Your partner in sustainable installations and maintenance

Although the purchase of solar panels and their installation is a major investment for many, it brings many benefits in the longer term. Your household can potentially be supplied by self-generated energy. Mother nature and your wallet will benefit from this.

This question depends on current policy. Previously, the attractive netting scheme made it beneficial to purchase solar panel installations that generate much more energy than is consumed.

The netting scheme was introduced in 2004 to make solar panels attractive. That worked, because many houses now have solar panels. However, the scheme costs energy companies a lot of money, because you can always supply your solar power at full price, even if that power is worth less at that time. This could increase the price of electricity for everyone, as customers without solar panels will subsidize the scheme. The government therefore wants to phase out the netting scheme.

Solar panels generally last between 25 and 30 years, but that does not mean that they no longer work after that time. Most manufacturers guarantee that their panels will still have 80% of their original efficiency at the end of this period. You can increase the chance of a longer lifespan and better production figures by having a competent party install it and have maintenance carried out on a regular basis.

As you would expect, solar panels generate the majority of their energy in the summer months, but the margins may not be as great as you expect. 70 percent of annual solar energy is generated between April and September.

It is possible to become completely independent of the grid (also called 'Off the Grid') with solar panels, but this usually requires a large installation and a storage system, such as a home battery.

Most private solar panel installations do not require an environmental permit (formerly known as a building permit). This applies if the solar panels meet certain conditions, such as not being prominently visible from the public road and not affecting the appearance of the home. You can do the permit check at the Online Environment Desk (OLO) to check whether you need a permit.