Telephone: 01269 500388 email: info@celticgreenenergy.co.uk
With the continued uncertainty of rising energy prices, we can offer you the reassurance that Solar energy generated from sunshine will remain free!
Installing solar panels on your property is an environmentally friendly and affordable way to generate energy and save you money from long term rising fuel prices. Solar electricity panels are also known as Photovoltaics (PV), capture the suns energy and convert it into electricity that you can then use in your home.
Not only will you be able to generate your own green energy from sustainable sources, you may also be able to earn a financial payback for any unused surplus generated power than can be fed to the National grid. You also have the option to store any surplus generated electricity and use after dark with the use of additional energy storage batteries.
You can use solar energy to power a multitude of appliances during the day subject to your power consumption and usage.
For energy needs after dark, you will need to source your power from the national grid or energy from solar batteries.
Power your washing machines, microwaves
Power your televisions, radios and computers
Recharge your electric vehicles with solar
Power your tools with solar energy
Power your lighting during the day
Power your electric heaters
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels are made from layers of semi-conducting material that generates electricity when light shines on the surface.
The cells work using minimal light even on cloudy days, but work best with strong sunshine when more electricity is created. Solar PV systems are made up of several panels, with each panel generating around 355W of energy in strong sunlight. Typical systems contain around 10 panels and generate direct current (DC) electricity. Because the electricity used for household appliances is alternating current (AC), an inverter is installed along with the system to convert DC electricity to AC. This electricity can be used throughout your home, or exported to the grid.
Solar PV panels work during daylight hours generating electricity – even on cloudy days.
If you use more power around your home than your panels are generating, or during the evening when your panels are not generating any electricity, you can supplement this by importing electricity from the grid. Conversely, if you generate more electricity than you use or want to store – you can feed electricity back to the national grid and receive a payment for every unit of electricity you export. This is achieved under the Government’s Smart Export Guarantee, the details are available here.
Solar Powered energy is best used during daylight hours when sunlight is at it’s brightest and an ideal time to run electrical appliances such as washing machine, dishwashers, and ironing. Use delayed start timers on major appliances or smart timers for others when you are not at home.
Solar PV panels will generate electricity all year round, the above charts a typical 4kw system based on 2022 figures at our Crosshands base in South Wales. Figures supplied by the EU commission.
You will make significant savings with solar-powered electricity depending on the system and your circumstances. If you are at home during the day and use your appliances then, you will get the most out of your investment, but if you only use appliances once the sun has gone down, then you will need to draw from the national grid or from solar energy batteries.
Most households will use about 15-25% of the energy you generate, though this can change quite dramatically based on:
Solar energy can save you money in two areas:
The average cost of solar panel installation is between £5,000 and £10,000, and about £350 per panel with prices based on the size and occupancy of your house. As every project is individually tailored to the Sales Surveyors.
Prices are illustrative annual cost savings from a solar PV system for a typical installation, but subject to individual conditions. Our Sales Surveyor will be able to provide a more accurate cost projection from a site visit. Prices based on £0.34 per unit at January 2023
When installing a Solar PV system, in order to optimise maximum performance, you will need to consider the location of the panels, the suitability of the environment and any potential constraints:
Celtic Green only use the finest quality products to ensure long term low maintenance for our customers. With the option of various products, colours, specifications and capacities tailored to the individual, our panels should last 25 years or more, whilst the Digital Inverter is more likely to need replacing sometime during this period, at a cost of around £800 (depending on system size and the manufacturer). Some inverters have online monitoring functions and can warn you by email if the system fails.
Most of our Digital Inverters have warranties of five years as a minimum, which can often be extended up to 15 years. Speak to us about the likely lifespan and benefit of an extended warranty. You might find that a 15-year warranty costs almost as much as a replacement inverter, so consider it carefully.
Once fitted, we will leave written details of any maintenance checks that you should carry out to ensure everything is working properly. This should include details of the main inverter fault signals and key troubleshooting guidance. We will demonstrate this to you once the system has been installed. Keeping a close eye on your system and the amount of electricity it’s generating (alongside the weather conditions) will help you understand what to expect and alert you to when something might be wrong.
Ask us for exact maintenance requirements before you commit to installing a solar PV system.
You can provide free energy to power an Air Source Heat pump to provide cosy low-cost eco-friendly heating
With a PV Diverter, you can provide free energy to power an immersion heater for hot water
You can store any energy generated during the day and then retrieve later after dark to power your electrical equipment
You can feed any surplus energy generated back into the national grid and earn a fee for each unit produced.
When designing any solar power system, it is important to ensure you have enough solar power for your needs. You will need to consider how much solar power you will require during the day as you will not be able generate solar energy after dark. Understanding these parameters will help you decide if you would need to store energy for later use.
Solar batteries are the perfect solution as they play an essential role in solar self-sufficiency, storing energy when the solar panels can’t. Solar batteries are designed to extend the use of your renewable system as an additional energy source, storing solar energy during the day when there is more sun and then retrieve that power at night when it is required.
Solar batteries also offer you continuity of supply, allowing you to draw on stored power in times of high demand, while your PV panels continue producing clean electricity even if the grid goes offline due to extreme weather events or other outage problems.
Instead of sending surplus electricity to the grid, an optional PV diverter switch can power the immersion heater in your hot water tank, storing hot water for you to use later.
On its own, excess solar energy is unlikely to meet all your hot water needs, but it can help reduce your bills. PV diverters are a low-cost and low maintenance option for increasing your own consumption of solar electricity (ie using the electricity generated by your own solar PV panels). If your home has a hot water cylinder tank, this is likely to include an immersion heater- even if gas is the primary energy source. The immersion is usually powered from a fused switch which will become the supply to a Solar PV Diverter or we can fit the required local isolator. The Solar PV Diverter is then used to control the immersion both automatically from the excess PV energy and manually when you need additional hot water. The system operates by responding rapidly to the levels of import and export at the property according to the variable parameters of changing weather, energy consumption and generation. These are constantly changing and the electronic controller is able to process the information to ensure that only excess power is delivered for water heating when operating in standard automatic operation.
If you are interested in the addition of a Solar PV Diverter to your Solar installation, speak to our customer services team for more information.
Domestic & commercial solar panels may have initial expensive cost but they are a long-term investment, with the benefits increasing year after year. In fact, solar panels are now 70% cheaper than previous years.
Solar panels provide many benefits to commercial properties such as:
For domestic properties, solar panel installation can be as little as a day, however installation may take longer for a commercial property or a larger domestic home needing more panels. Call Celtic Green Energy today and we give you more information and a quotation.
If you would like to discuss your energy requirements, drop us a line or give us a call and we will arrange for an onsite appointment with our Commercial Sales Director.
We will discuss and agree your requirements then prepare a detailed cost illustration outlining the most effective energy solutions and expected outcome.
On agreement of the proposal, we will plan and manage the project including all necessary paperwork, Building Control and District Network Operator (DNO) requirements for you.
Our team will plan and arrange for our engineers to install your new system and provide you with an update on progress including regular customer service updates.
When the installation is completed, you will receive a comprehensive handover pack including all compliance and warranty certificates and operating instructions.