Solar panels on houses - connecting to the national grid

Solar panels produce lots of power during the day, in summer, but not so much during the night, in winter. Storing power in batteries is the only solution to this problem in remote locations. But in applications where you can connect to the national grid, it is considerably more efficient to export electricity to the grid on sunny days, and buy back the electricity when it is dark.

The configuration of a grid-connected system is slightly different from off-grid systems. Solar panels give DC electricity, which is ideal for charging batteries, but not so good for plugging your hoover into. So an inverter is used to convert the DC electricity into 240 volts AC. Grid-connect inverters are quite sophisticated (and hence expensive) as they have a number of safety features to ensure the waveform of the solar electricity matches precisely the waveform of the electricity of the national grid, that it is being connected to.

There is no getting away from the fact that solar installations are expensive - see our page on the economics of solar power for more details. However, you may still decide that it is worthwhile to pay extra for clean electricity that doesn't destroy the environment.

Various panels can be used in grid-connected applications. The amorphous UniSolar framed panels are very cost-effective; the flexible adhesive backed panels are great for metal 'standing seam' roofs. Solar tiles, glass laminates and large panels designed for building integration are also available

Government grants may be available to meet part of the cost of some installations. Do get in touch if you would like more information.