Home > Benefits of Solar Panels

Solar Panels pay for themselves

A solar electric (PV) system for an average house costs between £5054 -£11,738. The new feed-in tariffs are projected to give you an annual tax free return of 6-8% on that investment for a 25 year period and a break even time of less than 10 years. Great. And if you don't want the upfront sum but like the follow-on benefits of solar, then a Free Solar System could be just right for you.

It's easy

Home improvements can be a pain to live through. Solar PV isn't like that. It usually only takes a day to install, and this mostly happens outside on the roof. Even the power supply is only broken for a a few minutes whilst the new connections are made.

• Reduce your electricity bill by up to 50% depending on the size of system installed and the amount of electricity you use.
• Feed in tariff pays you 21p for every unit of electricity you produce from April 2011.
• Get paid by your energy supplier for electricity that you don't use.
• Modern systems have a guaranteed operating life of 25 years and will last up to 40 years.
• A great home improvement increasing the energy efficiency of your home.
• Only requires daylight so will work all year long and even on cloudy days.
• Little or no maintenance required with a totally silent operation due to solid state technology and no moving parts.
• In most circumstances no planning permission is required and most systems are installed within a day with minimal disruption to you or your home.
• Reduce your carbon footprint and reduce the impact of global warming.
• Generate your own electricity, giving you your own clean and renewable energy power source.
• Insurance backed guarantee with full deposit protection.

Reduce your electricity bill dramatically

When you begin to generate your own solar power, your electricity bill will drop. How much depends on how and when you use electricity (including putting washing machines on timers so that they work during the day when your electricity is free). If you are a 'medium user' (3300 kWh/yr), with a 2.5kWp PV system, you could cut your bill by a third.

Save more every year

Savings are likely to increase over time. The average energy bill for a typical home more than doubled over the past 5 years. With solar PV, you'll be protected from some of this increase by being partly self-sufficient.

Maximise a sleeping asset

If your roof is south facing then it could be making you money!

Increase your home's value

35% of Energy Saving Trust's 2009 survey said they would be willing to pay more for a home where some of their energy supply came from renewable resources, and this is likely to increase as energy prices continue to rise; almost half said would like to know if their home is suitable for renewable energy systems.

Reduce your carbon footprint

Solar power is a 'clean' energy resource and it's not going anywhere. An average solar PV system will replace 'dirty' fuel sources and save around 20% of a home's carbon footprint per year (around 1000kg CO2).