We all know that the main point of solar power is to use the energy generated by the sun as a substitute for electricity generated by the grid, ultimately saving us money on our energy bills. Of course, there are more ways you can use your solar power system to save money, and our solar panel installers in Sunderland have listed five of the most underrated ones here!
If you own a business in the UK, you could be eligible for tax relief if you have solar panels installed. Every business that uses a standard amount of energy pays the main rates of CCL, in order to encourage businesses to be more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
Businesses can become eligible for tax relief when they start using less than 33kWh of electricity per day, on average. This would also allow your business to qualify for a 5% reduced rate VAT, as well as not having to pay the CCL. There are various solar panel system options on the market that would suit your business, based on how much electricity you use every year.
A battery system is a fantastic way to save money using your solar panel system. This is because the battery will store excess solar energy that isn’t used during the day, allowing you to use it throughout the evening, when the panels aren’t generating electricity through the sun.
This saves you money by ensuring you don’t have to switch to the main grid system as soon as the sun has set. You’ll also have an emergency backup on rainy days, and when the weather is acting up and you can’t generate as much electricity using your panels.
If shade has formed on your solar panels, they won’t be working to their optimum and you won’t be saving as much money as you could be. Patches of shade stand to disrupt the entire solar panel system, so the cause should be removed as soon as possible.
If you have trees that have grown so much they are intercepting the sun, make sure they are trimmed back. Sometimes, something non-removable will be blocking the path of the sun. In this case, consider investing in an inverter, to make sure the energy from the other panels is optimised and powering as much as possible.
The smart export guarantee could be an entire blog post unto itself, so we’ll make sure we give you just the very basic money saving tips right now. Simply put, energy suppliers are required to offer tariffs to households in England, Scotland and Wales, which pay a set rate of each kWh of electricity they generate from solar panels but DON’T use themselves.
The amount you will make back from your solar panels will vary depending on the company, and ranges from anywhere between 1p per kWh and 15p per kWh. In fact, the Energy SavingTrust estimates that people can earn between £80 and £110 per year from energy they pay back to the national grid.
By using most of your appliances during daylight hours, you will ultimately pay less for your electricity bill, as you’ll have generated all of the energy yourself. If you wait until the sun has gone down to use your appliances, you will automatically use energy from the national grid, unless you have a battery and an inverter installed as part of your solar power system.
We hope you are able to utilise at least one of these underrated methods to save money using your solar power system!
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