Find a Solar Panel Installer you can trust in Pontyclun.

So, you’ve finally decided to go for solar? If yes, then you’d also probably find yourself trying to figure out exactly what solar battery size is needed to power your home or property. This is one of the most common questions when it comes to the solar system world and understandably so. In this article, we aim to give you an idea of the solar size you’d need to power your home or property before making a purchase decision. Let’s take a look!

The first thing to do if you find yourself asking this question is to identify the reason why you want to purchase the solar battery in the first place. For some individuals, they simply want to save some excess energy being fed back into the grid, while others just want protection from possible blackouts. There are also some environment-conscious home or property owners who makes this decision in order to create a carbon-neutral home. Another crucial factor to consider is your budget. A full solar storage system can be quite costly, although this is cheaper than a decade ago. Generally, the size of solar battery you’ll require depends on the following:

• How much energy you’re able to generate: The size of your solar array as well as its efficiency will influence the amount of power it’ll be able to supply to your home.
• Your daily energy usage needs: Daily energy usage can vary greatly between households depending on a number of factors. These factors include the number of occupants, geographical location, type of building, general household energy usage and more. Some may find that their solar system cover for most of their energy usage, while others find themselves still relying heavily on the grid.

Like every other systems in your home, solar hot water systems will require periodic inspections as well as a regular maintenance in order to keep it running as efficiently as it should. Not only that, the various components will also require either repair or replacement from time to time. It’ll also be proactive to take the necessary precautions so as to prevent worrying issues like corrosion, scaling or freezing.

Is it a task you can handle on your own? Well, there are some inspections and maintenance activities you should be able to handle on your own, however, you’ll also require a qualified technician to carry out the more technical or complicated tasks. You should also take note that it may actually be more cost effective to have some systems replaced, shut off or removed completely than having it repaired. Here are some of the essential inspections that should be carried out on solar system components. They include:

✓ Collector soiling. Periodic cleaning of your collectors is important especially in dry and dusty climates.

✓ Plumbing, ductwork and wire connections. Check the pipe connections for fluid leaks. Examine duct connections and seals. Also make sure that all wire connections are tight.

✓ Roof penetrations. Flashing and sealant around the roof penetration should be checked to see that it’s in a good shape.

✓ Collector shading. Check for shading of the collectors on annual basis as this may greatly affect their performance.

✓ Support structures. Examine all bolts and nuts which connects the support structures to the collectors for tightness.

✓ Heat transfer fluids. Anti freeze solutions in liquid solar heating collectors will have to be replaced periodically. And this right here is a task that’s best handled by a licensed technician.

Solar cells , also referred to as photovoltaic cells (PV), absorbs energy from the sun and converts it to generate electricity. This, however, should not be confused with photovoltaic thermal cells or PVT which operates to generate heat for water in homes. Solar cells are linked electrically and also carefully organized into a large frame which is popularly called solar panels. Generally, solar cells are produced or made of silicon semi conductors which works to absorb sunlight and then turn it into electricity for use at a home. A solar panel comprises of either 60 or 72 solar cells which are electrically interconnected in series and parallel and also positioned in between glass and plastic which is then framed.

At present, solar panels incorporated for residential or domestic purposes only possesses the capacity to make use of only about 20 percent of the sunlight they’re able to absorb and convert it to electricity - also called solar efficiency. Available in the market are also a wide range of solar cell available for both industrial and commercial purposes. This type of solar panels have an efficiency rating of about 40 percent which will also automatically make them more costly than the domestic types.

One great thing about the solar industry is the fact that it keeps improving in such a way that raises both its efficiency as well as overall quality. And with further research and development, this is expected to even increase as the years go by. What’s more? As these aspects keep rising, it’s also expected that the solar panels price should be on a decrease. That way, they’ll become available to a wider range of individuals who’ll also like to save money on electricity bills and go greener.

No – solar thermal doesn’t generate electricity. Unlike solar PV, solar thermal panels harness the sun’s energy and convert it into heat which is then transferred into your home.

You can have evacuated tube solar thermal panels or flat plate collectors; evacuated tubes are thought to be more efficient that flat plate collectors. They both work by using the sun’s rays to heat a transfer fluid, usually made from water and a type of antifreeze, which is pumped to a heat exchanger inside a water tank in your home. The heat from the exchanger heats the water inside your tank, then when the liquid releases its heat it’s transferred back to the collectors to start the whole process again.

You’ll need to use your solar thermal panel system with a boiler, collector or immersion heater. This is so that the water can be stored and used for your hot water and heating, and also because in the UK, people generally need to rely on another source of heating in the winter. There are fewer sunlight hours in the winter months, so it’s not often possible for solar thermal panels to generate enough heat from the sun to get your water up to temperature.

Whatever the time of year it is, you might want to heat the water up further than your solar panels can manage. That’s why you’ll still need a form of traditional hot water heating, but you should see savings on your energy bills. If you’re currently using natural gas, you can expect savings of around £60 per year on your fuel bills, while if you’re using LPG it could be as high as £100 pr year

To have your solar panels working at full strength at all times is crucial as this can go a long way to help you reduce your energy bill. In order to achieve this, you simply can’t afford to ignore having them regularly cleaned and free from all sorts of dirt, dust, debris, pollen, bird droppings and the likes. Now it’s quite reasonable to think rain or wind should be able to get the job done, but unfortunately this is not so. What solar panels need is a proper clean which you can decide to do by yourself or call in a qualified professional – the latter which is strongly recommended.

Cleaning of solar panels has to do with working at heights which can be very dangerous especially if you don’t have enough confidence to pull it off. And even if you have zero phobia for heights, solar panel cleaning requires experience as well as some specialized skills and tools possessed by the professionals. However, the question here is, how often should solar panels be cleaned to keep them operating at optimal efficiency?

Well, according to the manufacturers, solar panels should be cleaned twice a year. However, if this is something that you feel is not achievable by you, then you should at least give then an annual clean. The best or most advisable time to do this during the year is at the end of the summer months. This will ensure that you have a fully functioning solar array which is ready and prepared to withstand whatever the cold period throws at you. At the end of the day, you’d have them looking spotless clean while also working at full strength and reducing your energy bills.

Solar thermal panels are panels that can be used to heat your hot water. The collectors, which are either evacuated tube panels or flat plate collectors, harness heat from the sun and transfer it to a heat transfer liquid that heats up water that is stored in a hot water cylinder. You can use a boiler or immersion heater as a back-up in the winter or to heat the water up further to reach the right temperature.

Evacuated tube panels involve a bank of glass tubes mounted on the roof tiles, and while they’re usually more expensive, they’re more efficient than flat plate collectors. They’re exactly what they sound like – flat panels that can be fixed onto your roof tiles or integrated into the roof.

Having a solar thermal system will reduce your energy bills since heat from the sun is free, so you won’t have to rely on your traditional heating as much. You’ll also be doing your bit for the environment – if you have a natural gas heating system, you could save up to 295kg of CO2 every year.

Another benefit to solar thermal panels is that you might be eligible for payments through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), which is a Government scheme to encourage people to take up renewable heating technologies. As long as you have your system installed by an MCS-registered installer and you meet a few other requirements, you could receive payments of up to £525 per year for seven years. And since the average solar thermal panel system costs £5,500, you could pay off over half of your system just with these payments. That’s not even considering that you could save up to £60 a year on your energy bills if you have a gas system.