Why Choose Solar Panels for your Tiny Home?
Building your own tiny home or purchasing from a reputable company is a long and tedious process from acquiring land, planning permission and the build itself. After the hard slog, we can understand why a person would want to plug in and get on with life. However, the are significant advantages by investing in some time to learn about solar energy, how it will save you cash and reduce your carbon footprint in the long run.
How well do Solar Panels work in the UK?
Despite the great British weather we endure, Brits can still take advantage of solar panels to reduce their energy bills due to the panels requiring daylight, not sunshine hours. Even in the darkest of winters or rainiest of days, there is enough light to comfortably run a family home. For more info on solar panels, check out our blog post.
How much energy does a U.K household use?
Household electricity use in the UK dropped to under 4000KW for the first time in decades in 2014 and has continued to fall, with the average consumption in 2017 being as low as 3760KW per household. To get a good idea of your potential electricity usage, if you don’t have a smart meter or already know your kwh usage, check out this website to calculate a rough cost per appliance.
How much energy will a Standard Tiny Home save?
Savings are dependent on the size of your tiny home, but the average is at least 50% of a typical U.K household, all the way up to 90%. The savings come from the vast reduction in size, the wall thickness and better insulation, and less space to light and heat up. These savings can increase if you use energy-efficient electrical goods.
Another bonus is that you'll be saving the planet by reducing your carbon emissions!
How many Solar Panels would I need on My Tiny?
In general, the average tiny requires around 6 panels, depending on your energy usage. This would be for an average of two people eating three meals a day from a gas cooker and a gas water system with electricity covering other appliances in the house including lights, sockets, fridge and the washing machine. Some older models are as low as 250w per panel, which means you would require even more panels which we would recommend staying away from. At the end of the day, if you invest in the best, they’ll live longer and provide you with more energy.
What is the Size of a Standard Solar Panel?
Depending on the size (watts) of your panel, and how new it is, sizes will naturally vary. The panels we use, are 1956mm length by 1310mm width by 40mm thick. They’re fairly standard across the industry, but you may find some panels smaller in length, around 1700mm and 1200mm width. Make sure you check the panels efficiency - as newer panels are now 20% efficient or more. Panels which are less than 18% are older models, and will make a considerable difference in the amount of solar energy you convert to electricity.
What is the Cost of a Set of Solar Panels?
In the past few years, the upfront costs of solar panels have fallen by up to 30%. This is all thanks to new technology, more competition and a rise in environmental interest.
Again, prices will vary from company to company, including the amount of energy each panel can provide. As a general estimate, a six-panel 2100KW is around £6000 which includes the inverter and a battery-powered system.
How long until you see a Return on your Money?
The system mentioned above would last typically 25 years. The average energy bill from a medium to large-sized home in the UK is between £1153 to £1604 according to various sources (Ofgem / Octopus Energy). Using the lower estimate, you would have recouped all of your money back within five years and two months leaving the next 20 years bill free! Now, that depends on your usage, which you’d need to work out, as well as the size of your system. With a smaller house, you’ll naturally see a significant reduction in energy use - resulting in a good investment for your bank balance, as well as the environment.
Introducing the The Tiny Housing Co. Eco Option
All of our tiny homes come with an eco option for £6000. This includes 6 solar panels, nverter and 2 hefty, Lithium Ion batteries, you’ll be able to run all sorts of appliances whilst being offgrid.
Simple. Our aim is to make your life simpler and less-reliant on utilities - for less. We go direct to manufacturers to provide you with our systems, allowing you to have solar energy, warm homes and eco-friendly heating systems ready for you when you move into your Tiny House.
With every Eco option, you’ll save lots of co2 in the process, save money and have that piece of mind during the winter - gone will be the days when you feel cold in a house!
Our package is only for those who purchase one of our tiny homes, meaning it is an add-on rather than a single purchase. Because we are passionate about the environment, we offer our eco package at a reduced cost to encourage people to choose an off-grid lifestyle. As we have direct contracts with factories in the U.K and beyond, we don’t have to go through multiple layers of middle-men, which add on their fees. This means we lower our costs, which we pass on to you.
Disclaimer - All prices and energy wattage was correct at the time of writing*
