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There has never been a better time for you to consider a more sustainable alternative to your energy consumption.

Once you install a solar photovoltaic panel (PV) system in your home the Government backed Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) could earn and save you up to £1,600 annually for the next 25 years, tax-free and index linked! Additionally you’ll be reducing your Carbon footprint by approximately 1700 kg of carbon annually.

From April 2011, the Feed-in-Tariff scheme provides you with up to 43.3p per kWh of electricity produced although you may use it within the home. Any electricity not used can be sold back to the grid and get you an additional 3p per kWh.

Here’s how a photovoltaic solar panel (PV) grid-tied installation works inside your home:

Firstly you must install an array of photovoltaic solar panels either in your roof or attached to the ground. The optimum orientation for the photovoltaic solar panels is South, however, roofs facing East and West will still make a considerable amount of electricity. The amount of panels you should install will depend on space available, your budget and also you current electricity consumption.

You’re photovoltaic solar panels will produce electricity in DC (Direct Current), so you’ll need an inverter to convert this current into AC (Alternating electric current) at 230V enabling the electricity to be used within your home.

Once you have generated your electricity and converted it to AC it passes via a Generation (or FiT) meter which tells you how much electricity you’ve generated from your photovoltaic solar panels. It is readings out of this meter that you’ll pass for your electricity supplier to claim your Feed-in-Tariff payments.

After the electricity passes with the Generation meter it connects to the grid via a dedicated fuse inside your consumer unit (fuseboard). Came from here it can travel by 50 percent directions. If you’re at home and are consuming electricity (watching the TV for example) anything you’re currently generating will be used to power your appliances. The additional bonus of using the electricity you generate is the fact that you’re not having to import and buy electricity from your supplier. This is often worth an extra 13p saving (depending on your electricity supplier’s tariff).

If you are not at home and/or are generating a lot more than you’re consuming then any excess electricity is exported out of your home to the grid network where you’re receive money an additional 3p per kWh (at current rates). Unless you have an export meter fitted from your electricity supplier it’ll be assumed that 50% of the things you generate is exported. This can be another incentive to use as much of what you generate inside home as you can. This often simply requires changing some of your habits inside home so that you operate some of your more electricity hungry appliances (automatic washers, dishwashers) during sunlight hours as opposed to in the evenings.

Just thought you might be interested in reading this guide: photovoltaic solar panels and solar panel installation.