When it comes to energy, bigger can be better, and significantly cheaper
Rooftop solar can be a great way to generate your own green electricity, but the upfront cost of micro scale systems can be high. Owning part of a large scale wind farm can be 65% cheaper than rooftop solar.
Let us explain how…
Prices of solar packages from companies like Eon start from £4000 for a typical home and can reach up to £7000.
Basic vs. premium solar packages
Eon’s basic Energise package is 8 panels. It costs just over £4300 and can generate up to 2.4kW. Over the course of a year given sunshine levels, it might generate around 2350kWh of electricity. This is less than the 2900kWh a typical house uses. Scaling up the system proportionally, you could expect to pay around £5330 for a system that would generate enough to cover the typical home’s entire electricity use.
Sleeker in-roof panels are far less visible on your house, they look like regular roof tiles. However, they are more expensive. Eon’s 2.16kW Enhance package costs £6935. It might generate around 2080kWh, less than the cheaper, basic system. The cost of meeting 2900kWh in this case could be an eye-watering £9650!
Part owning a wind farm
For a typical home to meet its annual electricity consumption by owning a bit of a large scale wind farm, they’d need to own just 1.1kW. Each kW of a wind turbine generates nearly 3 times the amount of electricity that a kW of solar generate. The upfront cost to buy the 1.1kW is just £1880. That’s 65% cheaper than the cheapest rooftop solar option, and 85% cheaper than the highest spec option.
With Ripple you join together with thousands of others to access economies of scale not possible individually.
Flexible and portable
Ownership with Ripple is really flexible. You can own as little as £250 of the wind farm (enough to supply around 12% of a typical home’s electricity needs) up to 120% of your annual consumption. It also doesn’t matter if you rent or live in a flat.
Ownership is portable too. If you move, you simply phone your supplier and they supply your electricity to your new home. Another key benefit to owning part of a wind farm is, unlike solar, you can take it with you if you move home. Learn more about how ownership with Ripple works.
Behind vs in front of the meter
Rooftop solar is ‘behind the meter’. This means some of the electricity generated offsets the amount you need to buy from your supplier. The electricity generated from your wind farm with Ripple gets to your home via the grid. Whilst this enables it to easily be switched to a new home if you move, it also means you need to pay grid charges and taxes. Just as the upfront cost is lower for large scale wind farm, the bill savings per unit of generation are likely to be lower too.
Why not do both!
Another one of the great things about Ripple’s flexibility is you don’t need to choose wind or rooftop solar. You can do both! You can own a bit of a wind farm and have solar on your roof.
The perfect climate combination!
Nb. All solar data from www.eonenergy.com/solar-panels/photovoltaic.html and assumes an 11% load factor. Prices correct June 2020.
