Some of our properties have solar panels.

If you live in a bungalow with solar panels, they will help reduce your energy costs by using solar energy before drawing from the grid. In PFH Plus properties, the solar panels help power communal lighting and electricity. Several PFH bungalows have solar panels installed. These panels benefit the occupants of these properties, as well as the wider PFH resident population. PFH also has solar panels installed on some communal properties such as pop-in centres, and on its retirement living plus schemes.

Solar Panels frequently asked questions

Solar Panels (or Photovoltaic panels – PV) are made from a semi-conductive material. When light shines on them, an electric field is created which produces electricity. The stronger the light, the more electricity is generated. This means that during day-light hours, electricity is generated by the panels, even when it’s cloudy. During night-time hours, no energy is created.

Yes! If you live in a bungalow, you’ll pay the same price per unit of electricity that you use, but you’ll see less electricity being measured on your bills. This is because when you use electricity whilst the solar panels are working, electricity is taken from the panels first, and less electricity is taken from the national grid. If you live in an RLP scheme, the same applies but only to the communal energy usage.

It depends on how you use energy, and how light it is when you do so. A 3kw or 4kw solar panel system should generate around 3,400kWh of electricity per year. That’s 97,000 hours of fridge, 5,000 hours of washing machine, 1,880 hours boiling the kettle or 1417 hours of oven usage. But, when you use electricity is an important factor. If you are out of the house all day, and only use electricity when it’s dark, you won’t see any benefit. The more energy you use during the day, especially bright days, the more your savings will be.

Not normally. Most PFH properties have gas heating in place. Gas heating works through gas imported from the National Grid and as solar panels only create electricity, not gas, gas consumption isn’t impacted by having solar panels. If you use secondary electric heating, such as an electric fire, you will benefit from reduced bills if this is used during the day. As most people use heating in the evening, and in the Winter when there is less light, there is likely to be little benefit to heating costs from solar panels.

Solar panels generate electricity during the day, more so when the sun is out. The energy generated from these panels will be used in the property if there is demand in the property. For example, if you are boiling a kettle, the power needed for this will be drawn from the solar panels where possible, with any excess being drawn from the national grid. The energy taken from the panels is at no cost to a resident, the energy drawn from the national grid will be billed through your energy supplier. In RLP schemes, the costs relating to communal energy usage are lowered and these are reflected in service charges.

Energy generated from solar panels, that isn’t immediately used by the property, is sold back to the national grid. The monies raised from this creates an income for PFH.

PFH properties do not currently have batteries installed to enable this. There are battery storage solutions now available that would support this, but these were not commercially viable at the point that most of PFHs PV panels were installed previously.

In some properties there is an display that shows how much is being produced, in most properties though, the energy meter attached to the solar panels (not your ‘normal’ energy meter) will display this for you.

Like any other repair, if you think there is a fault, please report this to PFH as soon as possible for us to investigate and repair if needed.

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