Install solar panels on your home
Cost guide for installing solar panel kits
Thinking about installing solar panels to produce electricity for your home? Solar panels are changing the way we consume power and installations on and off grid in the UK are more efficient and cost less.
The Chinese have been dominating the solar panel market for over a decade and prices are coming down while efficiency levels (sunlight converted to power) are reaching up to 24%.
A solar power kit comprises of the solar panels normally fitted to your roof, an inverter to convert dc to ac and a lithium battery. Fixings and cabling are also included to help the electrician or installer complete the job.
Cost of Solar Panels
Large manufacturers of solar panels sold in the UK include JA Solar, Tongwei Solar, LONGi Solar and Aiko Solar. If you want a UK solar supplier then choose UKSOL or Viridian Solar.
Prices vary but monocrystalline type solar panels are considered the best for home installation in the UK for their efficiency rating and life spans of over 30 years.
A single 410 Watt monocrystalline JA Solar panel with an efficiency rating of 21% cost around £70. You will need 8 panels to create a 3kW system capable of powering a 2-3 bedroom house.
If you are planning to stay put in your house for that long it might be a good idea to get those panels installed. If you are going to be moving house in a couple of years, you will be passing on the benefits of solar panels to the next owner. Either way, to install a 4kw system covering around 25m2 of your roof will set you back around £6000.
Cost to hire an electrician or dedicated solar panel installer
Not many electricians a few years back would have imagined they would be asked to do so much roofing work. Fitting solar panels to a pitch roof is a difficult job and requires a specialist team with the right equipment and not all electricians, especially those that work by themselves can do it because it is a two man job. The panels difficult to manage and require fixing in the correct position and angle.
Some electricians offer the service and some have even decided to exclusively fit solar panels independently or with a solar panel installation company. Expect to pay anything from £250 to £500 per day to hire a solar panel installer, and you will need two to do the job.
Solar panel costs
For an 16 panel system covering one side of your roof that is preferably south facing you are looking to achieve 4kw of power. The cost for a system like that can range from £6000 to £8000 depending on things like battery storage. There were generous grants available from the government that have recently been updated to be not so generous and instead target lower income households and allow the local councils decide how to distribute the apparent £4 billion worth of spending.
The new initiative called ECO4 scheme has yet to be understood by many but hopefully the benefits of solar panels are also continually supported by local government who pass on the grants to homeowners. People are most interested in the buy back schemes and if they are going to be as rewarding as they were in the past.