their property. It’s part of the push to increase the amount of renewable energy used in the nation and decrease the country’s reliance on non-renewable energy sources like coal and oil-fired energy plants. If you still haven’t decided to look into installing a solar PV system on your roof, consider these advantages and benefits.

Solar Energy Provides Free Electricity

Once you install your solar panels and set up your system, all of the electricity your system generates is free. Even better, thanks to the FiTS, you’ll actually get paid by the government for every single unit of electricity your solar panels generate for the next 25 years.

Solar Panels Last for Decades

Because they have no moving parts, solar panels last for decades. In fact, there are solar PV systems that were installed in the 1970s that are still generating electricity. You may need to replace the inverter – which changes the direct current from the solar panels into alternating current for your electrical supplies – after about 15 years, but other than that, your maintenance will mostly consist of hosing down the panels once a year or so to keep them clean.

About 80 Percent of the Homes in the UK are Suited for Solar PV Installation

All you need for a productive solar system installation is an unshaded rooftop that faces south, southeast or southwest and is pitched between 20 and 60 degrees. If your roof faces south, is unshaded most of the day and is pitched between 30 and 50 degrees, your solar panels will operate at peak efficiency.

You Don’t Give up the Security of the Electric Grid

Grid-tied solar systems – the kind that qualify for the FiTS – generate electricity during the daylight hours, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be in the dark the rest of the time. The solar PV system will be tied into the electric grid, and your electrical system will draw power from the traditional grid during the times that your solar panels don’t produce enough electricity for your needs.

You can get more information about solar panels and their benefits when you contact a local solar installer and set up a solar consultation to find out if your property is a good candidate for a solar PV system.

Which Solar Panels Should You Choose?

It might surprise you to know that solar panels come in several different types, and that each of them has benefits and drawbacks. The solar panels that you choose will make a difference in the cost, size and efficiency of the solar PV system you install. Here’s a quick overview to help you understand the differences between the different kinds of solar panels so that you can make a decision about which one is best for your home.

First, the basics. Most solar panels are made from silicon, a naturally occurring crystal that has energy conversion capabilities. The first solar cells were created in 1954, and in the 50 plus years since, there have been many advances that reduced the cost of manufacturing solar cells. Some of those advances also reduced or improved the efficiency of the solar panels made using them.

Monocrystalline Solar Panels

Monocrystalline solar panels are made from thin slices of single silicon crystals. They are both the most expensive and the most efficient type of solar panels currently available for most residential uses. Because monocrystalline solar panels are so efficient, however, you can get more power from smaller arrays of solar cells. Depending on your circumstances, that can translate to lower costs. It also translates to less weight on your roof, which could be a factor in your decision with an older home.

Polycrystalline Solar Panels

Polycrystalline solar cells are cut from silicon ingots made by melting and molding silicon, then slicing it into thin wafers. Polycrystalline cells are less expensive, but less efficient, which means that you’ll need a larger solar system to produce the same amount of energy that a smaller monocrystalline solar PV system can produce. The loss of efficiency is often a fair tradeoff for the reduction in cost, and polycrystalline solar panels are the most common type sold in  the UK.

Amorphous Solar Cells

Also known as thin film solar, amorphous solar panels use a thin film of silicon sandwiched between two layers of glass. In general, they have the potential to be highly efficient and lower the cost of producing solar energy, but they have yet to live up to that potential. Currently, amorphous solar panels are rare in the residential market. They’re heavier than either poly or mono crystalline solar panels, and less efficient than both.

When you talk to a solar installation company about installing solar panels on your roof or other outdoor area, be sure to ask them what type of solar panels they use, and ask which is the best type of solar PV system for your residence.

Five Factors That Affect Your Savings with Solar Panels

If you’re like many others across the UK, you’ve probably considered installing solar panels on your roof. After all, solar energy is cleaner and greener, it’s renewable, it’s good for the planet and it can save you money. What’s not to love about it?

While saving money may not be your primary motivation, it’s certainly a nice little extra to choosing solar PV for your power. If you want to maximize the amount of money – and energy – you save with solar panels, these five factors can have a major effect on your solar energy savings.

Energy Efficiency

Before you even install solar panels, do an energy audit of your home. This is especially important if you use electricity for heating and cooling your house. Add insulation where it’s needed, plug up drafts and put your lamps on timers to reduce your energy usage. After all, you might as well make the best use of the energy your solar PV system produces.

Direction and Orientation

The direction your solar panels face will affect how much energy they produce, and the more energy they produce, the more money you’ll save. Your best option is a south-facing roof, which gets the most direct sunlight year round in the UK, but solar panels will still get enough sunlight with an east or west orientation, or anything in between.

Angle

Solar panels are most productive when they are set at a 30 to 50 degree angle, though they’ll still produce energy anywhere in the 20 to 60 degree range. If your roof’s pitch is greater or lesser than that, a frame built onto the roof may still make it possible for you to use solar PV panels to generate electricity.

Shade

One of the most important factors in choosing where to place your solar panels is shade – or, to be more specific, the absence thereof. If there are other structures, trees or even geographic land forms that cast a shadow over your roof through part of the day, it will reduce the amount of electricity your solar installation will produce. Trees are, of course, the easiest problem to solve – have an arborist in to trim or remove them.

Size

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that size doesn’t matter. When it comes to solar panels, size is a major factor in the amount of energy your system produces, and thus, to the amount of money you’ll save using solar panels. The more surface area you can expose to the sun, the more energy your solar PV system can produce. That, of course, is also modified by the type of solar panels you choose – monocrystalline panels produce more electricity than the same size mutlicrystalline panels, for example.

If you’re considering installing solar panels on your home, a local solar system installer can help you decide if your home is a suitable candidate for solar PV electricity.