UK electricity prices soar as home solar panels boom

High energy prices have led to a continuous surge in domestic electricity prices in the UK. In January this year, electricity prices rose by 67% year-on-year. In order to reduce the cost of living, more and more British households are turning to solar power. Domestic solar installations will double in 2022 compared to 2021. In January alone, 15,000 new home solar installations were added, the highest monthly figure since 2016.

According to the Office for National Statistics, in January this year, electricity prices in the UK had risen by 67% compared with the same period last year. At the same time, data released by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), the organization responsible for solar installation standards, showed that the number of solar panel installations in the UK doubled last year compared to the previous year.

In December, owner Kumi Thiruchelvam (Kumi Thiruchelvam), a small town in north London, joined the ranks of solar users. According to Sirusherwam, the installation cost of the power generation device was between 12,000 and 13,000 pounds (approximately RMB 99,642.59~107,946.14), which cost him a considerable sum of savings. But he said the investment made sense to him at a time when energy prices were surging.

"We've experienced a spike in energy prices around the world, and then we've also increased electricity consumption in our homes because of things like electric cars," he said.

Sirusherwam's family owns a large house and at least three electric cars, so their electricity consumption is about 12,000 kWh a year, which is higher than the average household. Currently, about two-thirds of the electricity in a home is provided by solar panels.

The solar power installations are from Otovo, a Norwegian company that has recently entered the UK market. The company has also launched a mobile app that allows users to easily access data from inverters installed in their attics to monitor the power generated by their photovoltaic installations

According to reports, the role of the inverter is to convert the direct current generated by the solar panel into alternating current, so as to safely supply power to the electrical appliances in the house. At the same time, the device communicates with the grid and monitors the electricity generated.

"Although the weather in the UK today is not very good, and people generally think that the climate in the UK is cloudy, in fact, this is one of the countries with very high solar energy production in Europe," said Jina Kwon (Jina Kwon), general manager of Otovo UK "Our solar generation is on a par with many places in Germany, France and Spain, so there's quite a lot of sunshine in the UK for consumers to take advantage of," he said.

Almost 15,000 new solar installations were added to the UK grid in January alone, a higher increase than in any month since 2016.

In this regard, Tom Faulkner, director of assets, infrastructure and networks at Cornwall Insight, a British market research company, said that the solar market has undergone fundamental changes in the past few years, and rising electricity costs have driven photovoltaic equipment. installation.

"From a household point of view, the cost of energy or electricity is very high," says Faulkner. About RMB 20,775), the electricity bill is still the highest in history."

Tanfon solar