Solar panel electricity systems, also known as solar photovoltaics (PV), capture the sun's energy using photovoltaic cells. PV cells are made from layers of semi-conducting material, usually silicon. These cells don't need direct sunlight to work – they can still generate some electricity on a cloudy day – even in the North West of England! The cells convert the daylight into electricity, which can be used to run household appliances and lighting.

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The benefits of solar electricity

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Cut your electricity bills. 

Sunlight is free, so if your house uses the electricity that you have generated, it follows that you don’t need to buy as much from your electricity supplier (e.g Scottish Power, e.on or British Gas etc.) With each kW costing more and more per unit and that isn't likely to reduce any time soon, you can make significant savings on your bills

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Store the energy that you can't immediately use

When you generate electricity, it it sent to your home consumer unit (fuseboard). If you don't use it straight away it gets sent automatically back to the National Grid. It's not best practice to send it back to them but then have to pay for every kW they send to you so we can advise on installation of an optional battery backup system.

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Cut your carbon footprint. 

Solar electricity is green renewable energy and doesn't release any harmful carbon dioxide or other pollutants. A typical home solar PV system could save over 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year – that's more than 45 tonnes over its lifetime.