Why solar PV panel inspections are important

Many of the properties we manage for Newcastle City Council have what are commonly referred to as “solar panels” (we can them solar photovoltaic panels, or solar PV panels for short) fitted onto their roofs.

These are fantastic for the environment as they take energy directly from daylight and turn it into electricity on the spot.

Most importantly, though, they’re a brilliant addition to your home if you have them, because they can literally give you energy for free. They’re proving particularly useful to customers across the city as they feel the pressures of the energy and cost of living crises.

Most of the PV systems we have installed produce around 1700 kw per year and the Energy Saving Trust estimates that a typical three bed home in the UK will use just over 3,000 kw per year. So that’s over half of the electricity you’re likely to use provided for free! And it could mean

• 2,428 free hours of your washing machine
• 48,571 free hours of your fridge
• 708 free hours of your oven

At the moment, because the days are long and have been really sunny recently, anyone who has solar PV panels will be benefitting even more from all of that daylight as it’s used to generate electricity on the spot.

It’s important to us that your home is well-maintained, and this extends to your solar panels. We want to be sure that they’re working properly so that you can get as much free electricity as possible out of them, which is why we complete a full inspection of the equipment every three years.

Unfortunately, we’re finding it quite difficult to book many of these in as lots of customers aren’t getting back to us to organise an appointment.

We know it can be a pain to have to stay in for repairs and we appreciate how tricky it can be to get time off work for such things, but it really is in your interest to let us check that they’re working properly – and the sooner we get those checks done, the sooner you can be taking full benefit of all that free electricity!

The panels can’t store the energy that comes from the sun, so once the nights start to creep in, there will be far fewer hours during the day that you’ll be able to use the electricity in your home without having to pay for it. We all know it feels like they creep in sooner every year, so it would be good to prioritise making the appointment as soon as you can.

If you’re going to be in the house a lot more over the school summer holidays, why not book your appointment for then? It will be especially beneficial if we do find anything we can fix and then all that extra cooking, or TV watching, or computer game playing, or even phone charging won’t cost you as much before the kids go back to school!

The inspection shouldn’t take too long, the inspector will mainly need to look at the meter that is usually next to your standard gas and electricity meters, as well as the fuse board. They may need to access the loft space to check the inverter, but they can support you if you need help to give them access.

We are able to schedule appointments to suit you if you absolutely can’t be there during normal office hours and any necessary bigger repair jobs will be booked in at a time that works for you and us.

The solar PV panels are great for you and for the environment, so it would be fantastic if we could work together to keep them functioning as effectively as possible. To book your appointment, please contact us asap on 0191 278 7878.