Solar PV – A simple guide

Solar PV – A simple guide

A Solar PV installation will generate electricity; the amount depends on the size, positioning and efficiency of the PV system and also the weather. Solar panels can be positioned on a roof, wall or on the ground as long as they are in an area that receives a good amount of sunlight and are free of obstacles such as trees and other buildings that can shade the solar panels from the sun.

Solar PV – How to make it pay?

There are three ways in which solar PV Photovoltaic’s can work to help reduce your electricity bills.

1. By generating and using your own electricity.
2. By earning money from the electricity you generate.
3. By feeding electricity into the national grid.

By generating and using your own electricity you are not buying it from your supplier. Therefore you will reduce your bills. Check your latest bill, you’ll find that you are charged in units of electricity. One unit of electricity used is equal to 1 kilowatt hour (kWh). This is the same unit of measurement used for power generated by a PV solar installation. So quite simply the more you generate and the more you use of your generated electricity the less you have to buy.

A typical supplier tariff may look like this.

First 130 kWh charged at 20.797p
Next 2102 kWh charged at 11.183p

So for every 1kWh generated and used you’ll be saving 11.183 pence. It’s quite likely that supply prices will rise over the next few years and as the PV system will work for many years you’ll continue to save as electricity fuel bills increase.

By earning money from the electricity you generate. The government has introduced a scheme where they pay you for every kilowatt hour (kWh) your PV installation generates regardless if you use the power or feed it back into the grid. Currently the generation tariff is 41.3pence per kWh produced. The bigger the PV system the more you’ll earn from producing your own electricity.

By feeding electricity into the national grid. The new Feed in tariff means that for every kWh produced that’s not used but fed back into the national grid they will pay you 3p per kWh. So when you’re away from home your PV system will still be working for you. Using the example supplier tariff above; you buy in your electricity for 11.83p per kWh but you only get 3p for every kWh you sell back. So it would make sense to use as much power you produce as possible.

An example of savings.

  
*Assumes 50% of the electricity generated is exported, this figure will vary