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.