I remember when generating electricity from the sun seemed closer to science fiction fantasy than a realistic and practical means of micro-energy generation. That was up until yesterday; when I became another homeowner in the UK with the capacity to generate green electricity from an otherwise very ordinary rooftop. 

The installation of the Solarcentury 1.92kWp Sunsation, might sound dramatic, but in actual fact, involved just two installers to mount the panels on the roof and a third to wire the system to the grid. The whole process would have only taken them a few hours if it weren't for the media frenzy that accompanied their work. If you still think having this technology sounds a bit daunting, think again - you can't notice anything different to the way the house functions - unless of course, like me, you choose to stop and stare at the small green light indicating we're now generating green electricity!

According to Solarcentury, the electricity we'll generate from our Sunstation, now qualifies for the new government feed-in tariff of 41.3p per unit generated (equivalent to an income of £667 a year). In addition, for every unit we generate but do not use ourselves, we will earn an additional 3 pence per unit (a further £24 a year). And because we will also use the suns energy directly in our home instead of buying it in for a portion of the year (equivalent to an annual bill reduction of  £105), we'll be an estimated £796 better off each year. The feed-in tariff is guaranteed for 25 years, and so these annual savings equate to a total of £18,727.

The economics alone make a good argument for going solar, but let's not forget the environmental benefits. We're expecting to save 913kg of CO2 per year thanks to generating solar electricity, approximately one third of the annual CO2 emissions from our home! There really hasn't ever been a better time for homeowners to switch to solar in the UK, and we're really grateful to Solarcentury and the Great British Refurb Campaign to be one of them!