How does it work and how will I benefit?
A solar PV system will generate electricity you can use in your home. It requires virtually no maintenance during its lifetime as it silently converts the suns light into electricity. Solar panels usually have 25 year warranties and an expected service life of 30 to 40 years. Depending on your energy usage you could generate a large portion of your own electricity, protecting you from rising energy prices.
In an effort to encourage microgeneration the Government introduced the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme whereby you are paid for generating clean energy from renewables such as solar PV. The scheme is designed, and FITs caculated, to give a good return on initial investment, but the FITs are currently paid for 25 years and linked to RPI. This provides dual protection from rising energy costs and inflation for 25 years.
What is solar PV and how do solar panels work?
Solar PV or solar photovoltaic refers to technology that converts the suns light into electricity. In simple terms a solar PV cell works in the opposite way to an LED (which most people are familiar with). With an LED, electricity flow will cause light to be emitted. With a PV cell, absorbing light causes electricity to flow. A solar PV panel holds many PV cells within a sealed and protected enclosure, ready for practical use. Installed on your roof, or freestanding in your garden, the solar panels will silently generate electricity for your home all day long and with no moving parts these passive systems require virtually no maintenance.
How much electricity do they generate? Will it be worthwhile?
How much electricity generated depends on the size of the installation and is measured in kWp (kilowatt peak). A 1.2kWp system could be installed on an average terraced house and a 2kWp system on an average suburban house. According to the Governments Standard Assesment Procedure an optimum of 750kWh per kWp of installed solar PV can be expected annually, allowing for weather variation. This is based on Sheffield though, and we can expect a good 10% more output from a system in Cardiff. The European Commissions Joint Research Centre indicates over 850kWh/kWp annually.
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