Find a Renewable Energy Specialist you can trust in Petersfield.

How To Install Solar Panels And Batteries

Have you decide to purchase a solar system for your home and wondering how to go about the installation? If yes, then we’ve got you covered! In recent times, it’ll be totally safe to say that solar panels and batteries for home use in the UK has now become more of a necessity than a luxury considering the numerous benefits the system offers. However, with the cost of having the system installed, you might be forced to think about the doing the installation yourself.

If you lack proper training and experience in the solar system installation process, it’s advisable to hire the services of a qualified technician who can guarantee the best results the first time and help you save time and extra costs that may result from possible costly errors. Here, we’ll give you a good insight into the installation process.

• Mount the solar panel and ensure it’s properly screwed to your roof. Try to position in such a way that it faces direct sun rays to have enough solar power generated.

• Connect your charge controller. The current that’s being generated by the solar panels will not be stable all day long. As a result, it’s important to avoid connecting solar photo voltaic modules directly to your better, if you don’t want it damaged. To control the current received from the solar panels, the charge controller is required. It has three connecting points - one for the battery, one for the solar panels and the last for Direct Current (DC) identify the one for solar panels and connect accordingly.

• Connect the battery to charge controller. The charge controller possess two terminals for the battery - the positive and negative terminals. Connect the positive terminal to the positive of the battery and also do the same for the negative.

Asides from the fact that solar energy can be converted into electricity with the help of solar panels, there’s also another pretty cool way the sun’s power can be harnessed - solar thermal technologies. These technologies are able to convert sunlight into heat rather than power and these are in fact the very first solar energy products that were commercialized in the United Kingdom. Solar thermal panels, in a similar way to solar PVs, can help in minimizing your carbon footprint while also assisting you to save good money on your energy bills by providing the much needed coverage for your heating needs with the help of a renewable energy source that’s totally free.

Solar thermal panels provides some great benefits which is capable of making all homeowners in the UK consider installing one in their respective homes. Let’s take a closer look at these benefits.

✓ When compared to solar PV panels, they’re a more affordable heating option and also have a shorter payback period.

✓ Solar thermal panels are more efficient than PV panels due to the fact that the heat waves are able to hold more energy than sunlight and also because there’s no electricity transformation process.

✓ Solar thermal panels are able to operate in cold climates, strong wind as well as overcast weather, and make use of an energy storage system.

✓ They can help you save about 600kg of carbon dioxide emissions on an annual basis.

✓ Although most of the solar thermal panel systems come with a warranty usually within the range of 5 to 10 years, they’re able to last up to 25 years. What’s more? The require just a little maintenance, meaning the main cost you’d have to worry about is the cost of installation.

When people think about heat pumps, they’ll automatically have the believe that a swimming pool will require a big heat pump. Since the swimming pool has a large volume of water, then warming such a volume will require a large ground source heat pump because that volume is much larger than the normal domestic hot water tank, right? Well, that point of reasoning does seem logical especially with the information almost everywhere that ground source heat pumps are usually less efficient when it comes to heating hot water for home’s use. However, the fact is there are also some things to put into consideration that also works in favour of the ground source heat pump.

First and foremost, you should know your domestic hot water will typically be heated to a much higher temperature when compared to your swimming pool. Since you wouldn’t be using the water to disinfect your bathroom or doing your dishes in your swimming pool, then the temperature can be much lower. In fact, it’s much more comfortable and enjoyable to heat to a typical “swimming pool temperature than having it at a hot bath temperature. If you’ve ever wandered into a really hot swimming pool, you wouldn’t need any introduction to the painful discomfort that comes next.

As a result of this low temperature, your “tiny heat pump can operate a in a more efficient way which makes the use of ground source heat pumps a viable swimming pool heating option. What’s more? The ground source heat pump works for a swimming pool just like any any other application - moving the heat from the region of a warmer temperature to the cooler temperature region.

How Do Solar Panels And Batteries Work Together?

With solar panel system rapidly becoming an ubiquitous phenomenon within the modern society, several homeowners in the UK are just coming to terms with the numerous benefits offered by the system. The solar power’s popularity has even led to the rise of another renewable technology - solar batteries able to store excess solar power that can be used later. Now several companies such as Tesla are now building solar batteries that can be fitted alongside solar panels for your building. So how exactly do solar panels and batteries work together? Let’s have a look!

Solar panels make use of the sun light to generate electricity and as a result, they can’t function when sunlight is absent - giving a big issue of how to power your house when it’s dark. In the event whereby this occurs, you’re afforded two options which is either to contact energy providers to buy electricity or purchase a battery storage system.

So what’s the function of the battery storage system? Basically when your solar panel provides electricity which is not needed right away, a solar battery will work to convert the DC electricity into AC energy which is going to be stored for later use (when you actually need it). in other words, your solar panels charge the batteries when you do not require the energy they’re generating right away.

As a result, when it’s dark and the solar panels are no longer functioning, your system will tap into the energy that’s already been stored by your battery for later use. This way, you can be totally independent of the National Grid, which implies more savings on your electricity bills.

Many domestic biomass boilers are no bigger than a standard gas boiler. However, they do require a flue, a feeder and a space to store the fuel. These can be designed to suit many different properties and will fit in lots of homes or a garage or outbuilding.

If you’re looking to purchase and install a solar system for your home or property, then knowing the amount of energy a solar panel can produce can go a long way to help you determine just how much solar panels that’ll be needed to power your entire house. In this article, we’ll give you an idea of the amount of energy that can be generated by a solar panel to help you make informed decisions going ahead.

First and foremost, you should note that each and every solar panel is rated by how much direct current power they’re able to generate under standard testing conditions. The output of a solar panel is given in watts units (W) and it stands for the theoretical power generation of the panel under direct sunlight as well as temperature conditions. Generally, several domestic solar panels possesses power output ratings which ranges from 250 watts to 400 watts. And as you would have expected, the higher power ratings are preferable when compared to the lower power ratings. What’s more? The total wattage of your solar panels will greatly influence a major part of your overall solar system cost.

Assuming you’re able to get just about 5 hours of direct sunlight every day, you can determine the output of your solar panel in this way - 5 hours x 290 watts ( wattage example of a premium solar panel) = 1450 watts-hours or approximately 1.5 kilowatts per hour (kWh). hence, the individual solar panel output in your array should be able to generate about 500 to 550 kWh of energy every year. This is sufficient energy to power some small appliances without problems.

The bigger the ground source heat pump, the better right? Wrong! And you’ll definitely be sorry to make such a huge mistake. When planning to install a heat pump, determining the size of the ground source heat pump is not as direct and straightforward as many homeowners would think. Here, you’ve got only a small margin for error. When the pump is too small, the heat pump will make use of the backup heater too often and in the event whereby the heat pump is too big, it’s going to short cycle. Both situations are preferably avoided as they’ll both leave you with an expensive and inefficient system.

To get the accurate size of a heat pump, there’s usually the need to hire the services of an expert and licensed heat pump installer who possesses a top notch design calculation software. In reality, the majority of inefficient systems are caused by a lack or poor understanding of the suitable design software.

There are many factors that can influence the calculation of a home’s heat pumps size. These includes

✓ Radiators and underfloor heating sizes

✓ Insulation, property fabric as well as heat loss

✓ The number of rooms in the property

✓ The types of rooms and their uses.

✓ The desired indoor temperature for varying rooms

✓ Seasonal temperature fluctuations.

Generally, a bigger house will require a bigger ground source heat pump. With an eye on the age of the property, heat loss as well as the types of the rooms, a house of about 100 square metre can require up to 4kW ground source heat pump. And for a house that’s about 200 square metre, the ground source heat pump also doubles to 8kW.