How British Households Can Benefit from Solar Energy

Solar energy is becoming increasingly popular around the world. Large corporations and business are turning to solar energy and other renewable energy sources in order to reduce their reliance on the local power grid and be environmentally friendly. But it’s not just large businesses that are looking closely at solar energy; individual homeowners are utilizing this clean source of power as well. Though it requires installing solar panels on your roof and an initial, up-front investment, having access to solar energy instead of using the electric company’s power has many benefits for British households. Here are a few ways that British households can benefit from solar energy.

• Reduce Your Electric Bills
  The most widespread benefit of using solar power in the UK is also the most obvious one – if much of the power for your household derives from the sun, rather than from the electric grid, your electric bills will plummet, likely to zero. Your electric company will still provide supplementary power to your home if necessary in order to ensure that you don’t lose power if your solar panels don’t catch enough rays to provide power to your home, but these will be small sips, rather than the large draws your home is making now. If you’re looking for a long-term way to save money on your home, the initial upfront investment in solar panels is more than worth it.
• Environmentally Friendly
  Unlike our current reliance on fossil fuels, which send noxious gases into the air every time they are consumed, solar energy is clean and environmentally friendly. It’s completely safe to use and does not add to the global warming problems that the world is currently facing. When you install solar panels in your home, you know that you are reducing your carbon footprint and utilizing a clean, safe power alternative that provides you independence from your power company.
• Be Sustainable
  Solar energy is not only sustainable, it is completely renewable. This means that it will never run out, unlike finite fossil fuels such as coal and oil. We are consuming the earth’s fossil fuels at an alarming rate, and one day in the not-too-distant future, we will begin to run out and have to face the consequences. If you are using solar roof panels for your energy, not only do you have independence from the troubles of the electric grid, you have nothing to worry about once the larger public has to face the problem of how to provide needed power without resorting to fossil fuels.
• Financial Advantages
  Not only do solar roof panels reduce your electric bills to zero, but there are more monetary incentives to think about when considering the install of solar panels. Most governments, including the UK’s, provides an avenue to receive money by making your own electricity. Feed-In Tariffs (or FITs) in the UK reward individual homeowners who install PV solar panels. Not only can you be paid by your electric company for the extra electricity your panels generate and send out to the power grid for the use of others, you can also be paid for the electricity that you generate and use yourself.
• Silent and Low Maintenance
  Unlike a generator, PV solar panels are completely silent. You don’t have to worry about them bothering you while you’re at home – they run behind the scenes, without alerting anyone they are there. Not only that, but after they are installed, they’re unobtrusive. They also require very little maintenance once installation is completed. After your initial investment and their installation, solar roof panels do their work with little thought or cost necessary from you.

This is a guest post by Nick Levitan, occasional guest on environmental science and full time enthusiast. Nick is currently working with eco-kinetics a great place to find PV solar panels, as well as solar panel installers.