How Solar Panels Work

Solar panels have been rising in popularity over the last decade. The increase in efficiency along with the decrease in price is attracting more and more people to invest in this sustainable, future-proof energy solution.

With the cost of running your home climbing exponentially this year, finding a cheaper, more cost-effective option as a power source could save a huge amount of money for your household.

However, before you rush into a solar panel investment, you probably want to know how it all works. As a result, we’ve put together a handy explanation to answer all your general questions.

Solar Panels Explained

Without providing an overwhelming amount of unnecessary information, solar panels are simply rooftop devices used to convert the sun into energy for your home.

By covering a wide surface area, like on your roof, the cells within the panel use an inverter to transfer sunlight into usable power.

At Carbon Saving Group, we install only the highest quality panels directly into the mains electricity of your home. As a result, you’ll be saving money on energy, and storing power for the future.

Additionally, you could also sell the excess back to the grid, if you want to make some profit on your solar panels.

Grants For Solar Panels

It’s in the best interest of the government, and society to encourage green energy. Fortunately, it doesn’t get much greener than solar.

Through certain schemes such as the Green Deal, or EC04, our most inefficient homes could see efficiency improvements provided by the government, at no cost to the homeowner. Simply enquire through the website to find out if you qualify.

Government Regulations

If you plan to install a new set of solar panels, it’s important to know the parameters needed, to operate within government guidelines.

Primarily, planning permission is the main consideration, as it can be needed in specific situations.

To help identify when you need to apply for planning, and what you can do to avoid it, we’ve made this useful table as guidance.

Planning Permission Required	No Planning Permission Required
On a listed building	On domestic buildings
On a world heritage site	On commercial properties
Multiple Standalone installations	Single stand-alone installations

It’s important to mention that in instances where no planning permissions are required, a few rules need to be followed, these are:

The panels must be below the tallest point of the building, excluding chimneys.
The installations must be considerate of other residents, therefore not intrusive in terms of external appearance.
Protrude from roof no more than 200mm.