Home Improvement that pays you back

Are solar panels the best investment to make in your home this year? Government guarantee schemes and increasing electricity bills make solar panels a compelling solution for the smart homeowner.
What is solar power?
Solar power uses photovoltaic (PV) cells on the roof of your house to convert light from the sun into electrical energy which can be used in your house, or fed back into the national grid. Chemical reactions in the silicon sheet create a flow of electrons (as direct current or D/C), which feeds into an inverter, converting this into alternating current (A/C) to power your house.
Does solar work in less sunny climates?
Solar panels use daylight, not sunshine to generate electricity. Even on a completely overcast day solar panels can generate 40% of their potential electricity yield. And you are still linked into the mains grid, so outside of daylight hours you draw from the grid as normal. Plus, any extra electricity from your panels which you don’t need will be fed back to the grid and you’ll get paid for it.
Modern solar panels are much more attractive
There are now many more options for your solar installation than the “traditional” aluminium framed panels that used to be the norm. In fact there are now options including slate coloured tiles which integrate into your existing roof – as well as generating electricity they also improve the insulation of your house – saving you even more energy and money!
The options in brief:
There are two options for home solar. If you have the cash up front to buy the panels then you can see large great through both the savings on your electricity bills (on average between £70 and £130 per year) plus fantastic returns through government back Feed-in-tariff schemes. This can see a profit over the 25 year lifespan of the solar panels of over £15,000. The other option is for the solar panel installation company to pay for the system’s installation and maintenance. They take the feed-in-tariff and you get the bill savings and satisfaction of an environmentally friendly home for free.