Solar FAQs

Why is it called SolarTile® when it is a panel?

We are aware that the Marley Solartile® is a panel rather than a tile, however, we as a company were originally involved with solar in the early 2000’s, when we developed the original Marley SolarTile®! While that system is no longer available, when we reintroduced ourselves back into the Solar market in July 2020, we thought it would be good to acknowledge our original product through the reinvention of the Marley SolarTile®, as a new, highly efficient, aesthetic solution to solar.

Why should I use Solar?

There are a variety of reasons as to why solar PV should be considered within either domestic, or commercial properties.

Are you a family who has spent more time within the home due to the current climate? Has home working or schooling increased energy usage considerably?

Are you interested in producing your own green energy to power your home and/or electric vehicle?

Are you a business who wants to offset your carbon footprint by producing green electricity?

The benefits of installing an in roof solar on either domestic or commercial properties can be considerable, whether that being through producing up to 75% of the home’s energy consumption (alongside saving an average of 7P per KW when compared to importing energy from the national grid), or up to half a tonne of CO₂ saved per KW installed. These are only a couple of the benefits of installing Solar PV, and of course, should you want to get any more information regarding the benefits Solar could have for you, please do get in touch.

What are the changes to the Future homes Standard?

For the 2021 Part L changes, two options were consulted upon. Option 1 was for a fabric based specification that resulted in a 20% reduction in Carbon Emissions compared to Part L 2015, whereas Option 2 was for a technology + Fabric, resulting in a 31% reduction with a £259 saving per year. Although the changes introduced by the government are “technology neutral” and house builders are free to choose which technology to use, new properties will have to be shown to exceed the specifications set out by the governments “notional house”. The calculation of these properties can be found in appendix R in SAP. The size of the PV system in kWp for the notional house is 40% of the building foundation area divided by 6.5.  So for example, for a typical two-storey semi-detached house of total floor area 85m², this would be [40% x (85/2) ] / 6.5 = 2.6kWp. Solar is an ideal solution to hitting these new targets, as it has minimal impact on space within the home, require minimal maintenance, and will cement energy costs within the home for 25+ years.

In relation to when these new standards will come into force, the New 2021 Building Regulations Part L will be written into law in the Autumn and will come into force from June 2022, followed by a second update to Part L to deliver the Future Homes standard with a target that this is in force by 2025.

Why do I need an invertor with my Solar panels?

Due to the nature of solar panels, the energy that is absorbed from the sunlight by the wafers within the panel is direct current, or DC. Almost all of the homes within the U.K use alternating current (AC) and so therefore there energy produced needs to be inverted from DC to AC to enable it to be used within the home, which is why invertors are needed.