How Much Do Solar Panels Cost ?

Grid-Connected PV Solar Panel Systems

The cost of a solar panel system is directly proportional to the amount of power it is designed to generate. Grid connected solar power systems are the simplest, and in the UK they currently cost approximately £ 5,000 to £ 7,000 + VAT per installed kW.

The first kW normally costs slightly more and as the system increases in size, economies of scale start to bring the price down. The price would break down roughly as follows: £ 4000 for the solar panels, £ 1000 for an inverter and £ 2000 for mounting hardware & installation.

Very roughly, in the UK, 1kW of solar pv is likely to have a total annual yeald of approx 850kW hrs per year. You can check the anticipated output for a solar array by visiting the following EU funded solar output tool.

With a grid connected system there are normally two main parameters - the budget and the available installation space. This makes the selection of a suitably sized pv system fairly simple. We would still recommend maximising the efficiency of the building to gain the most from the solar installation.

Off-Grid PV Solar Panel Systems

The cost of an off-grid solar panel system is more complicated to estimate as each system is designed to meet a specific power load. Off-grid solar systems also require banks of batteries and a charge controller.

The first stage in costing any off-grid power system is to estimate the average mid-winter daily power needs (the daily loads). When the daily load figure has been established - let's say 2KW hrs per day for simplicity, the next stage is to establish how much sunlight will be falling on the solar panel at the installed angle and at that particular time of year.

In the south of the UK, in mid-winter, we get approximately 1 hour of good sunlight per day on an South facing unshaded panel tilted at approx 60 degrees from the horizontal. This means that to generate 2KW hrs in mid winter in the UK would very roughly need a 2KW solar pv panel system.

However, in Spain this figure would be very different. Southern Spain has more like 3 to 4 hours of sunlight in winter - thus to generate 2KW hrs would only require a 0.5KW solar pv system.

With an off-grid system we would strongly recommend having your power system custom designed for you by our experienced system design team. Our team use a highly advanced meteorological database to anticipate power system output for any month of the year - anywhere in the world.

© EDC 2010

Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK, NR32 3LX