It’s time to get electricity freedom

It depends on how much electricity you use. In the past many homes have had a 16-panel 4kWp system installed. However, this size was a result of the Government funding available at the time (The Feed-in Tariff). Solar panel technology has improved since then and a system with around 10 panels can create the same output.

The best advice may be to maximise the size of the installation according to the available roof space. However, our approach carefully considers 12 months of electricity bills, and we then advise accordingly. For homes with families, we often install systems of between 5 and 9 kWp – up to 30 panels. In about 85% of our installation’s battery storage is also included of between 5 and 10kWh.

Domestic installations start at around £5,000 (including VAT, excluding scaffolding), however this is dependent on the size of the system being installed. If electricity usage is high, then a larger system may be appropriate. Larger electricity users might also benefit from installing batteries to integrate with their solar panel system.

There are no Government grants currently available for domestic solar panel Installations and it is not anticipated that there will be in future according to Government and Opposition policies.

Yes…particularly if you use a large proportion of the energy created from solar powers as it is generated. It helps to try to match domestic activities with high-energy consumption during daylight hours, for example using a washing machine, dryer, or cooking. This will reduce your need to use the grid and lower your bills.

Opting for a battery within your system can help store energy created during the day to use at night. It can also be used to charge up with cheap electricity at night for use during the day – this is generally the best option for November through to February.

All the systems we install come with monitoring so you can see exactly what the savings are.

No, Solar panels generate energy using the light from the sun. However, including a battery in your system will allow you to use the energy generated throughout the day during night-time hours.

If solar panels are tilted at a reasonable angle, then the rain will tend to keep them clean. Most pitched roofs in the UK are more than 30 degrees and this is sufficient for keeping panels clean for a few years. They are likely to require cleaning every 3 to 5 years.

If you happen to live in an area where for whatever reason the panels get exceptionally dirty (e.g., in an industrial or coastal area) then more frequent cleaning is advisable. Then, an annual clean in March before the start of the higher production summer days is recommended.

Domestic solar panel systems require regular checks to ensure they are operating correctly. Specialist inverters from companies such as SolarEdge have monitoring functionality as standard which helps considerably. Formal regulations require systems to be checked every 10 years, however, we would advise a full service every 3 years.

Larger 3 phase systems should be serviced annually. Servicing includes cleaning of the inverter, checking and upgrading the software within the inverter, checking the performance of panels and other items recommended by the manufacturer and best practice. This is particularly important for fire safety and to help ensure that insurance policy terms are complied with.

There are many fixing systems used by solar panel installers, most of which are accredited by the MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme). When choosing an installer, we would always suggest checking which system they recommend. Any certified system will not damage your roof.

Amelio Solar Energy uses its own experienced team to install panels which also helps ensure that all aspects of weatherproofing are maintained.

It used to be said that you needed to have a South facing roof for Solar PV installations to be viable.

However, this is not the case. Many properties have roofs that face in different directions such as East/West. These benefit from generating much of their electricity during the early morning and evenings when many households have higher electricity demand. Matching the time of generation to the time of consumption has clear financial benefits.

Properties that are used all day long may benefit the most from a system with some panels facing East, South and West.

Most solar panels have warranties of 10-12 years and performance warranties of up to 20 or 25 years. Premium brands have better and longer warranties.

This gives a good indication as to how long solar panels will last.

We are of the view that properly maintained they may have a useful life of up to 30 years. However, the technology in this sector is rapidly advancing so you may want to reinvest sooner.

There is empirical evidence to prove that the better inverters that we were installing 10 years ago have an average life of 12-15 years. Current warranties range from 5 to 12 years as standard, although many manufacturers offer warranty extension options at additional cost.

We anticipate that modern day good quality inverters are likely to last up to 20 years.

We simply do not know the answer to this now as the use of batteries connected to Solar PV systems have not been installed in great numbers for long enough to have empirical evidence.

Warranties are typically for 10 years and so we would anticipate that they would last at least that long although there may be a drop off in performance in later years.

It should also be noted that although most manufacturers offer 10-year warranties, there are often terms and conditions that vary between each of them – as with other components, you do get more from the more expensive options.