How solar panels could lower your energy bill

Solar-panel installation firms are reporting a four-fold increase in orders this year compared with 2021. Ruth Jackson-Kirby explains how solar can help keep your energy bill down.

Solar panel
It costs around £6,500 for the average solar-panel system to be installed on a three-bedroom semi-detached house.
(Image credit: © Getty)

Shaving some money off rising energy bills by generating your own power is becoming ever more appealing – so much so that solar-panel installation firms are reporting a four-fold increase in orders this year compared with 2021. High installation costs have deterred households in recent years. But “[the] time it would take to recoup the cost of installing the panels from savings on energy bills is expected to get much shorter – from... 11 years at January 2022’s rates to fewer than four years from January next year,” says Ali Hussain in The Sunday Times.

It costs around £6,500 for the average solar-panel system to be installed on a three-bedroom semi-detached house, according to the Energy Saving Trust. Once your solar panels are up and running you can use your household appliances without it costing you a fortune as long as the sun is shining. The Energy Saving Trust says that the average household could save between £165 and £405 a year with solar panels.

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Ruth Jackson-Kirby

Ruth Jackson-Kirby is a freelance personal finance journalist with 17 years’ experience, writing about everything from savings accounts and credit cards to pensions, property and pet insurance.

Ruth started her career at MoneyWeek after graduating with an MA from the University of St Andrews, and she continues to contribute regular articles to our personal finance section. After leaving MoneyWeek she went on to become deputy editor of Moneywise before becoming a freelance journalist.

Ruth writes regularly for national publications including The Sunday Times, The Times, The Mail on Sunday and Good Housekeeping, among many other titles both online and offline.