Homeowner Blog

In January SunPower introduced the world’s first 400 Watt residential solar panels.

Utilising 104 Monocrystalline Maxeon Generation III solar cells, the panels have an efficiency of 22.6%. 

The panels have ‘standard’ panel dimensions of approximately 1.69m x 1.05m, giving an output of 226W per square metre.

As always with SunPower, the panels have a premium look…

When the government announced in 2018 that it would close the Feed-in Tariff scheme with effect from 31st March 2019, it failed to put in place any replacement for the Export Tariff. Small scale solar PV systems installed after 31st March were likely to end up exporting excess solar generation to the grid for free.

Not surprisingly there was uproar within the industry at this prospect.

In response, the government has this week launched a consultation on the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG).

Back in July, the government announced its intention to close the Feed-in Tariff Scheme to new entrants from 31^st March 2019.  The Export Tariff was scrapped at the same time, thus placing owners of small scale solar systems installed after 1^st April 2019 in a position whereby they could find themselves exporting excess solar electricity to the Grid for free.

Not surprisingly the idea of the homeowner installing solar only to find themselves subsidising the Big 6 with free exported solar electricity has caused something of an outcry in the solar industry…

"Can I go off-grid with solar?" is a question we are asked at least once a week. When the Big 6 hike electricity prices, make that once a day.

It's a particularly enticing proposition, especially if you are 'self-building' your dream home and aiming for PassivHaus standards and Grand Design prizes.

The short answer is "Yes you can go off-grid with solar."

A better answer is "Don't do it unless your grid connection is really expensive." Instead, make the grid work for you by taking full advantage of time-of-use tariffs (off-peak charging).

To illustrate our better answer, we've modelled an off-grid residential property with an annual electricity consumption of 5,000 kWh.

As you may know, the Feed-in Tariff solar subsidy scheme ends in March 2019.

After that, solar PV (solar electricity) has to stand on its own two feet.

The question is, can solar PV stand on its own two feet? 

And more to the point, if you can’t make the March 2019 installation deadline, should you still consider solar for your own property?

Equally if you want to extend your system (which wouldn’t qualify for subsidy even if you were to extend before March 2019), should you do so?

To help you work that out, we’ve launched a brand new Solar PV Calculator...

Since April 2010, more than 800,000 solar PV installations have benefitted from the hugely successful Feed-in-Tariff scheme.

The scheme was originally expected to be open until March 2021. However it is now closing to new entrants at the end of March 2019, due both to government cuts and the reduced costs of solar panels. The subsidies paid to existing members of the scheme will not be impacted by the closure.

If you haven't already installed solar PV you have nine months to claim your share of the pot...

Believe it or not, spring is just around the corner.  And with it, the start of the sunny-but-not-so-hot season in which solar panels thrive.

Clean panels do better than dirty panels. And a well-maintained, serviced system does best of all.  

Which begs the question, how proactive should you be in looking after your solar system? What do other Spirit Energy customers do by way of servicing?

If you own a domestic solar PV installation it’s likely that you will have been cold-called recently about a solar panel upgrade. We get emails or calls from our customers along the following lines about once a week:

Anyone thinking about getting battery storage for solar panels, should monitor their electricity usage for at least 3 months using a specialist energy monitoring device.