Going solar: Your definitive guide to turning your home into a power station
By Live Reporter
Last updated at 10:01 PM on 25th June 2011
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http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2007372/Going-solar--definitive-guide-turning-home-power-station.html
Solar power stations have, so far at least, proved expensive follies
singularly incapable of producing anything like the energy we so
hungrily need. But for ordinary home owners, matters are rather
different, as the multitude of solar-panel firms proves.
WHY INVEST NOW?
Depending on your location and budget, the efficiency of solar
panels ranges from 5 to 15 per cent in terms of converting available
energy to electricity.
Recent lab tests have managed up to 40 per cent - but it will be
years before this technology is commercially available.
It might make more sense to buy now, rather than wait for a future
technology that might not even show up.
Indeed, small solar panels on our roofs can actually be a solid
earner. It's not that they are any better than their industrial
cousins - indeed, the amount of energy they produce would ordinarily
be too small to justify their existence. At best, you'll usually
only produce half the energy your home requires.
But then the very generous 25-year government Feed-in Tariffs (FIT),
or subsidies, come in. This means solar panel owners get paid to
have them, to encourage 'green' power.
The government has been heavily criticised for its benevolence:
taxpayer groups complain non-solar users - ie, the vast majority of
us - are being made to subsidise solar users. Indeed, the first
tariff system worked out as the equivalent to a savings account
offering more than 11 per cent per year - far more than any bank.
'Had we not acted urgently to reduce tariffs, the whole
Feed-In-Tariff scheme would have been entirely swamped,' Climate
Change Minister Greg Barker admitted.
The cuts targeted businesses, but for homeowners, solar can still
make sense, although set-up costs are high - an installed solar
electricity system costs £4,500 to £8,000 per kilowatt of output
(we'll come to what that means in terms of power later); which means
a standard 2.2kW system is around £12,000 (including VAT).
You'll need to be confident that you're staying put, in other words
- the systems only start to pay for themselves after a decade or so.
You'll also need to be in the right place - a home in Plymouth
produces up to 50 per cent more solar energy than less sun-drenched
locations such as Lerwick.
Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2007372/Going-solar--definitive-guide-turning-home-power-station.html#ixzz1QOgBsgP9
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