How to Improve the Efficiency of Your Solar Panels

As with any investment, you want to get the most out of your solar panels. While getting the most out of a new bike would mean riding it a lot, for solar panels it means getting the most energy and the biggest savings on your bills.

The good news is that it’s possible. The secret is to improve your solar panels’ efficiency. How? Read on as we look at three options.

How to improve solar panels’ efficiency

1. Size

The first consideration for improving solar panels’ efficiency is the size of your installation. Having a solar panel system that’s too small will still leave you reliant on the grid, while one that’s too big will see a lot of excess energy going to waste – or back to the grid.

For the average home in the UK using around 3,700 kWh of energy per year, an installation of 4kW in capacity is usually a good fit. That might need to be lower for couples without kids, or higher for larger families. That’s why we take your current energy use and costs into account when deciding on the most efficient solar panels for your requirements.

2.  Positioning

To improve solar panel efficiency, it’s important that they’re installed in the right place. More specifically, solar panels should be installed to maximise their exposure to sunlight. That’s simply because solar panels generate the most energy when the sun is shining directly at them.

The best place for that is a south-facing roof plane, or the nearest thing to it. Most homes will have one plane of their roof facing south, south-east, south-west. If not, roof planes facing east or west are almost as efficient.

3.  Solar battery

Solar panels generate electricity as direct current. That means it needs to be used straight away. Considering that there’s no sunlight at night, less in the evening and a lot less in the winter months compared to summer, this poses a clear problem in terms of solar panel efficiency.

Fortunately, there’s a simple solution. Solar batteries allow you to store energy that’s generated by your solar panels. This can then be used in the evening, through night or saved for those longer winter periods with less sunlight.

It’s the ideal solution if you want to maximise your time off grid, or even become totally energy independent.

4. Power Optimizers

Power optimizers enable panels affected by shade to operate at their maximised output. More in-depth information available at What If My Roof Suffers From Shading but importantly by adding optimizers to your system will improve efficiency levels to every panel connected on a shade affected string. Thus, a worthy addition to your system if your roof suffers from shade.

Get the most efficient solar panel for your home

At P4 Solar, we’re dedicated to improving energy efficiency through the use of solar panels and solar batteries. Our team of renewable energy experts consider all solar panel efficiency improvements when finding the ideal solution for your home.

The result is a solar panel system that minimises your energy bills and pays for itself in the long run. Want to find out more? Get in touch with our team to arrange a free quote.