I've just got back from gallavanting around the country and I've noticed that solar energy systems, harnessing the power of the sun to heat water or by converting the light into electricity, are becoming more and more popular.
I was sat on the train for a few hours ( a long, long journey) and I saw that every so often, a battery of photo-voltaic cells or a solar water heater would be mounted on someone's roof. Ironically, as I made my way north, the number and frequency of panels on rooves in residential areas seemed to increase. This was an interesting trend as it's counter-intuitive to think that it's a good idea to put solar energy systems on the roof at higher latitudes. But there they were, glinting in the sun.
This is a good example of how high energy prices are driving a domestic energy generation revolution. There has been a unilateral price increase by energy providers in recent weeks and this will serve to squeeze the pockets of the average Briton even harder than they were in the winter when prices were high and there was a massive need for fuel to rebuff the awful cold. Homeowners (as you need to own your roof to get solar panels installed on it) have been
slowly moving toward and adopting solar technology to power / heat their homes. This works well for two reasons: one - the panels on your roof remove the need to buy electricity / gas to heat water for domestic use, except on the darkest / coldest of days. This means you can have all the hot water you want without needing to worry about that next huge post-winter energy bill as it simply won't arrive. However, this is countered by the cost of installing the system in the first place.
The second point only applies to solar photo-voltaic (electricity generating) panels and it is that the energy that your panels collect which isn't used in the home can be sold back to the national
grid. The money you generate from your redundant energy is sold per kWh (kilo-Watt-hour) at pennies per unit.
This adds up over time and can, whilst cutting your electricity bill to zero, earn your household an extra £2,000 a year depending on the capacity your home can provide.
The standard set-up for an average house is a 3-5kWh system, costing around £10,000. This means that the money that your roof-based power plant provides through electricity generation will help pay off the cost of the system in around 5 years or so. Considering that by having solar panels, you can have essentially free electricity for 25 years (the average life of a system) and the potential to generate an extra income to help you live your life without money worries. The only care that either system requires is that you keep the panels clean to ensure maximum light
capture.
