SOLAR PV FOR YOUR HOME
Beautiful, sleek installations to compliment your home and business
About solar PV panels
Solar panels do not need direct sunlight to generate electricity, however, the brighter the conditions, the more they will generate. Electricity is generated in DC (direct current), then an inverter converts it to AC (alternating current) to power the appliances in our homes and workplaces.
Solar-generated electricity is first used by any appliances running in your home or business; any excess energy can be stored in a battery or exported to the grid.
Different ways to mount solar panels
Our installation galleries below show different mounting methods. The photos feature our own, local work – no stock images have been used on our website.
Sizing a solar PV system
Energy needs vary hugely from one household to another, so we assess your specific energy needs before suggesting a system size and design to suit your property and budget.
Adding a battery enables you to store your own solar-generated for use later. You can also use your battery to buy and store cheap electricity overnight for use the following day which is much cheaper than buying it at peak-rate prices.
For the best return on your investment, you should consume your solar-generated electricity rather than export it. Your energy supplier may pay you for exporting electricity to the grid, but this is a ‘nice to have’ and is not profitable, so over-sizing a system is a false economy.
How much energy will I generate?
A system installed on a typical, unshaded, south-facing pitched roof in the south of England will generate approximately 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity for each kilowatt of solar installed. So, a 4kW solar PV system (8 to 9 panels) will generate roughly 4,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. This amount will fluctuate hugely throughout the year – in the summer your solar will probably generate more electricity than need, and in the winter probably not enough.
When your system generates more electricity than you can your household or business can use, this is when a battery would be recommended to store the energy for use later.
Maintenance
Providing a maintenance service to our customers has always been an important part of our business. Our technical expertise and wealth of industry experience means we can quickly diagnose and trouble-shoot problems if they arise. Our customers choose us because they trust that we will still be in business to share our technical know-how if needed.
Solar PV systems require little or no maintenance, however, we strongly recommend a 5 yearly safety inspection. We carry out performance tests to check your solar generation and we check and tighten the electrical connections. This is important because connections can loosen over time and this is the main cause of fires.
MCS requires all installers to offer a two year, insurance-backed workmanship warranty on installations. However, your installation should operate trouble-free for many years past this initial warranty period.
Adding solar to an existing system
Homeowners who already have solar installed can add more panels to their existing solar PV system where space permits. If you receive FIT (feed-in-tariff) payments, these should not be affected by adding new panels, so long as the original system is not changed or compromised in any way. Newly-installed solar panels would not be included in your existing FIT contract and would not be eligible for any payments.
Other products for your system
If you order a solar or heat pump installation from us, you may wish to consider adding other technology to your system.
