Why should I choose for solar panels?

Why should I choose solar for panels?

With the purchase of solar panels you can significantly reduce your energy bill. In combination with, for example, a heat pump and improved insulation, you could even heat your house completely gas-free. A nice bonus in times when energy prices, and especially gas prices, are rising exponentially. Another big plus of solar panels is that you contribute to a cleaner and liveable world. Solar panels provide a significant reduction in Co2 emissions. The materials used in the panels can, after being on your roof for twenty years, also be reused through recycling. Nice!

The advantages of solar panels are therefore obvious. However, nowadays you almost have to be an expert in the field of solar energy to make an informed choice. That is why we decided to explain a few things.

Payback period

The purchase of solar panels is a long-term investment. Solar panels are on your roof for an average of twenty to twenty-five years. You will earn back the investment within a few years, depending on your consumption and the number of panels on your roof. However, take into account that existing government-subsidized schemes such as the “salderingsregeling” in the Netherlands can be gradually phased out from 1 January 2023.

Another point to take into account when purchasing a PV system is your expected consumption in the future. For example, if you are planning to purchase an electric car or install air conditioning, these will significantly increase your total energy consumption. In this case, installing additional panels may be a good option.

One total solution versus separate component brands

A complete PV system consists of the solar panels, a mounting system to ensure that the panels are firmly attached to your roof, cabling and an inverter. An inverter is an electronic device that can convert direct current to alternating current. The voltage supplied by a solar panel system is in most cases not immediately suitable for use.

There are more than one hundred different brands of solar panels and inverters. Many installers use an inverter from brand A, combined with solar panels from brand B and cabling from brand C. They therefore use separate components when constructing the PV system. This separate component based approach has a number of drawbacks. For example, the separate components have not been tested for compatibility with each other and therefore do not fit together seamlessly. This could, for example, lead to power losses and unsafe situations.

A total solution is one PV system of which all components are of the same brand. As a result, all parts seamlessly work together and the system is also immediately a lot safer. An additional benefit: a product warranty is also much easier to claim if all parts are from the same brand.

You can read more about how a total solution improves perfomance by clicking here.
 

Product Warranty and kWh guarantee

A PV system also comes with a product warranty. This is often somewhere between five and twenty-five years on solar panels. The product warranty on the inverter is often shorter. A high product warranty is often an indication of quality. After all, the producer has enough confidence in its product to guarantee its proper functioning for a longer period of time.

Autarco is the only brand in the Netherlands that offers customers an insured kWh guarantee in addition to the existing high product guarantees. This means that if your Autarco PV system yields less than initially estimated, the difference will be paid to you in cash per missed kilowatt hour. This way you know exactly what the financial ROI of your investment will be before buying one of our systems.

You can read more about the kWh guarantee here.
 

Quality

It can be a challenge to assess the quality of different brands of PV panels. Fortunately, there are certain accreditations in the PV industry that offer guidance. For example, depending on the brand, solar panels have a tier 1, 2 or 3 accreditation. This Tier-1 accreditation does not say anything directly about the solar panel, but it does say something about the manufacturer's quality standard. 

Yet solar panels produced in factories with a Tier-1 accreditation are often seen as the best quality. For example, these panels are produced using a fully automated production line, the producers have been active in the PV industry for at least five years and invest a lot in R&D and improving business processes. For example, all Autarco solar panels are of Tier-1 quality. Tier-1 quality solar panels often also have the highest product guarantees. 

Panels produced by a manufacturer with a tier-2 or 3 accreditation are widely represented in the market. These parties have existed for less than five years (tier-2) or less than two years (tier-3), do not have automated production lines, which means there is a greater chance of small cracks in the panels and do little to no R&D. These solar panels are often cheaper.

Expansion options with our battery solutions

The yield of the solar panels on your roof strongly depends on the weather. On gray, dark days, the yield will be considerably lower than on a sunny day. The panels also do not generate electricity at night. To be completely self-sufficient in the field of energy, storage of excess generated power is therefore a requirement. You need a home battery and a hybrid inverter for this. Do you already own a PV system and do you want to expand it with a home battery? Then you can do that with a retrofit charger.