| People's curiosity with solar power has grown with | | | | help with this is to start small. Cut your bills little by little, |
| time over the past few years. It is still very much a | | | | and you will be shocked by how much of a difference |
| business sector on the increase. Despite this there are | | | | you can make. Some people have seen up to a 50% |
| still people who question its validity as a power solution | | | | cut in electricity costs with even small solar panel kits. |
| for your home. This is mostly due to the sometimes | | | | Another thing to look for is government grants. In the |
| expensive initial outlay that people think, quite rightly, is | | | | UK there are many grants available to help you buy |
| usually required. Batteries, the solar panels themselves, | | | | solar panels, check the energy council. |
| and the transformers are traditionally expensive. | | | | Everyone knows about the environmental benefits of |
| However from recent figures published by British Gas, | | | | solar panels. They are a source of clean and |
| installing solar panels on British churches and other | | | | renewable energy. However most people don't realise |
| religious buildings could raise £34 million per year | | | | that solar power systems require very little |
| through Feed-in Tariff (FiT) payments and electricity bill | | | | maintenance. Obviously there is no fuel to add ever, |
| savings. | | | | but also they have no moving parts, so they dont |
| Obviously this is a much larger scale than a house, but | | | | wear out like for example a generator. Another great |
| even with a small solar panel setup you can cut your | | | | benefit, is the fact that if there is a power cut, it wont |
| electricity bills greatly. In some cases, you can even sell | | | | affect you. Its all about being energy independent. |
| your power back to the grid. This means that the | | | | On the installation side of things, there are many |
| power companies pay you! Even in the UK with our | | | | different ways for many different systems. The best |
| weather this is possible. Its like the old business saying, | | | | thing to do, is look into systems, read reviews and see |
| "you have to spend money to make money". In this | | | | what suits your application and budget best. There are |
| case its saving money on your bills, as well as doing | | | | even people selling courses to teach you how to be a |
| your part in helping the environment. | | | | solar engineer! Some systems require no wiring too. |
| The scale of this depends on your aim of how much | | | | Basically solar panel systems are as complex or as |
| of your home you want to be solar powered. Take | | | | simple as the system you create or buy. |
| for example, Solar powered garden lighting. Solar | | | | So to conclude, look at what you want to achieve. If |
| garden lights are something a lot of people have as its | | | | that means, a full system of solar panels to take you |
| incredibly cheap. They also have the benefit of no | | | | "off the grid", then that initial cost will be gained back in |
| wires. Something which is a huge advantage in a | | | | a few years in most cases. However on a smaller |
| garden, where trimmers could cause havoc on your | | | | scale to reduce your bills, its simple to get solar panel |
| cabling. But small garden lights etc. that are solar, don't | | | | (usually also wind-up) radios, phone chargers, and |
| cost that much more than non-solar ones, and are | | | | garden lighting to get up and running saving money |
| rechargeable (by the solar panel) battery powered. | | | | straight away. Whatever your aims and budget a solar |
| You just "plant" your lights and leave them and enjoy | | | | power enabled home is becoming more efficient and |
| the luxury look. | | | | possible due to the increasing number of ways you |
| So is a solar powered home on a larger scale cost | | | | can make your house solar enabled. Its something that |
| effective? The simple answer is yes, you just need | | | | will become more and more common in the near |
| that initial money to get your house setup. One way to | | | | future. |