Homeowner Blog

Some of our clients are surprised to learn that there can be limits on the number of solar panels they can get on their roof, beyond the obvious physical and cost limitations. In fact, for solar PV systems over a certain size, grid permission is needed before installation can go ahead.

In this post, we’ll explore how many solar panels you’re allowed to install without prior permission, and how we can help you determine the maximum possible allowance for your property.

As of Wednesday 10th June, the UK hit a huge milestone of going two months without burning any coal for electricity generation. This is due to a combination of the reduced national energy consumption since the start of lockdown and the high investment in renewable energy over the past decade. Approximately 800,000 homes now have solar PV installed, helping to contribute to the decarbonisation of the grid, while also reducing their energy bills.

As electricity generation continues to decarbonise, the next logical step is for the transport sector to shift away from fossil fuels and towards electric vehicles. Over the past couple of months, the number of vehicles sold has dropped considerably. Electric and hybrid vehicles, however, feature more heavily than usual in the ‘top 10 models sold’ and more Tesla Model 3s have been sold over the past two months than any other car.

With the number of homes generating their own clean energy via solar PV and the number of electric vehicles on the road growing, we thought we’d take some time to analyse the benefits of pairing a domestic solar PV system with an electric car to quantify the potential financial savings.

Today we’re going to answer some common questions around sizing solar PV systems, including the conditions that affect ‘clipping’ and achieving the maximum rated output.

Whether you’re looking to buy a house with solar panels or it’s come time to sell your property and its PV system, you may have some questions. We’ve gathered the common queries to answer based on our years of experience supporting solar PV owners.

We’re regularly contacted by customers, who have received an unsolicited call or letter from another company, offering them a ‘free solar panel health check’ or warning about their solar PV system being at risk of failing. This is a common scam.

How is COVID-19 impacting our energy demand?

The world is currently going through unprecedented times, with the majority of the population confined to their own homes, practicing social distancing to help curb the spread of COVID-19. This has had a significant impact on our day to day lives, with most working from home, and as a result there has been an increase in daytime energy usage. In a study by Octopus Energy, almost a third of households have noticeably changed their usage patterns, with a daytime electricity usage increase of up to 32%, resulting in an average electricity bill rise of £1.34 - £2.85 per week.

While there has been an increase in domestic energy usage, the national energy demand has decreased due to the number of industries and factories temporarily closing their doors to comply with the government’s regulations. The UK’s total energy requirement is down by about 20%, with the electricity demand on the first day of lockdown (24^th March 2020) showing a decrease of about 8% from the monthly average.

We’d like to reassure you that we are determined to serve our customers and continue driving the switch to renewable energy during the COVID-19 outbreak.

We are following government advice to keep our staff and customers safe, and will update you on any changes to our operations.

Over the past year there have been a couple of fairly large changes which have impacted the payback period of a solar PV installation. Firstly the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) closed for new applicants at the end of March 2019 and then the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) was brought into effect at the start of this year.

Many of our customers are keen to use as much of the solar energy that their home generates as possible in the home. Not only will this reduce bills, it will also increase energy independence.

Image: Ofgem.

What is DNO permission and when do you need it?

The DNO or distribution network operator is the company responsible for distributing electricity from the National Grid to your home or business. In the UK there are 14 different district networks or DNO regions which are owned by six groups. For our installation zone, the distribution network operators which we are concerned by are Scottish & Southern Electricity (SSE), UK Power Networks (UKPN), and Western Power Distribution (WPD).