Solar panels for year-round use

Solar panels only generate electricity when the sun shines. The sun shines less in winter than in summer. Ergo, you get less power from solar panels in winter than in summer.

In December in the UK, your solar panels will give you less than a quarter of the power they will be pumping out in June. So if you really want to run all your power needs from solar panels, you will need an array about four times as big.

It is still perfectly possible - and it may still be quite reasonable in price. It depends entirely on what you want to power. A few energy efficient lights, radio and water pump are probably not going to be a problem at all with something like a KC130 or two. If you are running more power-hungry appliances, you're starting to get into quite a large array though. Try out the calculator with some example appliances.

Even if solar panels are going to be an expensive solution to give you everything year-round, it is still worth considering installing whatever you can afford. In summer, you can be completely independent of other power sources; in winter you might need to charge from the mains or an engine occasionally - but it should still be far less often than you would need without the panels. You could also consider a mixed wind turbine / solar panel installation, as wind turbines can give a better return that solar panels in the winter.

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• I'm not too bothered about the winter - generating sufficient power in summer is more important to me