Our former environment correspondent had solar panels installed in 2010 and later added a heat pump. He’s totted up the energy generated and cash saved over the years
An abiding memory of a day in August 2010, the first time I had my solar panels installed and connected to the grid, was of the builders downing tools and watching the electricity meter whiz round backwards.
It was a sunny day and they were supposed to be finishing the plastering and insulation, but the novel sight of the old-style electricity meter in reverse was too entertaining.
For the previous few months we had been refurbishing my new home, a 1930s bungalow, with some of the many “green” improvements that I had been recommending to Guardian readers during my 16 years as environment correspondent. Friends said I was “putting my money where my mouth had been”.
It proved more difficult than I imagined because there were so many options. In the end we settled first for super-thick insulation – three times the government recommended minimum – and a green roof over the flat roof extension for extra insulation. To add light to a dim interior, four triple-glazed skylights were built into the roof. We converted a double garage into a library, reinforcing the flat roof, and found space to install 10 solar panels facing south.
Of course, the electricity company soon rumbled the fact my meter was going backwards and dispatched a man in a fast van to swap it for a modern version that could only go forwards.
Read more: TheGuardian
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