Owning solar panels and wind turbines has such a good impact on the environment, and helps to minimise your carbon footprint. By producing your own solar or wind energy, you can supplement your energy use at home and reduce wastage. Both features have their advantages when it comes to benefiting the environment, the energy production for your home and the costs that they incur.

Energy production

Like solar panels depend on sunlight, wind turbines depend on wind. While you may think that the UK lacks sunlight, solar panels can still work through cloudy weather, but they may produce less energy. Wind turbines, on the other hand, need a steady 12mph wind to start producing electricity which doesn’t happen as often as you may think.

Space

Building mounted turbines have a much lower energy efficiency than pole mounted ones, producing 1kW of energy compared to 6kW. However, with a pole mounted turbine, you will need to sacrifice some land in order to achieve the higher energy efficiency. Solar panels use existing roof space that you wouldn’t necessarily need for anything else, so considering space consumption does not need to be considered.

Costs

The cost of both wind turbines and solar panels will greatly depend on the amount that you are wanting, plus the wind turbine size and mounting method. Pole-mounted turbines are much more expensive to install but are often chosen because of their energy efficiency. A single pole can cost anything between £21,000 and £30,000. Solar panels cost between £6,000 and £10,000 so offer a much lower start up cost.

Maintenance

Wind turbines require a fair amount of maintenance. They need to be serviced every few years which can cost up to £200 per year, dependant on the size of the turbine. The inverter in a wind turbine should last up to 20 years, but replacing it does incur a cost of £2,000 for a large system. Batteries in the off-grid systems need to be replaced every 6 years and back-up generators will require maintenance too. Solar panels, however, require very little maintenance. It’s recommended to keep them clean and clear trees away from overshadowing the tiles to produce the most amount of energy possible.

Metrotile install high quality PV tiles that come with a 40 year weatherproof guarantee. We’d recommend solar panels over wind turbines because of the minimal maintenance required, meaning you can install them and let them generate energy for your home. For more information on our tiles, please call us on 01249 658 514 or you can contact us online.