Find a Solar Panel Installer you can trust near you.

Not only will you reduce your electricity bill by generating your own electricity with solar panels, but you can also earn money through the SEG which is offered by large energy suppliers. They’ll pay you for the electricity you export back to the grid. You’ll also reduce your carbon footprint, lessening your impact on the environment.

• The power of your solar panel system – there's no point buying a higher capacity battery if your system will never generate enough electricity to charge it
• How often you think you will need to charge your battery
• Your budget
• Whether you care about having the latest technology and a recognisable brand name

Solar panels are made up of photovoltaic (PV) cells. These cells are made from silicon semiconductors, which absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity.

There are three main types of PV cell: monocrystalline solar cells, polycrystalline solar cells, and thin film solar cells. Monocrystalline cells are usually the most efficient and expensive, and thin film solar cells are the cheapest and least efficient. These are all made from silicone, but are manufactured in different ways.

There are a few trusted companies in the UK that make solar panels. While there are other solar thermal panels out there that are made by Chinese and American companies, we’ll focus on the brands with a longstanding presence in the UK since these are the panels MCS-registered solar companies are likely to recommend to you.

Viessmann, Worcester Bosch, Solar UK and Dimplex make some of the best solar thermal panels in the UK. Dimplex and Viessmann offer both flat plate and evacuated tube solar panels, while Solar UK only offers evacuated tubes. Worcester Bosch’s Greenskies range are all flat plate collectors. Viessmann’s panels come with a 5-year warranty, while Worcester Bosch and Dimplex offer extensive 10-year warranties. However, Solar UK offer a comprehensive 25-year warranty and guarantee that the panels will deliver the same level of performance for 25 years!

We’d recommend choosing evacuated tube solar thermal panels because they are the most efficient. While there won’t be much difference between evacuated tubes and flat plates in the summer, in the winter evacuated tubes are much better at taking heat from the sun than flat plates. Since our winters are long and cold with few daylight hours, we think it makes sense to go with evacuated tubes. However, if your priority is looks over maximising efficiency, you might want to choose flat plate collectors since they sit flat on the roof and look more like solar PV panels, whereas the evacuated tubes will stick out.

Are you currently weighting the possibilities of adding a solar system to your commercial building? With lots of commercial property owners in the UK using solar now, many more are gradually coming to terms with the numerous benefits they stand to derive by getting one. Therefore, if you’re thinking about adding the system to your commercial building but do not know where to start, you’ve come to the right place.

In this post, our aim is to help you calculate the number of solar panels you’ll need to power your entire commercial building. Starting from the panels, you can begin by taking into account everything that makes use of power in your commercial building to get a good idea of how many you’ll need.

• To get started, you’ll have to determine the number of watts used by your commercial building. To get this, you simply have to go through your utility bill for kilowatt-hours (kWh). This varies amongst buildings and being able to identify your daily average energy usage will assist you in getting your solar panel needs.
• Once done, you’ll also have to determine the peak sunlight hours - having in mind that the solar panels only work when under direct sunlight. Once determined, you can then multiply the figure in hours by your home’s hourly energy usage and divide by your selected solar panel’s wattage.

In general, a medium-sized commercial building making use of an average amount of electricity will require about 70 average quality solar panels so as to cover its entire electricity needs. These are, however, just averages, so yours could be more or less so getting the idea is vital here.

In a similar way to other major home improvement projects, some specific requirements must be met to allow for the installation of solar panels. The main reason why these standards and regulations were established is to minimize the risk of the solar system becoming an issue or potential hazard in the unforeseeable future. So if you’re thinking about buying and fitting new solar panels, you’ll probably want to know whether or not you’ll require to submit a planning permission application for approval before you can proceed.

Generally, solar panels are covered under what’s called “Permitted Development” which gives you the freedom to install your solar panels without having to apply for a planning permission. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. These exceptions include if your house is a listed building or if your house is located within a conservation area. In these exceptional cases, it’s possible that you’ll need to apply for a planning permission, but this will largely depend on the discretion of your Local Planning Authority. What’s more? Solar panels are usually subjected to normal building regulations which includes examining the roof to make sure that it can support the additional weight. You can call in a MCS certified installer to carry out this check for you.

In order to install your solar PV on your roof, you must follow these guidelines:

✓ Your solar panels shouldn’t go beyond the highest point of the roof (excluding chimneys).

✓ The solar panels shouldn’t project beyond 200mm off the roof’s edge.

✓ The solar panels should be removed once they’re no longer used to produce electricity

✓ The solar panels should be installed such that the area and building’s appearance change is minimized.