Solar Thermal FAQ

No planning permission is needed, in the vast majority of cases. If you live in a conservation area, or in a listed building, planning permission will need to be obtained.

The UK receives plenty of the suns radiation to work very effectively, especially in the south of England. Generally the system should be able to supply all of your hot water heating requirements, from March through until October. Even in winter it can substantially supplement your required water heating.

This will depend on the size of your house, and its number of occupants. Ideally approx 3m x 2m, as this will provide enough room for a substantial system, to suit the average home. However smaller lower output systems can be installed for smaller roofs.

Realistically approximately 1000kWh per year per kW of system installed. For example a 3kW system would produce 3000kWh per year approximately. Take a look at your currently gas / electricity bill or your EPC to, see how much energy you use to heat your hot water. From March through until October, you hot water heating can be completely replaced with your own, renewable, solar thermal produced hot water.

As each system is tailored to the property to which it is fitted on, a technical survey is required to give you an accurate quote.

Please contact us to discuss your requirements, and if you like we can arrange for technical survey to give you a precise quote.

One of our full time employed, non-commission based surveyors will visit your home, to take more exact readings of your homes orientation, pitch of roof, shade factors, roof strength, as well as to help you assess your hot water heating requirements

The survey is required not only to be able to properly asses you property in term of being able to give you an accurate quote, but also adhere to the MCS (renewable energy installation governing body’s) standards, which requires us to give you the customer the most accurate data possible on how effective the proposed system will be.

The whole survey process should take less than 45 minutes.

Yes you can. As standard we install for you what we believe to be the best quality and value panels available at the time. This is judged not only by the specifications from the manufacturer, but also from the installation experiences of our installers.

We are not tied to a particular manufacturer, in order that we can maintain that flexibility to provide for our customers the very best products available at the time.

It also means that we are free to install any equipment a customer wishes. So if there is a particular make of solar thermal collector panel you would specifically like us to install for you, then please let us know and we will source and quote accordingly.

This will of course vary depending on how much energy you use to heat your water, the size of system installed, as well as factors such as the direction of your roof.

Using a Solar Thermal system you will be producing your own hot water, thus greatly reducing the amount of gas / electricity you need to buy in from your current supplier.

Take a look at your currently annual gas / electricity bill from March through until October to see how much of your current usage you can attribute to heating your hot water (typically about 30% of a standard domestic gas bill). During this time it can be completely replaced with your own Solar produced hot water. Based on a typical 3kW system example, that can produce 3000kWh of heated water over a year which is approximately £200 worth of gas / electricity you will not need to purchase in.

As well as saving the amount of energy you need to pay for, you will also be eligible to be paid extra for using your own produced energy, through the through the Renewable Heat Incentive.

As well as the savings you can make by needing less energy from your supplier, you will also be paid for the energy you produce through your solar thermal system.

This RHI payment is paid to you even though you will be using the energy you create yourself in your own home. You are effectively getting paid for doing your bit to help the environment – it’s a thank you from the government for being a part of the solution to the planets problems, rather than being a continued user of the non-sustainable energy, produced by the big power companies.

For current Solar Thermal installations this payment is fixed for the next 7 years, giving you plenty to contribute towards your initial investment.

This will depend very much on the system installed and the property it is installed in, but we can give you a detailed estimate further to our site survey or calculations from your building plans.

To get a rough estimate, please use the DECC calculator on the following link (https://renewable-heat-calculator.service.gov.uk/Default.aspx) to work out what you are likely to earn and save. The calculators used are on independent government backed sites, so you can rest assured that the estimates they give are completely achievable, as opposed to the unrealistic calculators you may see on some commercial sales sites.

There is no need for you to do anything. As your MCS installer, Completely Green will take care of everything for you.

It is advisable that you have your system checked every 1-2 years.  It is likely that during the lifetime of the systems, it will need a replacement pumpstation.

Yes it does, as there is still a certain amount of heat and the suns ambient radiation, however it works better on a nice sunny day.

If enough panels are installed the answer is in theory yes. However it may only be possible to contribute towards the hot water required for central heating system, in reality due to lack of winter sunshine. In most cases the answer would be no, and the solar thermal system is really only suitable for heating domestic hot water. The RHI payments are only made for the solar thermal system to heat your domestic hot water.

Also in the winter months when you need your central heating the most it is when the solar thermal system is working least effectively.

Our advice is to consider Solar Thermal an effective and efficient solution to your hot water requirements and not central heating necessarily.

If you are looking for a renewable energy system that can provide both your hot water and central heating, perhaps a Bio Mass boiler or Air Source Heat Pump should be considered, which work very well in conjunction with a solar thermal system.

Yes it can, with you using the boiler if you need additional hot water (for example in the winter months) and using the boiler to generate heat for your central heating system.

The main consideration will be that you will need to have a solar thermal domestic hot water tank installed if you do not already have one, which simply requires space for the hot water tank to be located.

When we install a Solar Thermal System it is essential to have a modern efficient multi-coil water tank to get the most of the system  So we will install a suitable new water tank as part of the installation. The cost of this is included in our overall system price.

Very little. A lot of the work is done outside of the house, and the internal work involved will take a day. You will only be left without hot water for a few hours. A typical install can be completed within 3 days. We will ensure that any scaffolding required is removed immediately, following the completion of the install.

You can rest assured that our installers are polite and professional, efficient and clean and tidy – the very best around.

This very much depends on your water heating energy usage primarily. Typically 1.5m2 or 0.75kW per person living in your household. The bigger the system you can afford and can accommodate, the more hot water you can produce year round.

The most important thing is to make sure you get a system large enough to supply the hot water you require, and we will make sure you are advised accordingly.

Conservative estimates, for the current standard of the technology, and the high standard of the panels that we install, you should expect a system life span of at least 20 years +.

We are MCS accredited and members of the Renewable Energy Consumer Code, and use only our in house installers and surveyors. We guarantee a top level service from start to finish, with your balance payment only due when you are 100% satisfied with the install.

We use the best quality equipment and panels and as a result we can give you a 20 year warranty on the collectors, as well as a 2 year warranty on the installation.