Insights for your Solar System

Reduce Farm Energy Costs with Solar Farming businesses across Wales are facing rising energy costs, tighter margins, and increasing pressure to reduce emissions. Solar PV is one of the most effective ways to improve farm profitability while future-proofing your operation. The Sustainable Agriculture Loan Scheme (SALS) is designed to help farms invest in exactly these kinds of improvements—providing affordable finance to support energy efficiency, renewable energy, and product

Looking to Cut Energy Costs with Solar? Rising energy prices are putting pressure on businesses across Wales. Investing in solar PV and energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways to reduce operating costs and protect your business from future price volatility. The Green Business Loan Scheme makes that transition more accessible—combining expert guidance, grant support, and affordable finance to help you install solar and other low-carbon technologies. What is the Gre

If you’ve got solar panels, you might be wondering whether a hot water diverter still makes sense. The answer has changed in recent years. It used to be a clear “yes”. Now, it depends heavily on how you heat your water and how your tariff works. What does a diverter actually do? A hot water diverter takes surplus solar electricity and sends it to your immersion heater, storing energy as hot water instead of exporting it. This was very effective when export payments were tiny.

If you're considering solar panels in Wales, the Green Homes Wales scheme could help make your installation far more affordable. The programme supports homeowners looking to improve their property’s energy efficiency by offering interest-free loans for renewable energy and home upgrades. This means technologies like solar panels, battery storage and heat pumps can be installed without paying the full cost upfront. For many Welsh households, it provides a practical way to redu

We review the cheapest and most competitive energy tariffs available in Wales. Last updated: 17th March 2026 Notes: Several supplier's tariffs aren’t available right now due to global energy prices changing quickly. During this time, most only able to offer a limited selection of tariffs. We’ll update this page with the latest available tariffs at our next monthly update. As of 1st March 2026, Octopus has reduced their export rates from 15p/kWh to 12p/kWh. Choosing the right

Investing in solar is only the first step. To maximum your financial return, it is important to optimise how and when you use (or export) the electricity you generate. Below is a practical guide to help you increase self-consumption, reduce grid reliance, and make the most of electricity tariffs. 1. Master Load Shifting Load shifting means moving electricity use to periods when your solar system is producing power (typically 10am–4pm). Every kilowatt-hour (kWh) you use direct

For many households, installing solar panels and battery storage is one of the largest investments they will make in their home after the property itself. Yet too often, decisions are driven by headline pricing rather than lifetime performance. Across Swansea and South Wales, we repeatedly see the same avoidable mistakes. Most are not dramatic errors — they are small design compromises that quietly erode returns over 20–25 years. Here is what to avoid. 1. Not Treating Solar a

Getting solar installed is a bit like getting married – ideally, you only plan to do it once. Once the panels are on the roof, they are there for decades. A little careful thought at the beginning can make the difference between a system that simply exists and one that genuinely works hard for your home in Swansea or across South Wales. 1. Choose the Right Solar Installer in Swansea The most important decision is not the panels. It is the installer. A good residential solar i

If you have the cash available for a solar-and-battery system, life is simple: you buy it, install it, and start saving (and exporting) straight away. But plenty of households want the benefits of solar without a large lump-sum payment. The good news is that the market has matured to the point where there are now multiple routes to fund a home solar solution—some sensible, some best avoided. This guide sets out the main financing options, how they typically work, and what to

Government schemes to help with funding the installation of solar panels and battery storage in Wales include Green Homes Wales, Nest, ECO4 and ECO4 Flex. Green Homes Wales is not means-tested whilst the others are. With the imminent end of the ECO4 scheme, we will be updating this article when more information about its successor is released. Not Means-tested Green Homes Wales A Welsh Government initiative, managed by the Development Bank of Wales, designed to support eligib