Reduce your electricity bill by 80% with solar panels and battery storage

Having a south-facing property will mean your solar pv system will have direct sunlight, thus improving the efficiency and yield from your solar panels. This is because your solar panels on your roof will have direct sun-light all day long. However, solar panels also work on West/East facing roofs but will not get the same sort of yield as if it was south-facing.

You may want to consider a split system where you place solar panels on your east / west roof and optimise your solar pv system. An optimised pv system ensures that if one panel is not producing the yield  due to not being in direct sunlight, the other panels will continue to work properly and efficiently.  This is something we can discuss with you during your initial survey or consultation. 

It’s important that this part of your roof sees the sun throughout the day, so a north facing roof is unsuitable. We’ll also need to be able to install scaffolding below this part of the building in order to complete the installation.

Next, you’ll need to decide if solar panels make money-sense. The higher your energy usage at home, the more beneficial solar panels and a battery will be (you’ll be saving the money you would have otherwise spent on bills, and this will go towards paying back the cost of your solar system). If you have a low usage, it’s worth keeping in mind that your payback period will be longer, but this is something we can discuss in your consultation.

Before going ahead with your installation, we’ll need to make sure of a few things first. Firstly you will need a clear space on a pitched (not flat) roof that can fit at least 6 solar panels. 

It’s important that this part of your roof sees the sun throughout the day, so a north facing roof is unsuitable. We’ll also need to be able to install scaffolding below this part of the building in order to complete the installation.

Next, you’ll need to decide if solar panels make money-sense. The higher your energy usage at home, the more beneficial solar panels and a battery will be (you’ll be saving the money you would have otherwise spent on bills, and this will go towards paying back the cost of your solar system). If you have a low usage, it’s worth keeping in mind that your payback period will be longer, but this is something we can discuss in your consultation.

Since the fade-out of the Feed in Tariff, where you would be paid between 0.30 – 0.45p per kw you generated from your solar pv system, the financial case for exporting the energy you produce back to your supplier has become less appealing. As it stands, The Smart Export Scheme enables homeowners to export back to their supplier at around .05 pence per KW produced. This is obviously substantially lower than the days of the Feed in Tariff and when you compare this to how much you are charged to import per KW, the case for storing and using the energy produced really stacks. Solar panels and battery storage is an excellent combination for homeowners who can generate energy from their PV systems in the daylight and utilise the storage energy at night.

First up, our solar sales specialists will work with you to plan the perfect solar panel setup for your home, using state-of-the-art software to visualise the path of the sun, and where to best position the panels on your roof. Next we’ll book a quick home survey to take measurements and discuss where to fit the tech that will accompany your panels. At this point you’ll receive a quote which will include the estimated investment return period.

Once you’re happy, we will request a payment of 10% up front and find a suitable installation date. Installation should take 2-4 days, depending on the size of your system. We will also schedule time on either side of this to put up and take down the scaffolding at your property. Once installation is complete, we’ll request the final payment of 90% of the total cost. Don’t forget, we’ll be here to answer any questions or concerns that you have throughout the process, and even after the installation is completed.

This depends on both how much electricity you generate and when you use it most. For example, if you tend to use a lot of energy in the evening, we’ll probably recommend a battery. This is because you won’t be there to use the energy when the sun is brightest during the day; instead you can store the electricity in the battery for use in the evening. Our lives are varied, so there are many more circumstances that might impact this decision – but this is something that our solar advisors will be able to help you with.

On your roof, the number of panels we recommend will depend on the amount of space you have and how much energy you use.

Our panels are 1.7m length 1.1m wide each, and we’ll need space for a 40cm gap around the edge of each panel. The average number of panels is around 9-10 (3.5kW) and the minimum number we can fit is 6. As an example, 9-10 panels would fit a roof of around 26m2, where the array would take up a total space of around 5.1m x 3.3m.

In general, the more panels on the roof, the more electricity you will generate, so we’d only recommend a large array if your usage is high. We’ll discuss all of these options with you.

Inside your home, you will need space for an inverter measuring: (HxDxW) 440 x 260 x 480 (mm)

If you choose to also have a battery, these come in 3 different sizes:

2.6kWh dimensions: (HxDxW) 369 x 220 x 480 (mm)

5.2kWh dimensions: (HxDxW) 515 x 220 x 480 (mm)

9.5kWh dimensions: (HxDxW) 800 x 223 x 480 (mm)