Find a Solar Panel Installer you can trust in Porthcawl.

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.

Yes – solar panels do work in winter. Contrary to popular belief, solar panels can still work under daylight, even if it's not hot. Of course, they won’t generate as much electricity as they would during the summer months, as the days are shorter, but they will still generate electricity during those daylight hours.

Once you know how solar panels work, it’s easy to understand why solar panels work in the winter. Solar panels are made up of photovoltaic (PV) cells, which are units usually made out of silicon. These cells contain electrons that create energy when light hits them. The cell can then convert this energy into usable electric current and into your system to be used around the home.

Although it might seem strange, solar PV cells can actually work better when it’s cold. Too much heat around the cell can cause it to be inefficient, due to the difference in energy between the energy from the sunlight and the electrons in the solar cell. During cold weather, the difference between them is higher, so more

The higher the energy difference between the two sets of energy sources, the more power that the cell can produce when it’s struck by light. Of course, the downside is that there are fewer daylight hours in the winter, so you’ll still see a drop in energy production – but at least you know that your solar panels are still working efficiently. The other thing to bear in mind is that obstructions like snow and lots of cloud cover will impact the amount of electricity your solar panels will produce. Luckily the UK doesn’t get too much heavy snow, so any snow that does settle on the panels will melt quickly. As for cloud cover, even on exceptionally cloudy days your panels will still generate some electricity – just not as much as they would on a clear day.

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.

Are you thinking of installing solar thermal systems in your home or property and wondering exactly how it works to generate electricity? Regardless of your motive, in this article you’ll learn in simple details how solar thermal is how solar thermal doesn't provide electricity for your home.

If you are looking to generate electricity for your home then Solar PV are able to generate electricity simply by absorbing and focusing sunlight in such a way to create a temperature level that’s high enough to generate the much needed electricity. There are two main components that comes with the solar energy collectors of each. These two components include, the reflectors ( mirrors), which works to absorb and concentrate the sunlight onto a receiver. In several types of the solar thermal power systems, a heat transfer fluid is then heated and distributed in the receiver so as to generate steam. Once the steam as been produced, it’s then transported to the turbine where it’s turned into a mechanical energy, which in turn powers the generator to produce electricity.

Solar thermal power or electric systems are usually embedded with a tracking system which keeps the sunlight concentrated on the receiver all day long as the sun changes position in the sky. They also come with a wide array of collectors which works of distribute the heat absorbed to a turbine as well as the generator. A lot of solar thermal power facilities will gave two or more plants with different arrays and generators.

Solar thermal power systems can also have a thermal energy storage system component whose work is to permit the solar collector system to heat an energy storage system during the day while energy storage system’s generated heat is incorporated in the production of electricity at night or during a cloudy weather when there’s not much sunlight.

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

If you want to connect solar panels to a battery, it’s likely that it’s because you want to make sure that you don’t waste any electricity when your solar panels are generating energy but you’re not around to use it. Batteries are particularly useful for homeowners that have solar panels but are out during daylight hours; with a solar battery system, your solar panels will feed the electricity they generate into the battery for you to use when you get home.

If you want to connect your solar panels to a battery, the best thing to do is to get in touch with an MCS-registered company who can talk you through your options. There are different size batteries and the size that’s suitable for you will depend on how much electricity you plan to store and how large your solar panel system is. Some of the top brands of battery storage system include Tesla, SunPower and SolarEdge. If you want to be able to take advantage of selling electricity back to the grid through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), it’s worth getting an MCS-registered company to install your battery for you, as you may not be eligible for payments if you connect your solar panels to a battery yourself.

You should also consider whether your solar panel system is a ‘storage ready’ solar system. Today, most systems will be, since battery storage is becoming much more common. This means that your solar panel system will have an inverter that can easily integrate a battery. If this is the case, you should be able to purchase the battery you want and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to install it.

However, it’s worth bearing in mind that electricity is extremely dangerous when handled incorrectly. If something goes wrong, you could electrocute yourself or cause a fire. If your solar panels and battery cause a fire, it’s unlikely that your home insurance company would pay out if you connect the battery yourself. That's why it’s best to ask a reputable installer with all the correct qualifications to connect your solar panels to a battery for you.

Solar panels are a great source of energy with numerous benefits that comes with it. However, the main thing that puts off most homeowners or potential buyers is the fact that the equipment are usually very expensive. So if you’re planning to purchase solar panels to be installed in your home, then you’d probably want to know if it’s actually worth the investment or otherwise. In this article, we aim to give you a good insight into how solar panels works and if its a viable investment.

Generally, the length of time it will take for your solar panels to payback and whether you’ll be able to make money from them will be based on the following factors:

✓ The solar panel PV system’s cost.

✓ The amount of the generated electricity that you’re able to use.

✓ Whether as well as the amount you’re paid to the electricity you’re able to generate and export.

To know whether your solar panels are truly worth it, then a higher initial cost to fit the system will require to be settled with the amount you’re able to save through the use of the renewable electricity it produces, rather than making purchases from your electricity company. In other words, the more renewable energy you’re able to use, the more savings you make. If you’re registered for the FIT and paid per kWh of electricity produced, for 50 percent of that, which is assumed to be exported to the grid. Therefore, if you’re able to use more than 50 percent, you’ll be able to benefit from the investment.