I am Jason Pope from Selec Group, solar and battery installers based in Cambridgeshire. Is it worth getting solar panels is the question I get asked more than any other, so here is my honest answer. For most homes, yes. But it depends on three things: your roof, how you use electricity, and what you pair the panels with.
What solar actually saves you
Every unit of electricity your panels make is a unit you do not buy from your supplier. Panels alone will cover a decent chunk of your daytime usage. Add a battery and a well designed system can cover 70 to 90 percent of a household’s annual electricity use, because you stop exporting your spare power cheaply in the afternoon and buying it back dearly in the evening. Anything you do export is paid for through the Smart Export Guarantee.
What it costs and how fast it pays back
Panel prices have fallen a long way over the last decade, and the kit is better than it has ever been. Depending on system size, whether you add a battery, and the tariff you pair it with, most of the systems we fit pay for themselves in five to ten years. The panels carry manufacturer warranties of 25 years or more, so the years after payback are where the real value sits. If you want the detail on payback, I have written a separate post on how long solar takes to pay for itself.
When solar is not worth it
I would rather tell you this before you spend a penny. Solar is a poor fit if your roof is heavily shaded for most of the day, if the only usable space is a small north facing slope, or if the roof itself needs replacing soon, in which case do the roof first. Some listed buildings and conservation areas bring planning complications too. If solar is wrong for your home, we will tell you at the survey and save you the money.
A battery and the right tariff change the sums
The strongest returns we see come from pairing panels with a battery and a smart time of use tariff, such as Octopus Intelligent Go. The battery charges from the grid overnight at the cheap rate, runs the house through the day, and the panels top it up for free whenever there is daylight. In summer you barely buy electricity at all. In winter you buy it at the overnight rate instead of the full daytime price. That combination is what turns a decent investment into a very good one.
The bottom line
If you have a reasonable roof and you plan to be in the house for a few years, solar is one of the few home improvements that actually pays you back. We are MCS accredited, we handle the DNO notification and the Smart Export Guarantee paperwork, and every system is designed around how you actually use energy, not a one size fits all quote.
We install solar and battery systems across Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, including Huntingdon, St Neots, St Ives, Brampton, Buckden and the villages in between. For a free survey and an honest answer on your own roof, call the office on 01480 400607 or request a survey through our website.
Jason Pope, Owner, Selec Group