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Why You Should Get A Solar Installation As Soon As Possible
There are plenty of reasons why it is a good idea to get solar panels installed on your roof. For one thing, it means that your energy bills will be reduced and with conventional energy prices always on the rise that could be a much needed relief. For another, we need to stop global warming from coming in to full effect meaning that we need to stop burning so many fossil fuels. And more people using solar energy is one way to do that. The reason you should do this as soon as possible though, if you can, is that the feed in tariff rate is probably going to be cut considerably in the near future.
Consider a solar installation before the feed in tariff rates are cut.
The Feed in Tariff
If you haven’t heard of the feed in tariff before, it’s very simple. It’s a government scheme whereby you get paid for each unit of energy that your solar panels produce. Which means that you get paid for the solar energy created, whether you use it or not.
If you do use it then you will be making the corresponding savings on your energy bills of course. And if you don’t use it, then it can be exported on to the National Grid and you will be paid extra for that. In this way then you are going to be making more money than if you had to rely on the savings you make on energy bills alone.
In fact, when that was the situation, before the feed in tariff was introduced in April 2010, not many people were getting solar panels installed. That’s because it would take around 25 years just to make enough savings to pay off the costs of the installation. Overall then, you wouldn’t be saving any money. With the feed in tariff though it generally only takes around 10 years to pay off the installation costs, after which you should have at least 15 years of making significant savings in real terms. In fact you will actively be making money with your solar energy.
Government Reductions
There is a problem with the feed in tariff though, at least for the government. It is too successful. They did not anticipate so many people wanting to get solar panels after they introduced the feed in tariff. The consequence is that they are running out of money on the budget for it so a drastic reduction in the rates is expected soon.
There is set to be a review in April 2012, however some fear the change is going to have to be made even before then. Once you are on a certain rate, however, that rate is fixed for the next 25 years. In fact the only reason it is going to change is that it will go up in order to keep up with the rate of inflation.
Solar Energy UK
If you are interested in being able to make full use of the feed in tariff before the rates are cut, get in touch with Solar Energy UK to get a free quote for a solar installation.
What Can Solar Energy Be Used For?
There are two main ways in which you can utilize solar energy. Either to create electricity for your home or to provide your home with hot water. This can be done with PV solar panels and solar thermal panels respectively. Each has their advantages.
Solar energy can be used to power all of the appliances in your home.
PV Solar Panels
For the most versatility, the PV solar panels will be the best. The electricity which they produce can be used to power all of the electrical appliances in your home. You are still going to need to use conventional energy sometimes, in all likelihood, when you have used up all of the solar energy your solar panels have produced to date. However there are also going to be times when you have a surplus of electricity, and then you can make more money on that.
The way this works is that with the feed in tariff, when you have produced more electricity than you need, the surplus is exported on to the National Grid. At present you then get paid 3p per unit of electricity that you export. That is not the only way that you make money with the feed in tariff though, in fact you will be making money on each unit of electricity you produce, whether you use it yourself or not.
That’s because the feed in tariff is a government scheme which has been introduced in order to encourage more people to get solar panels installed on their roof. It does this by making it in to a better investment. To illustrate just how much of a difference it makes, without the feed in tariff it would usually take around 25 years in order to make enough savings on energy bills in order to pay off the amount you spent on the solar installation. With the feed in tariff though, it usually only takes around 10 years.
Solar Thermal Panels
At the moment there is no such scheme in place as an equivalent to the feed in tariff that applies to the heat energy produced by solar thermal panels. However, there soon will be. Next year the renewable heat incentive will be applicable to the renewable heat which is generated by things like solar thermal panels as well as heat pumps. It will work in the same way as the feed in tariff, with your being paid for each unit of energy which you produce.
Of course in this situation there will be no possibility of exporting any of the energy that you don’t use, however that is only a relatively minor part of it in any case. The advantages that you get from using solar energy to heat your water are going to be much the same as you get with PV solar power. In that you’ll be reducing your energy bills and also cutting your carbon footprint.
Solar Energy UK
To find out more about the uses for solar energy, and to get a free quote for a solar installation, get in touch with Solar Energy UK on our freephone number.
Making Savings With Solar Energy
There are two ways that you can save with solar energy. One way is that you save in terms of the energy that you are using, or at least the amount of conventional energy you’re using from the burning of fossil fuels. The other way is that you save money by not having to pay for energy from those sources. In fact, although the ultimate goal is usually to cut carbon footprints, this comes about from the incentive of saving money.
Save money and energy with solar energy.
Energy Saving
The problem with conventional energy is that it comes from burning fossil fuels. And the main reason that is a problem is that it releases carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere. This leads to global warming since CO2 is a greenhouse gas and contributes to the warming of the Earth.
For this reason then, it’s important to use renewable sources of energy such as solar energy. This comes from solar panels, converting the light from the sun in to electricity. This is a completely clean form of energy, so there are no emissions involved in it. If we are going to stop global warming then its these forms of energy that we are going to have to use more of.
As mentioned, a consequence of this, using solar panels so that you do not need so much energy from conventional sources, is that you make savings on your energy bills. So we’ll now investigate this aspect of making savings with solar energy.
Saving Money
The traditional way to save money with your solar panels is by having to pay less on your energy bills. However, it turns out that with the technology at this stage of development, you don’t make very big savings. At least, not when you compare it with the cost of the solar installation in the first place.
To illustrate this, if you were going by these savings alone then it would normally take you around 25 years in order to save enough to equal the amount that you had to spend on a solar installation. Since solar panels only tend to last about 25 years, this means that you are unlikely to actually make any real savings financially at all.
However that has changed now due to the introduction of the feed in tariff. That’s a government scheme which pays you for each unit of electricity which your solar panels produce. There are different rates depending on the kind and size of installation you have, but at the moment the upper rate is 43.3p per kilowatt hour. At that rate, you will usually be able to make around £1,000 a year with the feed in tariff. Meaning that it usually only takes around 10 years to pay off the installation costs. Then you have 15 years of making money with solar energy.
Solar Energy UK
If you would like a free quote for a solar installation, or you want to know more about the savings that you can expect to make, then get in touch with Solar Energy UK on our freephone number.
Solarwatt AG Commissions Solar Parks In UK
The German company Solarwatt AG is to build two solar energy parks in the area of Bristol, which will have a combined energy output of 6MW, enough to power 2,600 homes. This comes at a time when there was a fear that there would be a drop off of larger solar installations as the feed in tariff is going to be greatly reduced for these sorts of projects. While there will still probably be less solar farms than there would have been otherwise, it is encouraging to see that there are still projects of this size going ahead.
Solarwatt to build two large solar parks near Bristol.
Big V Small
The feed in tariff was introduced in April 2010 by the government and so far has been a great success. The way it works is that you have to pay for the installation, but then you get money for each unit of energy that your solar panels produce. This led to many more people getting solar panels installed, and solar energy companies planning to build more solar parks.
In fact it is such a successful project that the government is worried that it will run out of funds to be able to meet the increase in demand. For this reason it has decided to drastically cut back the amount of money that is available for the larger projects so that more individuals will be able to cash in on this lucrative scheme.
This move was met with concern by industry leaders, and especially by companies which had plans in the works to build large solar parks. With the government not having the money to be able to fund both kinds of projects though, have they made the right decision in focusing on individual installations rather than large projects?
In terms of the amount of solar energy produced, it shouldn’t make any difference. It doesn’t matter in those terms whether the solar power is created by lots of individual installations or by one big solar farm. Economically it doesn’t really make a difference either. It’s true that if individuals get the installation then they will end up with more disposable income and as they spend their money they will be creating more demand and therefore more jobs. However solar companies would also spend that money, perhaps investing in more solar technology and employing more people.
In fact, then, if the money went to the solar companies then that would be more likely to grow the green sector more as it is much more likely that these companies will spend their money within the industry. Individuals have a much more diverse range of wants and needs and are as likely to buy a new television with their savings as they are to get something else in the green sector. The actual reason that the government made this decision then is probably more political, after all it is people who vote, not companies.
Solar Energy UK
Whatever the reason for the decision to gear the feed in tariff towards individual installations, it does mean that ordinary people are going to be able to make more use out of it it. If you would like a free quote for a solar installation get in touch with Solar Energy UK today.
Solar Energy Systems
There are two main types of solar energy systems. First of all you have the kind that produces electricity, which is done with PV (photovoltaic) solar panels. Then you have your solar thermal systems, which provide you with hot water. Which one you are going to prefer will really depend on what you are looking for, as well as your budget.
Solar thermal panels.
Electricity-Producing Solar Energy
The kind of solar energy system that will provide you with the most amount of versatility is the one that generates electricity. After all, electricity is what powers just about everything in a home, so there is very little limitation on what you can do with energy of this kind. If you have an electric heating system, then it can even heat your home.
The way these work is with PV solar panels, each one being made up of a multitude of solar cells. There are differences between solar modules of this kind, for example the amount of power that they emit and how efficient they are. So you’ll have to choose the ones that are going to be best for you. At Solar Energy UK we provide solar panels from three of the best suppliers; Sanyo, Schott and Hyundai.
In terms of the financial aspect, this kind of solar energy is also now in a very good position. That’s because you no longer have to depend entirely on the savings that you make on your energy bills to pay off the installation costs. Instead, the government has introduced the feed in tariff, which pays you for all of the energy that you produce with your solar panels. This makes them a far better investment, as you can usually pay off the cost of the installation within 10 years, giving you around 15 years of actually making money with them.
Solar Hot Water Systems
Although you can’t do as much with a solar hot water system as you can with solar electricity of course, they are still a great way to save money on energy bills. Solar thermal panels are able to take care of a large percentage of your hot water needs, which can be used not only as the water that comes out of your taps but if you have the right kind, for central heating as well.
At the moment there are no financial incentives active for this kind of solar energy, however the renewable heat incentive is going to come in to effect very soon for businesses, and at around this time next year for domestic households. This will work in the same way as the feed in tariff, paying you for all the renewable heat you produce. Also, a solar hot water system is not as expensive as PV solar panels.
In order to make use of the financial incentives attached to solar power, you will have to use MCS accredited solar installers, or the kind provided by Solar Energy UK.
Solar Energy UK
If you are interested in finding out more about solar energy systems, or you are ready to get a free quote for a solar installation, then please feel free to get in touch on our freephone number.
Investors Looking At Solar Energy For Long-Term
If you’ve been watching or reading the news at all in the last three years then you will probably have heard mention of a financial crisis (every now and then). Recently talks of an economic crisis are heating up again, leading many investors to look for good long term projects that are not going to be affected by the troubles in the market. One of these projects which has been grasped is solar energy.
Now solar energy and making money are very much compatible.
Solar Energy Companies
For the larger investors, the corporate investors, they are looking at solar energy farms. That is, the large installations with enough solar panels to cover 4 football pitches in some cases. The energy that they create is sold on to the National Grid, and that’s enough energy to power a few thousand homes.
Of course this was an even better investment when the feed in tariff was available for large projects such as those. However, with the budget available for that government scheme running low (due to how popular it is) only smaller scale projects qualify for the highest rates now.
Even so, however, UK homes and businesses are sure to need energy in the future, and with conventional energy costing more and more, the use of solar energy is likely to become more popular. Which is why large investments are being made in solar energy companies which can create solar farms.
Individual Investors
You don’t have to be a big corporate investor to make use of the opportunities opened up by solar energy though. Indeed, as just mentioned, if you only want solar panels for your home then you’ll be able to make full use of the feed in tariff, making it in to an even better investment.
It might not be that you are actually thinking about solar panels in that way though, as an investment. Perhaps you are more concerned about the environmental benefits that solar power confers. However even if that is your main concern, few people can afford to ignore the financial implications altogether.
When thinking about the finances then, it is going to depend on the sort of solar energy system that you get, including the type of solar panels and the size of them, as to what the specific financial situation is going to be. However in general, taking the feed in tariff in to account as well, it is usually possible to pay off the initial installation costs within 10 years. That is down from around 25 years, which was the situation when the feed in tariff was not in place.
This means that you can usually get an annual return on your investment of around 10% with the feed in tariff, and so well worth considering whether you have environmental concerns or purely financial ones.
Solar Energy UK
If you would like more information on the specifics of the financial investment, and how much you can expect to make in your circumstances, then get in touch with Solar Energy UK for a free consultation. We will also be able to give you a free quote for a solar installation.
Solar Power UK
The production of solar energy in the UK has increased recently, due to the introduction of the feed in tariff. What this goes to show is that people are interested in using solar panels, they were only put off in the past by the meagre returns that you get from the savings on your energy bills alone, considering the cost of a solar installation.
Solar energy production in the UK is increasing.
Increasing Energy Prices
One of the main reasons that people are interested in using solar power now is that the cost of conventional energy is rapidly increasing. Some of this is probably due to the inflation that we are seeing, however the cost of energy is increasing faster than the rate of inflation.
This means that everyone is interested in being able to get their energy cheaper. And once you have solar panels installed you will be getting solar energy for free of course. The only problem is how much the installation costs.
Even so though, plenty of people can afford the cost of the installation, they just didn’t think that it was worth it before the feed in tariff was introduced. Indeed, before the feed in tariff it would take around 25 years to save enough on your bills to pay off the installation cost. And that is about how long solar panels last for, so you wouldn’t necessarily get any financial benefit at all.
Feed in Tariff
The feed in tariff has put an end to that situation though. As long as you use MCS accredited solar installers to get your solar panels put up, you will qualify for the feed in tariff. If you want a particularly large installation though, 50kW or more, then you do not get nearly as much from the feed in tariff any more.
However the reason that the government made that change is that they wanted more individuals, who only need smaller installations for their individual houses, to be able to make use of the fund available.
Now, instead of taking around 25 years to pay off the cost of the installation, it usually takes around 10 years instead. This leaves you with around 15 years of making a profit with them.
What you also have to take in to account is that the more conventional energy prices rise, the more savings you will be making. So solar energy is effectively inflation proof. Especially as the feed in tariff also tracks the RPI (Retail Price Index) which means that the amount you get from the feed in tariff will keep pace with inflation as well.
Overall
On the whole then, the situation with solar energy in the UK is improving. People continue to get solar panels in order to offset energy costs as well as a way to help the environment. This situation is set to improve for other forms of renewable energy as well as the renewable heat incentive is due to come in to effect soon, which will incentivise the use of renewable heating sources such as solar thermal panels.
Solar Energy UK
If you would like a free quote for a solar installation then get in touch with Solar Energy UK today.
3,000 Wrexham Council Houses To Get Solar Panels
A project worth £60m has been embarked upon by Wrexham Council, which intends to install solar panels on 3,000 council houses in the area. They are doing this in order to reduce the energy bills for those involved, while they will pay for the scheme with the money which they receive from the feed in tariff scheme.
Wrexham Council intends to install solar panels on 3,000 council houses.
Feed in Tariff
The feed in tariff is a government scheme which pays you money for all of the solar energy that you produce with solar panels. At least, that is the way it normally works. What the council intends to to is install the solar panels for free, allowing the residents to benefit from reduced energy bills. They will then receive the payments from the feed in tariff.
This is therefore a good deal for both involved. After all, the main reason that everyone hasn’t got solar panels already is due to the cost of the installation. Anyone who gets them for free will benefit from the corresponding reduction in their energy bills.
What the feed in tariff usually does is make solar power in to a more attractive investment, which is why many people who can afford them are now getting solar panels. And actually it is the same case here, Wrexham Council clearly sees it as a good investment as well, despite the fact that they are going to have to borrow the money to be able to afford to pay for them.
Carbon Emissions
Of course the reason that solar energy is so important, that it has been incentivised, is because of the reduction in carbon emissions that uses it causes. In fact, just this project by Wrexham Council is forecast to lead to a reduction in carbon emissions to the order of 3,000 tonnes of CO2 every year.
Wrexham is not the first Council to decide to make use of the solar energy in this way, although this is one of the largest projects that has been proposed. If more Councils decided to do this then it would go a long way towards helping the government reaching its target for cutting carbon emissions to a large extent by 2020.
And why are carbon emissions so important? This is something that just about everyone knows about by now, the problem of global warming which is caused by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. If this were allowed to go unchecked then there could be some devastating consequences, including the polar ice caps melting leading to rising sea levels.
However we cannot simply stop using fossil fuels right away, without an alternative being in place, because that would lead to a catastrophic economic collapse, leading to the sort of worldwide suffering that we are trying to avoid. That’s why it’s so important that as many people as possible start using renewable resources like solar energy, so that we can stop burning fossil fuels and exacerbating global warming.
Solar Energy UK
If you are interested in getting a solar installation on your property, get in touch with Solar Energy UK today for a free quote.
Cut Solar Panels Payback Time With Electric Cars
If you own an electric car as well as having solar panels on your roof, then the amount of time that it will take to pay off your initial solar installation costs can be cut in half. This is according to a report made by British Gas.
Pay off solar installation costs even faster with an electric car.
Without an Electric Car
At the moment, if you have solar panels on your roof but you don’t own an electric car, then the money you make is based on the savings on energy bills for the power you use on your home. Also though, you can make use of the feed in tariff.
It is the feed in tariff, introduced in April 2010, which has made solar energy in to a much better investment. With this government scheme, for every unit of energy that you produce with your solar panels, you get a certain amount of money. This is on top of the savings that you naturally make on your energy bills.
With the feed in tariff taken in to consideration, the amount of time that it usually takes to pay off the cost of the installation was cut from an average of around 25 years to an average of around 10 years. This made it a much more attractive investment. If you also use an electric car it gets even better than that though
With an Electric Car
If you use an electric car then you continue to get all of the benefits just mentioned, and more besides. That’s because you’ll also be able to make savings on travelling costs.
The figures from British Gas estimate that for a normal petrol car to travel 1000 miles it costs £150. By using an electric car you are already making huge savings, as then it will only cost just over £37. However, when you are getting most of the power for that from your solar panels, the cost is reduced to just over £5!
If it is assumed that the average car user travels around 12,000 miles in a year, that reduces the fuel costs from nearly £2,000 to just £65. When you take in to account the feed in tariff as well, this means that you should be able to pay off the solar installation costs in less than 5 years, rather than around 10 years. This should give you around 20 years of actually making money with solar energy.
Solar Panels
Even if you do not have an electric car right now though, getting solar panels for your home should still be financially beneficial. It is going to allow you to make savings on your energy bills, and with the cost of conventional energy continuing to rise, those savings are set to increase. The feed in tariff rates also track inflation so the amount you get you receive will retain its purchasing power.
And should you get an electric car in the future, that will simply help your finances and the planet even more.
Solar Energy UK
If you would like a free quote for a solar installation, get in touch with Solar Energy UK today.
Solar Panels Grants
At the moment there are no national schemes for solar panels grants. There used to be until quite recently, but that has been replaced by the feed in tariff. This has turned out to be a much more successful scheme because it makes solar energy in to a better investment.
Financial incentives are in place for solar energy.
Solar Grants v Feed In Tariff
The solar grants, when they were in place, took about £500 off the cost of a solar installation. However this did not have the effect of making lots more people get solar panels. Probably because a solar installation costs somewhere in the region of £10,000 for an average sized installation, so £500 didn’t make much difference to the cost.
With the feed in tariff, you have to pay the full price for a solar installation, however you are then paid for all of the solar energy which you produce. That includes all of the energy which you use yourself, and any which you do not use and is exported on to the National Grid you get extra for. In this way you are normally able to make around £1,000 every year. This is a much better incentive than a solar grant then.
It is still possible to get solar grants from some local councils though, so it’s worth finding out if your council is offering anything like that in order to reduce the cost of the installation. You can still get the feed in tariff as well of course, so it is all going to help.
Why are Financial Incentives Available?
The question is though, why is the UK government intent on incentivising solar energy? The reason for that is they have an aim to significantly reduce carbon emissions by 2020. The only way that is going to happen is if more people get their energy from renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuels.
This does not answer the question of why they want to reduce carbon emissions in the country though. The reason for that is the threat of global warming. This is something that just about everyone knows about by now, it has been in the news a lot.
In terms of the effects of global warming though, the one that most people fixate on is the possibility that polar ice caps are going to melt, leading to a rise in sea levels. While this could have a devastating effect on some communities, that is not actually the worst effect that could come about.
The worst potential outcome of global warming is that we will no longer be able to feed ourselves as a species. That could happen if the rise in temperatures disrupts ecosystems meaning that the conditions whereby we are able to grow food are not present anymore. So global warming can cause suffering in a lot of different ways.
Solar Energy UK
If you want to get involved in the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, then you can get in touch with us at Solar Energy UK and we’ll provide you with a free quote for a solar installation. We provide MCS accredited solar installers meaning that you will also qualify for the feed in tariff.
