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What is Photovoltaic?
Electric PV (Photovoltaic) Packs generate electricity, lowering the amount that you need to purchase from your utility supplier, reducing both your household CO2 emissions as well as your energy costs.
Furthermore, under the Feed-in Tariff for Low Carbon Electricity, eligible PV Pack installations can earn an elevated tariff for every unit of electricity generated for a period of 25 years. PV Packs support the reduction of energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
How does a PV system work?
PV modules are mounted on an unshaded south facing (or near south facing) roof and use light from the sun to generate electricity. The output from the modules is matched with your household's electricity supply by an inverter.
The inverter ensures that its output voltage is slightly higher than that coming in from the grid, which means your appliances will use the electricity from your PV system before they start drawing from the grid, thus reducing your energy consumption. If your PV system is generating more than is required by your appliances at any given moment, the surplus energy you generate will be exported onto the grid.
Because the output varies with external light conditions, the referenced output from a PV system is always the yield achieved over a full calendar year, rather than its capacity to drive a particular appliance at any given point in time.
How do I benefit from it?
There are several benefits of installing a PV system on your property. Firstly, while you consume the electricity that you generate you avoid the cost of purchasing that electricity from the grid. As electricity prices are expected to rise sharply*1 over the next few years, the annual value of these savings is likely to increase.
Secondly, under the Feed-in Tariff, for a period of 25 years you are entitled to a payment from your supplier for each unit of electricity that you generate, whether you use it or not.
The amount you earn depends on the type of system you have, and if you generate more electricity than you need, the Feed-in Tariff provides for an additional sum for any electricity exported.
Below is a table showing the typical benefits of a 12 module (2.2kWp) system mounted at optimum orientation and angle:
To put this into context, consider that a typical 3 bedroom house with gas heating consumes 3300kWh*2 of electricity per year at a cost of around £400. The total gas and electricity consumption of the house results in CO2 emissions of around 5 tonnes.
*1 Source: Options for delivering secure and sustainable energy supplies. Ofgem, 3rd Feb 2010.
*2 Source: Energy Saving Trust.
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