Solar Savings in Cambridge
Our guidance on how much a solar panel system in Cambridge could save you.
How Much with Solar Panels Save Me?
With solar panels requiring a significant initial outlay, a property owner like yourself will ask if solar panels are worth it.
Until recently, the period that a solar panel system in Cambridge wiould pay for itself would be 10-12 years, but within the current environment of rising energy prices, the initial investment will be recouped much sooner. We cover the cost of installing solar here.
It is no surprise with the unprecedented rises in the cost of electricity that we have seen that many people are looking to reduce their bills and protect insulate themselves from further rises that are totally out of their control. Solar panels are the most obvious answer to this issue for households and businesses. There has been a huge rise in the number of solar panel systems installed in Cambridge over the past 6-12 months.
Solar Panel Installation
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Cambridge Solar Example Home
When looking at what electricity you produce and use, it is important to remember that every kilowatt of electricity you consume from your solar panel system will mean you do not need to buy one from your supplier. Every property will have a different size roof, levels of shading and energy consumption patterns.
For our example, we will take a family home in Cambridge. They consume 5,000kWh per year, costing 34p per kWh. That is £1700 per year plus an additional £150 for the standing charge. The total electricity bill in this example is £1850 per year or £154.17 per month.
If this house has a standard 4kWh system with 0 shading in Cambridge, which has one of the highest irradiance factors in the UK, you could expect an output of 3500kWh in year one. A system's output will decrease over time by a small margin of around 0.7%.
The wonderful thing about solar panels is that as long as there is light, they will produce electricity. Ideally, you would use all that you produce, but this is not reasonably the case. Again factors come into play, like how many people are in the house or do people work from home. In our example, 50% of the electricity is consumed by the property, and 50% is sold to the electricity supplier. In figures, this means of the 3500kWh produced, 1750kWh are consumed, and the remaining was sold at 7.5p kWh. Resulting in a saving from self-consumption of £595 and an income from the Smart Export Guarantee of £131.25. That is a total revenue from solar panels of £726.25 or just under 40% saving on the electricity bill every year.
Are Solar Panels Worth It?
Above, we have shown how much a solar panel system can save you on electricity bills, so how does a system stack up as an investment?
If we say the above 4kWh system costs £7000, with no battery, and produces £726.25 in revenue in the first year, your nominal rate of return would be 10.4%. We can then make projections based on the solar panel system's performance, projected lifetime and future energy prices.
A system has an expected degradation in its performance of around 0.7% per year. With little maintenance to the panels, beyond cleaning them, the system will still produce at 85% efficiency after 25 years. In our example, that would mean the solar panels produce an output of 2975kWh.
The hardest to predict is future energy prices. With high inflation, world politics and little known about future government support, it is fair to say that in the near future electricity prices will not significantly drop. But let us assume that prices come back down and inflation stabilises at 2.2%, your solar panel system will have paid for itself in significantly under 10 years.
To get the exact figures for how much getting a solar system installed will save you, you should talk to one of our experienced surveyors. In the meantime, a great way to think about it is that if you don't put solar panels on your property, you will give away the cost of installation to your electricity supplier over the next 7-10 years.