Solar Panels Bristol

Solar panels are fast becoming one of the most preferred ways of generating energy, with governments even creating solar farms to take advantage. The following are the reasons many believe this renewable energy source is the future.

Solar Panels crush energy costs.

Data shows that monthly energy bills in Bristol tend to cost around £170 on average. This means that if a Bristol resident installs a solar PV system in their home, they could slash their bills by more than 50%, which would be £85 or less. Solar energy is cheap to generate, and considered the cheapest form of energy in the market, so much so that it’s even bought by our government.

Solar panel installers in Bristol typically charge between £4,500 and £9,199, with prices differing depending on the system size and whether battery storage is included. Effective Home is priced competitively without compromising on quality of system or installation. Whilst this is a steep upfront cost, when considering the above numerics, this investment would pay for itself in roughly 5 to 8 years. Since Solar Panels can last 25 years before beginning to show signs of efficiency loss, you end up making a return before the lifespan of your solar panels has even reached halfway.

Lowered carbon emissions

Carbon emissions that are let off by the processing of fossil fuels into energy are cited as one of the biggest reasons that climate change is happening. Climate change is said to bring about a wide number of negative consequences for the atmosphere, and finding alternative renewable energy solutions to replace or offset a large amount of these emissions is key to making the planet a healthier place.

The University of Bristol has taken part in these sustainability efforts by installing solar panel systems that managed to generate 456 MWh of electricity, worth around £114,000 annually.

Energy independence

Your solar panels will give you independence from the grid. This means that you’re protected against the following:

• Energy failures – Sometimes, infrastructure fails and causes power cuts in the area. Whilst this is not an ever-present problem in many areas of the country, this still provides an extra level of security that gives you that much more control over your day-to-day life.
• Protecting against price hikes – When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2021, many energy supply shortages were caused as a result of the economic embargos that came about. This resulted in energy bills skyrocketing, the price of gas reaching up to 80% whilst electricity bills rose by 50-60%.
• Grid disconnection – There are some areas of the country that the national grid has not extended to. Here, Solar Panels can generate energy and power buildings that have far worse alternatives.

Property value

Energy efficiency has been the focus of many in the property market since the energy price hikes, relying on measures such as insulation, heat pumps or other cheaper energy generation/consumption measures. Now, more than ever, the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) has a say in how much a property is worth. EPC comes in ratings between A – and G, with A being the most efficient and G being the least efficient. The higher the rating, the higher the worth of the property.

A solar photovoltaic system is one of the biggest EPC boosters in the market, capable of pushing your rating up a level or two depending on preexisting features of the property. The lowered operating costs of the property can boost property value by up to 14%.

Energy management

Solar PV panels are much more versatile inventions than they let on. For one, add a solar battery storage system to your solar panels. Solar panels without battery storage use their energy as they produce it, or else the energy is either wasted or sent to the grid on Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), a scheme that allows you to sell any unused energy.

However, a solar panel system with battery storage makes things more versatile. Instead of wasting or sending energy to the national grid, you can instead store it within a battery. Doing this can increase your energy savings without adding any additional energy production, due to the disparity between rates and savings:

As you can see, it’s a lot cheaper to simply keep the energy in a battery for later use than it is to sell SEG even at its highest rate and have to buy from the national grid. Through clever use and monitoring of your battery storage, you can accumulate electricity for use when you need it.