The amount of money you can save with Solar will depend on a number of factors.
In the short term your savings will be determined by:
– The size of the solar system you select
– The proportion of your solar system’s electricity you consume on site versus the proportion that gets exported to the grid.
Big is not always best. The biggest savings that a solar panel system will deliver will be offsetting the electricity you have to purchase from the grid. In most cases, the amount that you pay for electricity (ie the offset rate) will be many times higher than your Feed In Tariff (the export rate). Therefore it is important you have a system sized by a professional in order to maximise the your solar system’s “utilisation rate” (the amount you consume on-site).
In the longer term your savings will be determined by:
– How long your system lasts (this is why selecting quality solar components is important)
– Your solar system continuing to perform at a high level of output (inferior solar systems’ output will decline quickly)
– How much electricity prices rise (the more they rise the more valuable the production from your solar power system will be)
Remember, solar is a long term investment. Even though a solar power system may have a short payback period, just making it to the payback period isn’t a good investment. Solar only becomes a good investment after the payback period. That is why quality is so important – quality solar systems will be around well past their payback period and turn into a great investment.