FAQ's
If you can’t find what you’re looking for in our Solar PV pages, check out our frequently asked questions below.
Maintenance of a Solar System
Things can go wrong with your Solar System, but with our maintenance plan, you’ll have peace of mind that you’re covered. We’ll cover you for a range of things like, replacement panels, inverter, MC4 connectors etc. We also provide outstanding customer service and technical support.
Click here to find out more about our Solar PV Maintenance.
Buying a Solar System
Going solar should be seen as a valuable investment for both you and your family. It’s cleaner, greener and more affordable way to source your energy and you’ll become less reliant on the National Grid.
Unlike other providers we’re offering a Solar installation package that will fit on most roof’s in the UK.
Prices start at just £7,999 for x6 Solar Panels, x1 Hybrid Inverter and x1 Battery Storage
Simply make an enquiry, providing us with some basic information about you and your property, and we’ll complete a free Solar Energy proposal, carried out by one of our renewable energy system designers.
Our professional installation team usually take one day to install a standard 12-panel system on a standard roof. All properties are different, so this time frame can vary. Our team will confirm everything, including how long the job will take before it starts.
Scaffolding may be erected a few days before and may be left erected for a few days beyond installation. We will let you know in advance and will keep you updated when the scaffolding team will be with you.
Short answer is no. There is no hassle – a solar panel system doesn’t need any special permission from your local authority to be installed.
The only exception to this is if you live in a listed building or live in a designated Conservation Area or World Heritage site. Even then, you can still have solar panels installed – they need fitting onto a roof that isn’t visible from a road.
When you make an enquiry, you’re providing us with all the details that we need to provide you with an affordable and accurate quote.
Our Renewable Energy System Designers will put together a full, personalised proposal, detailing everything from costs, to expected energy generation, environmental benefits and ROI on your system.
Everything is done digitally, so you’ll be able to view, communicate, accept the offer and place a deposit right inside the proposal itself.
If you still need to speak to someone, of course our dedicated team are here for anything you need.
There are a lot of options, from the type of solar panel to the size of battery. But don’t worry. When you make an enquiry, we’ll do the hard work for you.
- Your home and rooftop – this will determine what your solar panel system options are
- Your energy consumption – this will tell us what type of home battery you need so you don’t pay for one that’s too big, to make sure you get the best returns.
Then we’ll tell you exactly what system is best for your household and provide you with everything you’ll need to make your decision.
The area, facing and pitch angle of your roof will affect your solar panel system options.
Area
The more panels that can fit on your roof, the more energy you can generate. A roof area between 10-20m2 will typically deliver up to 45% of an average household’s electricity needs.
Facing
The ideal facing is south, clear of any shade caused by trees or adjacent buildings. However, even panels placed on east or west facing rooftops are worthwhile – producing between 80-85% the energy of south.
Pitch
Fun fact: in the UK, the angle of the sun is 50-60 degrees. This means that the perfect pitch angle of a roof to capture solar energy is between 30-40 degrees, which handily enough is the typical angle of most UK house rooftops.
Solar panels need daylight to generate power – not the sun’s rays.
This means you’re still able to generate power even on cloudy days. In fact, less direct sunlight can be beneficial – too much heat can reduce the power solar panels capture by up to 25% in some cases.
Things can go wrong with your Solar System, but with our maintenance plan, you’ll have peace of mind that you’re covered. We’ll cover you for a range of things like, replacement panels, inverter, MC4 connectors etc. We also provide outstanding customer service and technical support.
Click here to find out more about our Solar PV Maintenance.
Using a Solar System
Absolutely yes, it is well worth the investment. Sunlight is free – so once you’ve paid for the solar panel installation, you save money on your energy bills
Your actual savings depend on many factors that are subject to change and impossible to predict with certainty. These factors include the design and performance of your Solar PV array, how you use your energy in your home, prevailing market and regulatory conditions that affect electricity prices.
By generating and using your own solar energy – instead of power from the National Grid – you can make significant savings on your electricity bills.
Using battery storage alongside your solar panels can further increase your savings – because a battery will store the surplus energy that you produce, so you can use it when the sun goes down instead of drawing it from the Grid at a high cost price.
You could cut 100 tonnes of carbon.
Imagine you’re on a return flight from London to New York. You’ve just generated 986kg CO2 – per passenger, not the whole plane. Think about how much carbon the aircraft you’re in is emitting into the atmosphere. Now times that by 100. That’s how much carbon you can cut by simply using solar energy over a 30-year period.
100 tonnes of carbon wiped clean off your carbon footprint and out of our planet’s atmosphere. Surprised? That’s the power of solar.
- The average UK household produces 8.1 tonnes of CO2 a year
- 40% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from households
- Half of your home’s carbon footprint is made of the energy you use
Based upon a UK average Solar System generating 3585 kwh of solar generation form BEIS national statistics for Solar PV deployment and a UK average electricity consumption of 3,800kwh from the BEIS statistical data set for annual domestic energy bills. With the MCS MGD003 standard for a homeowner who is in “half the day” this typical customer would use 25% of their solar generation.
Now imagine it’s a beautiful, sunny day. Your solar panels are soaking up all that daylight enabling you to power your home. But then, the sun goes down – no more solar energy is being generated, but you still need to power your lights in the evening. What happens then?
Well, if you didn’t have a battery, you’d then switch to using power from the National Grid – costing you money. But with a battery installed in your home, you can use all the extra solar energy captured during the day that you didn’t use.
So you can keep the energy you’ve generated and use it exactly when you need it most – instead of it going to waste.
We supply PylonTech US2000 Batteries. They come with a 10-year warranty and 10 year maintenance – their lifespan far exceeds that of standard batteries you use on gadgets at home.
Solar panels need daylight to generate power – not the sun’s rays.
This means you’re still able to generate power even on cloudy days. In fact, less direct sunlight can be beneficial – too much heat can reduce the power solar panels capture by up to 25% in some cases.
Battery Storage
A home battery system is a large battery that you have installed at home, which can store excess electricity – usually generated by your solar PV system and isn’t needed at the time – for use in your home at a time when energy can’t be generated such as night-time or on days with poor weather. This reduces your demand on the grid because your home can use the energy stored in the battery instead.
Your solar panels are soaking up all that daylight, enabling you to power your home, but when the sun goes down – no more solar energy is being generated. You still need to power your home in the evening. What happens then? If you didn’t have battery storage, you’d then switch to using power from the National Grid – costing you a lot of extra money. With a battery installed in your home, you can use all the extra solar energy captured during the day that you didn’t use. To power your home at night
Our Batteries come with a 10-year warranty – their lifespan far exceeds that of standard batteries you use on gadgets at home.
If you currently receive feed-in-tariff (FIT) payments for the electricity you generate with your solar PV, they will not be affected if you install a home battery system. The FIT scheme was discontinued for new home solar PV systems installed on or after 1st April 2019, but existing qualifying households won’t lose any of these payments for the contract term (usually 20 years from installation) if they do install a home battery system.
About ESE Group
Whether you are looking to upgrade your home or lower your carbon footprint, we can help. From making your first steps to sustainable living to the big leap to renewables, our teams are highly qualified with the expertise to making your journey effortless from day one. We’re big enough to cover the whole of the UK but small enough to care – so you get a personal service, with ourstanding customer service. For peace of mind, our accreditations speak for themselves.
We are proud to be certified and approved by industry leading assessors and registration bodies including:
NICEIC, Chas, Safe Contractor Approved, Registered Competent Person (Electrical), Gas Safe, SMSTS, SSIP, OLEV and UKAS
Knowing we’re quality assured with these accreditations is reassuring for our customers. It gives you peace of mind that you’ve made the right choice in ESE Group. Every product and service we sell comes with its own guarantee – some up to 25 years – and an aftersales support service that is second to none.
Our Head Office is in Liverpool – Unit 5, Sprint Way, Speke, Liverpool, L24 9AB. We’ve recently opened a new office right in the heart of Edinburgh – 101 Rose Street, South Lane, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH2 3JG. We also have teams of engineers and installers based throughout the UK.
We’re constantly on the look out for new talent. You can see our latest vacancies here. If you feel you have the experience and energy required to drive ESE Group’s business forward, please get in touch.
We will be following social distancing guidelines when attending your property. Wearing PPE and sanitising hands regularly.
When you book a maintenance visit, repair or installation appointment we’ll ask you if:
- You or anyone in your home has been diagnosed with Coronavirus (Covid-19)
- You or anyone in your home has been advised to self-isolate
- Anyone in your home is at higher risk – either through existing health conditions or over 70 years old
If you answer ‘yes’ to any of these questions, we’ll work with you to assess your need for a home visit agreeing next steps with you.
We’ll prioritise emergencies and we may need to postpone non-urgent visits, like maintenance visits, to a later date.
Please be aware that some of our staff maybe working from home and consequently it may take longer to answer your query. We would like to thank you for your cooperation during this time.
