The big news about solar panels for the past several months has been on how they can save you money and provide a stream of income that outweighs the original investment. Even in the face of planned reductions in the Feed-in Tariff Scheme, experts estimate that most people who install solar PV systems will completely recover their investment within 8 to 10 years. That’s a rather short space of time to realize ROI, but the figure only tells part of the story.
In fact, you’ll start reaping the benefits of your solar PV system immediately, including the monetary benefits. Consider that you’re not actually waiting 8 to 10 years to get your money back on your solar PV system – you’re getting money back each month in the form of lower payments to your electric supplier and payments from the Feed-in Tariff.
Depending on how you elect to pay the cost of your solar panels and its installation, you could be seeing a reduction in your monthly expenses immediately. If, for example, you pay for your entire solar system in cash out of your savings, you’ll have more cash in your budget every month from the very start. If you finance, you have to count your loan payment against the income and savings, but as you pay off the loan, you’ll see substantial monthly cash flow savings. While that’s not the same as return on your investment, the ease in cash flow can still be a significant factor in your decision.
Solar panels also make sense for many other reasons. Solar PV systems provide totally clean energy, which is good for the planet. The more of our electricity that comes from solar PV, the less has to be generating by burning carbon fuels. The overall carbon savings may not seem like much on an individual basis, but when they’re taken in combination with all the other solar panels in the UK, it’s a significant reduction in the amount of pollution filling the air.
According to the Department of Energy and Climate Control, about 80 percent of the buildings in the UK, including most residential buildings, have a suitable roof space for installing solar panels. In order to benefit from a solar PV installation, you need a roof that faces south, west or east – with south being preferable. It should have a pitch of between 20 and 60 degrees, with the preference being between 30 and 50 degrees. Roofs with lesser pitches may benefit with the help of frames that angle the solar panels. Finally, it should be free of shadows for most of the day.
You can learn whether your property is suitable for installing solar panels and find out how much you could benefit by contacting a local company that installs solar PV systems. They’ll be happy to come out to your home and do an evaluation.
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