YOU CAN earn an extra £100 a year from your solar panels thanks to panel costs dropping and bigger models being installed, meaning now is the perfect time to invest.
According to new figures from the Energy Saving Trust you can earn up to £635 a year from your panels, as opposed to the £540 estimated in May this year.
The money is made by combining savings on energy bills and income generated from the feed in tariff.
A spokesperson from the Trust said: “We imagine the cost of installing PV will go down and more people will look to install solar PV. We are not sure if Green Deal will affect the popularity of solar, but if people are more aware of solar panels, there is no reason why the amount installed can’t increase.”
A spokesperson from energy efficiency specialists the Eco Experts said: “We have been backing solar energy for years now as a clean source of energy, and we are glad there are official figures which show how beneficial it is to the wallet, as well as to the environment.
“It is well known that solar PV provides a better return-on-investment than a high street bank and these figures just show how much money you could save a year by installing them.”
The amount is based on how much the average house hold could generate, assuming they have a 3.5kWp system generating approximately 3,000kWh per annum.
This system should create enough energy to generate £461 a year in feed-in tariff payments, £107 in energy bill savings, and a further £67 made by exporting the excess energy to the grid.
The Trust said one of the main reasons for this increase in income and savings is due to the average size of the solar PV installations increasing, even though the Feed-in Tariff rate has dropped.
Ian Cuthbert, renewables expert from the Energy Saving Trust, said: “The average size of solar PV installations has increased from 3kWp to 3.5kWP, which basically means households are generating more electricity and therefore more savings and Feed-in Tariff income. It is clear that UK households are increasingly looking to get the maximum yield for their roof to maximise the benefits of the solar installation.”
He added: “We hope the latest data and figures will provide householders, whose homes are appropriate for solar panels, with the reassurance that they will be making significant savings and income as a result of the installation. These savings could be even higher if householders take steps to reduce the amount they export to the grid by shifting some of their electrical demand to during the day when the solar PV system is generating. For example, using the washing machine during the day instead of at night.
“It is also important for installers to be offering the right measure in the right home alongside the right advice to ensure that trust continues to be built between them and householders who could benefit from solar installations.”