Possibly! It depends on the house’s consumption and generation/roof size. We demonstrate a real-world example below.
An average home in the UK uses 3638 kWh of electricity per year. A detached house will use 4153 kWh per year, according to the Energy Savings Trust.
Add an electric car and a heat pump and you could easily add 7000+ kWh per year on top of your electricity consumption.
Let’s take a real-world example from one of our customers in Dartmoor.
Was this customer able to power their home using solar?
Their energy consumption is 4375 KwH per year. They are able to generate 5294 kWh - 21% more electricity than they need.
Can they use it when they need it?
They have also installed 10.4 kWh of battery capacity, which means they can store excess electricity during the day for use throughout the night.
As a result, this customer is unlikely to require electricity from the grid for day to day usage from March until mid-October!
As you can see from the graph above, solar panels do produce less during the winter months and peak during the summer.
You are paid a ‘Smart Export Guarantee’ from your supplier for every unit of electricity you export to the grid. If you can export enough during the summer months - this could pay for the shortfall in the winter.
So yes, solar panels really can power your home, even during the winter if you can generate enough excess energy in the summer to pay for the shortfall in the winter.
Sources: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
