Solar PV Panels Overview
Solar PV Overview Introduction to Solar Panels
Intoduction to Solar Panels
Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels generate electricity by converting solar energy in electrical energy. This electricity can then be used for free or exported to the national grid. You get three main financial benefits from generating your own solar electricity:
Electricity bill savings – because you import less electricity from your suppler
Generation income – your incentive to generate green electricity
Smart Export Guarantee – your incentive to export green electricity to the grid
The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is a government scheme designed to support individuals and businesses who would like to invest in solar panels. It ensures that you get paid for exporting electricity to the grid.
There are of course many more benefits of installing solar panels incuding:
Reducing your carbon footprint Protecting yourself from future energy price rises
Protecting yourself from future energy price rises
Solar panel systems have low maintenance & long design life
Solar panels can be easity integrated into almost any building
They have a predictabe renewable energy production
There is no need for planning permission in most cases
Solar Panel System Components
Solar Panels – this is what converts the solar energy into electrical energy. These are the most important part of the system so it is worth making sure they are manufactured to the highest standards and have solid warranties. Read more about Solar Panels.
Solar Inverter – the inverter converts the DC (direct current) power from the panels in AC (alternating current) power that can be used in the property and fed into the national grid. This is the heart of the system and should be selected to be extremely reliable but also have excellent technical support in the UK. Read more about Solar Inverters.
Mounting Frame – this is what is used to fix the panels onto the roof. These change slightly for different roof types. It is important to make sure the right mounting kit is used on your roof. Read more about solar mounting systems.
Generation meter – This is what is used to measure how much electricity your system has officially generated so you can tell feed-in tariff supplier. It is very similar to your electricity consumption meter but measuring energy being generated as opposed to consumed! It has to be Ofgem approved. Read more about generation meters
Monitoring System – These offer a more in-depth insight into how much energy you are generating now and also generated over the previous hours, days, weeks, months and years. Many of them can upload data to web-portals meaning that you can see how the system is doing online. Read more about monitoring systems.
Read more about the importance of quality is solar panel systems.
Our Experience
Cambridge Solar have been designing and installing high quality solar pv (photovoltaic) systems for many years.
Owen Morgan who founded the company started working in the industry in 1999 – well before the industry got going in the UK. Owen has a BEng in Engineering and Business Management and an MSc in Architecture: Advanced Energy & Environmental Studies from the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales. While studying for his MSc he worked full time as a renewable energy design engineer designing hundreds of renewable energy systems that were installed all over the world. He wrote his masters thesis on the mircogeneration industry in UK.
Because of our years and breadth of experience we know what’s important when designing and installing high quality solar pv and renewable energy systems. We only use the highest class components throughout our systems that have been very carefully selected by our experienced engineers. However we also try our best to balance value with quality so our systems are always fantastic value for money.
Read more about the importance of high quality in solar panel installations
Read more about Cambridge Solar
Our Solar Panel Installations
Our customers recognise our commitment to high quality components throughout and attention to detail:
“We would not hesitate to recommend Cambridge Solar to anyone who is considering installing a renewable energy system”
Prof. & Mrs. Cole, Cambridge
“Thank you for such an excellent installation of our solar panels...You have been very respectful of our property and showed great care and attention to detail.”
Mr & Mrs Welham, St Neots
Cambridge Solar are very professional, informative, polite, and hardworking....they deliver exactly what they promise, on time, within budget.
Mr Schwier, Halstead
Take an in-depth look at our Case Studies
Take a quick glance through our testimonials
Our Enquiry Process
We have a simple enquiry process for solar panels. It is a flexible process as each installation and enquiry is different but generally they tend to follow this pattern:
1st Stage: Initial contact & estimate– this is where we get an overview of your project and send you a ‘quick quote’ estimating what it might cost.
2nd Stage: Site Survey – if you are happy with the estimate we can carry out a technical survey of your property. This is a good opportunity to ask our engineers about any questions you have.
3rd Stage: We then prepare a design and a proposal document describing the system in detail.
