Solar panels on your house can reduce your electricity bills because they generate electricity that you use to power your home rather than buying it from the grid. The more of the electricity generated by your solar panels that you use, the more your bills will be reduced.
Use Your Own Generation First
Solar energy is used immediately by your home, so you save on the cost of electricity from the grid. Current electricity prices from the grid are around 24p to 28p per unit, so a good quality 4kW solar system on a decent south-facing roof could save you a significant amount on your annual household electricity consumption.
Get Paid for Surplus Power
Of course, even with a small roof space, there will be times when your solar panels generate more electricity than you need. Under the Smart Export Guarantee, suppliers will pay you for this excess generation. The rates on offer from suppliers vary from 4p to 15p per unit, and are governed by government energy regulator Ofgem. You can read more about the Smart Export Guarantee on the Ofgem website and find out which suppliers offer the best deals for surplus solar electricity. While generating your own electricity will obviously save you more money than selling back any excess, it will still help to offset your electricity bills.
Shift Big Appliances to Daytime
These items are the ‘hungry’ appliances in the average home, and are typically used during the middle of the day when the solar output is at its highest. Using these items between 10am and 3pm (peak solar hours) means that the majority of the energy used will have been generated by the solar panels on your roof, rather than being imported from the grid at full price.
Account for Seasonal Variation
Summer months generally see higher levels of generation than the winter months and therefore the highest levels of savings. However, this can be difficult to quote in terms of a realistic annual saving and it is best to speak with a local installer. There is more on Solar Panel Installation Tewkesbury at https://www.precisiongreenenergy.co.uk/renewables/solar-panel-installation/tewkesbury/.
Match Panel Size to Your Usage
The size of the array will generate more electricity but will also cost more to purchase initially. As a rough guide a typical house using 3,500kWh per year would require a 3.5kW to 4kW solar array. However, a house using more electricity, with an electric vehicle, or even with a battery storage system would require a larger array to meet their needs.
It’s also important to get the numbers right for your own home, in order to find the best solution to save money with solar electricity at your home. A solution that is paying itself back at a steady pace and not just producing empty promises of lower electricity bills.
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