There has never been a better time to consider generating your own electricity. We’re all used to seeing solar farms and towering wind turbines on our travels, but it is entirely possible to generate your own energy from renewables at home just on a smaller scale. There are a few reasons why you might want to generate your own energy. The recent warning from the IPCC that only rapid and drastic reductions in greenhouse gases in this decade can prevent widespread devastation and extreme weather, might have persuaded you that it’s time to cut your carbon footprint. By generating your own energy, you can significantly lower your household’s carbon footprint. You may want to invest in low carbon energy, to reduce your future energy bills. Energy prices have risen exponentially in the last 20 years so reducing your reliance on the National Grid will enable you to insulate your household from the unexpected and pronounced rise of wholesale energy prices. Or it might simply be that you want to be a bit more self-sufficient. There are more options today for generating your own energy than ever before but is it a realistic prospect for UK homeowners? Let’s look at a few of the options available to you.
Solar
Solar panels are now a common sight on rooftops in the UK. They are the most common renewable source of energy. Known as photovoltaics (PV), solar panels capture the sun’s energy using photovoltaic cells to generate electricity. They generally work better on a south facing roof at a pitch angle of about 30 or 40 degrees. You can fit panels on a flat roof, or on a frame on the ground but a sloping roof is usually the easiest. Though south facing is optimum, anywhere between east and west is possible. Solar panels are improving with every passing year, with specialist PV cells able to generate power even on a cloudy day. Thankfully for those of us living in the UK, solar panels don’t need direct sunlight to work. However, if your home is overshadowed by trees or other buildings it will have a negative impact on the performance of your system. Space is a key consideration. Roughly speaking, a roof area of 10-20 square metres would be enough to deliver between 20% and 45% of the typical household’s electricity needs.
PV cells convert sunlight into electricity which you can use for your household appliances and lighting. Ideally, you would be at home during the day to make the most of the electricity generated when the sun is shining. You can of course set your appliances to come on during the day even if you are out. If you’re generating more electricity than you need during the day the surplus will be fed back to the National Grid for someone else to use. If you want to avoid having to use electricity from the Grid during the night you might want to invest in a special renewable battery system in order to store any unused energy generated during the day.
Alternatively, you can take advantage of the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) a government scheme devised so that energy suppliers pay their customers for the renewable energy that they export to the grid.
Solar energy doesn’t release any carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases. Depending on where you live a domestic solar PV system could typically save you between 1.3 – 1.6 tonnes of carbon per year.