Most homeowners are interested in solar PV systems because of the proposed financial benefits they bring. Solar installers will always promote their systems by saying that you’ll save money on energy bills while also being able to earn money from government-backed schemes.
The question is, do solar systems actually pay you back?
We’ll cover the ways in which a solar PV installation might be able to pay back its investment over time, and why getting a solar PV health check could be the key to ensuring a better ROI.
The Typical Solar Payback Period
When you install solar panels on your roof, there’s typically a large upfront cost associated with this. For UK homeowners, this can be anywhere from £4,000 to £10,000+ depending on how big the system is, where your home is located, the direction your roof is facing, and more.
As such, people will often talk about the “solar payback period” in reference to the following:
- How much the system saves on energy bills each year
- How much the system makes through the SEG scheme
According to Money Saving Expert, the average UK home with solar panels will save up to £330 a year on their energy bills. That’s already a very impressive saving, but then you factor in the SEG benefits as well.
The Smart Export Guarantee is a scheme run by the government where you can get paid for exporting solar energy to the National Grid. There are different rates depending on specific energy suppliers, and this can be anywhere from 3p to 20p per kWh. Current estimates put the average yearly SEG payment at £113 per year for a standard home – but this can easily rise or fall.
All in all, it means that the average household will have to wait for at least 9 or 10 years before they breakeven after installing solar. Of course, this then means that you continue saving and making money for the rest of your life.
How A Solar PV Health Check Can Help You
Here’s the interesting thing about the solar payback period: you can actually reduce it with proper solar panel maintenance. Like almost any device or system in your home, solar panels can become inefficient when they’re not taken care of properly. When this happens, they struggle to keep up with the optimal energy output, which leads to two problems:
- You’re using less solar energy at home than you could be
- You’re not able to export as much back to the grid, so your SEG payments suffer
Getting a professional solar PV health check can be the key to unlocking your system’s potential. This type of check is designed to maximise your system’s efficiency and lifespan, and here’s what typically happens during one:
- Visual inspections of the solar panels to look for any signs of damage
- Inverter performance checks to test efficiency
- Electrical safety testing to look for any hidden issues
- Drone thermography to detect any problems that the human eye can’t see
- Solar batter inspection (if applicable for your system)
- Solar panel efficiency check
The benefit of getting a proper solar PV health check is that it helps you maintain the entire system by detecting any issues before they turn into big problems. The average person will not be able to determine if their solar panels are working to their maximum efficiency as it’s not always obvious. You may only notice when your energy bills start to climb up, or your SEG payments drop.
A check tells you the current state of your solar PV system while ensuring that any necessary fixes are made to boost efficiency. In some cases, all that’s required is a small change to immediately get your system back up to 100% efficiency.
Why Service Solar Panels?
To give you an idea as to why it’s important to service solar panels and conduct regular inspections, let’s look at an example household with a solar system that should hit an annual solar generation of 2,850 kwH.
When running at full efficiency, this equates to an annual electricity bill of £448, an annual SEG income of £222, and a net annual energy cost after SEG of £426. (These figures are based on the average 26.32p/kWh average electricity sate, and a 12p/kWh SEG rate).
Now, take the exact home but imagine the solar system only runs at 80% efficiency. Using all the same rates as before, the home would end up with:
- £500 annual electricity bill
- £178 SEG income
- £500 net annual energy cost after SEG
It means the household with an 80% efficient system – which still sounds like a lot – loses around £74 per year. Over time, that could mean the solar payback period is longer than expected, now imagine just how much worse it is when the solar system is only 50% efficient.
How Often Should You Carry Out Solar PV Checks
It is strongly recommended that you undergo an annual solar inspection. Get the system checked over every 12 months to ensure that things are still working smoothly. Of course, you could also book an additional inspection if something has happened that may impact your solar panels.
For example, there was a storm and you noticed a lot of debris got stuck on your roof. In that case it makes sense to book an extra inspection just to check if the solar panels – and the system itself – didn’t suffer any damages.
Book Your Health Check To Maximise Solar PV ROI
If you own a solar PV system and want to make sure you get the most out of it, book a solar PV health check today. We offer professional inspections that will give you a complete solar panel efficiency check, along with a bespoke maintenance report that details our findings and highlights any areas where your system could improve.
Ongoing maintenance and regular health checks are the key to reducing your solar payback period and making the installation worthwhile.
