Solar Power First

Just when you think you’ve heard of everything with regards to solar innovation, news of a car park where every space is roofed by a solar panel comes and opens your eyes to new possibilities! This is the project recently announced by Aviva, and supported by the Scottish Government, is one of the UK’s biggest solar carport and energy storage facilities. This project covers 342 car park spaces alongside around 50 electric vehicle charging stations. The project is estimated to lead to an annual saving of nearly 400 tonnes of carbon emission, equivalent to powering 500 homes for a full year. It means Aviva’s office can go “off grid” for around  five hours per day at peak national grid times, with surplus energy stored in solar batteries for later use. Aviva employs 2,000 people in Scotland, with around half of those at their Perth office, home to its property claims centre for commercial and personal property.  Nick Amin, who is Aviva’s chief operating officer, shared: “It’s vit...

  With more and more local councils across the UK switching onto the value of solar panels in both environmental and economic terms, it’s exciting to be able to share regular news of new councils joining the solar revolution. This week it’s Bury’s turn! Bury council have announced a new solar panel project involving the installation of 69 solar panels at the council’s HQ at Bradley Fold. These 69 panels have each been attached to the south-facing roof of their vehicle depot. The project, carried out by Solarcrown, will see the solar panels generate roughly 22,000kWh of electricity per year, which in turn will reduce carbon emissions by around 10 tonnes annually. The installation will cost in the region of £27,000, an outlay that Bury Council expects to recoup within eight years, before going on to save a further £140,000 in electricity bills over the project’s lifetime. This is in addition to the savings already being enjoyed after the installation of LED lighting at their site in ...

With recent reports of an uptick in homes making use of the Smart Export Guarantee, even amongst COVID restrictions, we thought we’d take a brief look at what the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) actually is and how it could benefit you, whether you already have a solar battery installation, or are looking into contacting a solar supplier in the UK to add solar to your home. We’ve gathered some information from Ofgem and some of the leading solar suppliers in the UK to answer some of the key questions related to the SEG and how it works. When did the Smart Export Guarantee start? In the UK, the Smart Export Guarantee came into effect on 1st January 2020. Which energy sources does the Smart Export Guarantee cover? The SEG is open to anyone who has installed - up to a capacity of 5MW - technologies including: - Solar photovoltaic (solar PV) - Wind - Hydro What are the key features of the Smart Export Guarantee for solar? - The SEG states that energy suppliers are required to provi...

One of the questions that pops up for potential solar customers is whether the sun needs to be out for solar energy to be generated and whether solar panels are able to work if it’s cloudy. The simple answer is, yes, solar panels can generate solar energy in any daylight, but it’s true that a sunny day certainly helps. Solar energy generation is going to be significantly higher in summer compared to winter, but not always for the reasons you might think. For example, it’s nothing to do with the temperature of a day, as the heat doesn’t factor in to the solar panels ability to generate solar energy. The big factors are related to direct sunlight access, so the less cloud coverage the better, and - most importantly - the number of daylight hours. These factors are obviously much more present on the average summer day in the UK than the average winter day, so your generation levels will go up and down, but the most important factor in maximising your solar energy usage is being able to s...

We appreciate that when considering whether or not you’re going to purchase solar panels for your home, one of the key bits of information you’ll be interested in is how much energy solar panels produce in the average day? What are the key factors? Well, when you break that question down, there are actually several factors to consider. The first factor is that of the size of the solar panel system that you choose to install at your home. The larger the system, the more electricity it will produce. A good solar supplier will assess your energy needs and recommend the ideal number of solar panels for your home, ensuring the system produces enough energy per day to suit you. The second factor is the position of the panels, both in the direction the roof is facing and the pitch of the roof. For the ideal performance of solar panels, you should look at installing on a south-facing roof at an angle of 35 degrees. Saying that however, there are a range of positions in which solar panels can ...

For those considering solar panels, the same few questions often pop up. One of them is with regards to how much energy solar panels produce in a day. It makes sense that you’d want to be sure of exactly what you can expect to generate, electricity-wise. Solar power offers a clean, reliable and renewable energy alternative to traditional methods of powering a home. Living in the UK, you might be worried that the weather is not ideal for solar panels and the generation of solar power, but there is good news. You don’t need sunshine, just daylight! This guide has been put together to explain the processes involved and to highlight the real benefits of solar power in the UK, especially when combined with a solar battery. But more on that later. As the solar panels do their job, they generate energy during the day that can be used towards powering your home. But how much? How Much Electricity Does a Solar Panel Produce? It is hard to give an exact figure for your home, as depending on the...

This is a question that many people have enquired with over the years, so with this handy guide, we aim to supply you with all the information you need to make a decision on how to store energy from solar panels and whether to install solar energy storage . If you are thinking of storing electricity from your solar panels, we have good news and bad news. The bad news is that solar panels, while they can generate solar energy, do not store energy; it is either used towards powering your home at that precise moment, or it is sent back to the Grid. If you want to store energy for future use, you do so by combining the solar panels with a solar battery storage unit. Many solar suppliers now offer solar panels alongside battery storage as our standard option, so you can maximise the potential of solar energy, taking back control of your energy generation and consumption, lowering your energy bills and reducing your carbon footprint. How do solar panels work in the UK? In the UK, more peopl...

For many people, the desire to take on solar energy generation at their home is fueled - no pun intended - in large part by their desire to become more environmentally conscious in the way they use energy.  This element is also true of many who switch over to the increasingly popular trend of driving electric vehicles, so the question presents itself; could you combine the two options and use a solar battery option to charge your electric vehicle? From the research we have done, it is certainly possible to use your solar battery towards providing power for your electric vehicle, with a range of financial and environmental benefits on offer. These include not only the advantage of moving away from fossil fuels both in your home and on the road, but there may also be grants available for EV charger options. The beauty of being able to combine these two technologies is that it also puts you in a position of strength should fossil fuel supplies continue to diminish, which in turn will...

The question of financial savings is an increasingly common one for homeowners looking at solar energy as a way to improve the running of their household. When it comes to energy consumption, the average family home is going to be spending a lot on their annual bills, no matter which company you choose to supply your home.   So in terms of exact solar panel savings , it will depend on how much solar energy you generate and what percentage of grid energy you replace with your self-generated solar. . But in simple terms, if you install your solar panels alongside a solar battery - more on that later - then you can expect to save anywhere up to 50% of your annual energy bills . What are the benefits of solar panels? First, let’s take a look at the overall benefits of installing solar panels to your home. The most important benefit of solar panels is that of providing your home with self-generated renewable energy. The panels utilise the technology of PV cells to convert direct sunligh...

Throughout the UK, there has been a surge in interest over recent years in solar panel and solar battery options. If you are one of the interested parties, one of the main considerations and questions you will likely have will concern solar battery cost . So, how much do solar batteries cost? This guide has been put together to explore that question and provide you with some of the key information you will need in relation to solar battery storage costs. Solar batteries have become a viable option for many households in the UK in recent years, allowing a homeowner to make significant cost savings related to their home energy use , cutting their carbon footprint and adding real monetary value to their property. As you look in more detail at solar battery cost levels, we believe that when you consider the range of benefits, the overall solar battery storage system cost is no longer an obstacle for many. We appreciate that understanding your solar battery costs is a key concern for many ...

As many people in the UK consider whether or not they should get solar panels fitted at their homes, one of the biggest questions that is often posed is whether solar panels are able to work effectively in the UK.  This is a somewhat understandable question, given that most places in the UK are not exactly known for the amount of sunlight that we receive for the majority of the year! In reality, the situation is quite different with regards to how solar energy is generated and how that impacts the effectiveness of solar panels in the UK, so we are pleased to be able to break some of these misconceptions down for you here as you make a decision on solar panels for yourself. The fundamental misunderstanding in this area is that solar panels require a sunny day to generate solar energy. While of course a sustained period of sunshine would be highly conducive to generating a good amount of solar energy, in reality all the solar panel needs is daylight in order to be able to convert sol...

  As more and more households around the UK add solar panels to their homes in pursuit of both the financial savings and environmental benefits of solar energy, now could be the time to look at whether solar panels are right for you. With this in mind, we thought we’d take a short look at some of the key features of solar panels to help inform you on whether they could be the right option for your home. Energy generation The first, and in many ways most important, feature of solar panels is in their ability to generate solar energy. There are often misunderstandings in this area with regards to how and when the solar panels can generate energy for use in your home, for example many people think that it is only in direct bright sunlight that such energy can be generated. This is by no means true, as solar panels only really need daylight to generate solar energy. While it is true that in the summer months solar panels will tend to generate more energy, this is just as much down to t...

How much do solar panels cost to install? It’s a great question, one that any homeowner interested in purchasing solar panels will see as a key factor in their decision. In the last couple of decades, there has been a shift from a position in the UK where the sight of solar panels on a domestic rooftop was unusual, to a position where they have become increasingly popular. If you own a property, the installation of solar panels and a solar battery could provide your home with a range of economic and environmental benefits. But how much does installation cost? The price of the solar panels themselves will vary significantly depending on the number you need and the brand you opt for, but when you purchase solar panels, you should know many solar suppliers will include standard installation for free.  If you require a non-standard installation due to a factor such as the gradient or positioning of your roof, there may be an additional cost, but you should definitely always check with...