St Albans Greener Together is all about learning from the stories of others in the District to help us in our sustainability journey. In this article local resident and retrofit expert Judith Leary Joyce shares her experience of solar panel installation…
“Solar panels – the icing on the cake.
Retrofitting a Victorian terrace, adding an air source heat pump, coming off gas are great for the bank balance, personal comfort and the environment.
But then add in solar energy and you’re …………… I was going to say ‘cooking on gas’ but that’s the point. No gas in sight – you’ll actually be cooking on sunshine.
It’s a whole new way of life
The smart meter shows us when we’re feeding the grid i.e. making more energy than we need for the house. Then the cry goes up: plug the car in, put on the dishwasher, sort out the washing basket……
Imagine if you were getting your travel for free – panels directly fuelling your electric car. No smelly petrol station visits or high prices. Or if you could do a cook up for the week ahead with no cost, courtesy of the daylight. Or if doing the chores involved no energy cost. It’s very exciting!
Can I have panels?
This depends on the orientation and size of your roof plus the level of shade in the immediate vicinity. Ideally you want a south facing roof with no tree or building shade. because that will get the best of the sun.
The roof of our house is east/west. We have eight panels – five at the front and three at the back. We never get full capacity – the panels just don’t get enough sun to function fully. But we get still plenty and frequently feed the grid.
More recently we built a new garden office with a south facing roof so we could have 10 more panels. At present we have too many trees around and I can see just how much they shade the panels as I look out from my desk. We’ll have to get pruning this autumn, but we’re glad we waited – it’s much clearer now what needs to happen. Because of course you don’t want to cut down healthy trees to facilitate panels if you don’t have to.
Cost of the panels
Cost of panels will vary depending on your location, the direction of your roof and type of panel. There are numerous options and technology is moving so fast that you’ll need to consult the experts to find out what your options are.
I recommend talking with people who have panels and find out who they used. Local providers are good because they’re close should you have issues; plus they want happy customers and plenty of recommendations. Nation wide providers may be able to offer a lower price due to bulk buying.
Always check the local council for community schemes. I know St Albans has run schemes that give homeowners a good deal because they can bulk buy panels. If there are a number of people in the same street it also saves money on scaffolding which is remarkably expensive to put up. So one option is to get out and persuade your neighbours to join in.
What about payback time?
It’s really hard to calculate payback – it’s a ‘piece of string’ because it depends how you use it. For example, if you have an EV you’ll covering the cost much more quickly. If you use a lot of gas, it will take a lot longer to make your money back. Also the increased cost of energy bring the payback time down.
Every estimate you get should include an assessment of how much panels will produce in your location plus how long it will take to recover the cost, based on your energy usage. If they don’t do that, then ask them to work it out for you.
Good for the planet
An important element of payback is reduction in carbon footprint. Given how fast climate change is moving, we all need to do our bit and installing solar energy is a great option. Yes it requires you to pay out upfront, but your weekly costs go down immediately. And the benefits for the planet – and therefore the future of all the grandkids – is beyond measure. “
A huge thank you to Judith for sharing her solar panel experience.
If you have an experience you would like to share with us you can submit it on our Your Stories page!