Sun Switch blog

Guest blog: Why I bought a solar PV system

I’m Phillip Rushforth, one of the team of Solar PV System Designers at Sun Switch and live west of Buckingham.

I started to look at alternative energy sources last summer as our house was not originally on the gas main and we therefore do not have gas central heating. I have also been concerned about the rapidly rising cost of energy, and the fact that more of our energy is having to be imported from other countries as the North Sea gas reserves dwindle.

I did not want to go down the route of installing a gas boiler and ‘wet’ heating, as I can see that the cost of gas is rising more quickly than the cost of electricity, although a large proportion of our electricity is now produced from gas fired power stations. When I read about the proposed new incentive for domestic micro generation of electricity, and made some calculations, I realised that a solar PV system had serious potential for generation of both electricity and cash. I reviewed many different web sites and made my own calculations for estimated output, annual income, savings and payback. Our house orientation results in roof slopes of east and west facing, not the ideal south facing, but still great potential. I chose the west (rear) roof slope as it is completely free of obstructions such as vent pipes. I had already had a survey, selected my supplier and signed a contract when the incentive payments were formally announced on 1st February this year. Great news, the payments are more generous than originally proposed, and they are now to be linked to the RPI. I have 18 mono crystalline 180 watt panels occupying an area of about 24 square meters. The rated output is 3.24KWp. The projected return on investment is 7.5% in the first year, rising to 9.6% in year 10 and to 33% in year 25, and this is on a west facing roof, good, but not the best orientation.

Can Martin Lewis (moneysavingexpert.com) beat that? My panels have now been installed for 10 weeks and have produced over 650 kWh units to date, with a daily peak of 17.1 on 21st April. I am hoping that they might achieve 25 units in a day in mid/late June. The daily average output since installation is 9.4 units. When will my meter pass the 1000 mark? I’ll keep you posted…