Solar Photovoltaic

Solar panels take advantage of a powerful yet free energy source – the sun. In a single hour, the sun transmits more energy to the earth’s surface than the world uses in a year.

Solar PV uses this energy from the sun to produce electricity, which you can then use in your home as well as export the electricity you don’t consumer back to the grid.

PV cells are thin layers of semi-conducting material (usually silicon). Electrical charges are generated when the silicon is exposed to light, as a result a current is generated which can be conducted away as DC current. Multiple of cells are connected together (usually behind glass) to form a panel, and then multiple panels are connected together to make an array which is what is seen on your roof.

In a word, YES!

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are a way for you to make money, as well as save on your own electricity bills. This is because you can get paid for the electricity that your solar panels produce. The government’s Feed-in Tariff (FIT) pays you in return for generating electricity on your roof, with payments made on how much you generate as a whole. Payments are guaranteed for between 20 and 25 years (depending on when you have the panels installed), the price per kilowatt (kWh) of energy generated is index-linked, meaning that it will rise with the Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation annually, and all proceeds you make are free from tax.

You save money on your household energy bills, by using the electricity generated from the solar panels to power your house instead of drawing it from the grid, which you pay a rate for. It is this offset that saves you money, as you purchase less energy from your provider. Methods for maximizing your energy bill savings include; scheduling large appliances like washing machines to run through the middle of the day, when the house is normally empty and the sun is at its strongest. The energy the appliance then uses is drawn from the solar panels, whereas if you scheduled the washing machine to run at midnight, the energy it uses comes from the grid, as the solar panels are not generating any electricity.

A solar PV system is usually made of solar panels, an inverter, isolator switches, a PV generation meter and cables.

• The more panels you can fit on your roof the more electricity you will produce
• The electricity produced by the PV panels is direct current (DC). Before it can be used in the home it has to be converted to safer alternating current (AC), using a box called an inverter, often placed in the loft
• For safety, isolator switches are also placed before and after the inverter
• A PV generation meter is connected inside your home, in a visible location, so you can see a real-time display of how much electricity the system is generating. The meter also measures the amount of electricity exported to the grid, and this is used to calculate your Feed-in Tariff (FIT) payment – which provides cash in return for generating your own electricity
• Finally, if you want to export excess electricity to the grid, there will be another cable to your consumer unit (fuse box)

• Only daylight is needed to create energy – not direct sunshine
• Can be connected to the national grid and any excess electricity sold back to an electricity company
• Can cut an average household electricity bill by about 40%
• Provides additional income, as the Feed-in Tariff provides cash payments to households that produce their own electricity using a renewable technology
• Solar panels are pretty much maintenance-free and will last for at least 25 years
• Glevum Heating use a specifically designed scaffold system so the impact on you the customer has no long term scaffolding left up

• Glevum Heating are a national award winning renewable Energy installer
• One of the very first businesses to be MCS accredited, enabling all of our customers to claim the incentive schemes run by the government
• A well-established business with vast experience in the installation of Solar PV on both private and commercial properties
• Large buying power, offering the best price for both value for money and quality products
• An innovative approach to our renewable energy product portfolio, meaning we are always looking to stock high efficient and well known brands,
• we are always looking for possible ways we could improve the benefits for our customers even further through emerging technologies

Glevum Heating’s Renewable Energy Division is continuing to grow with large scale contracts both locally and nationwide, installing both domestic and large commercial systems.

We use our specialist in house teams to provide top quality surveys and installations giving the customer the best service possible. We pride ourselves on customer care and aftercare, always ensuring the customer is happy and fully aware of all processes.

Contact us and we can complete an initial survey on your property. Our experienced surveyor will be able to answer all of your questions and advise the best system for you along with working out your cost savings.

Tremendous is the word I would use to describe them. Their service is just tremendous.

Hilary Edmunds, Stroud, Gloucestershire