Panels can be put on houses
and other buildings that are
already standing.
The sun provides about 100W of
solar power per square metre. PV
panels generate 10W per square
metre whilst thermal panels
generate 50W per square metre.
Electricity generated by PV
panels cot 34p per kWh. They
usually last for about 20 years.
Photovoltaic (PV) panels use the sun's
radiation to generate electricity.
Solar thermal panels use the sun's radiation
to heat water or buildings directly.
If we covered all south
facing roofs we could
generate 13kWh per person
per day with PV panels.
Most PV panels are 10%
efficient. Most thermal panels
are about 50% efficient.
On average, the
sun shines for
about 1/3 of the
daylight hours
in the UK.