𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝗽 𝗦𝗢 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 (2 minute read). I’m Richard Mould-Ryan, a long-term resident of West End, on the east side of Southampton. I’ve been interested in renewable energy and energy efficiency for a long time, and during my previous career managing country parks was able to put this into practice in major building projects. My family’s switch to cheaper lower-carbon energy began in 2018 whe
n we bought our first electric car, followed in 2019 by a plug-in hybrid. In 2020 we replaced our gas boiler with an air-source heat pump and became an almost all-electric household. As a result, our consumption rose to over 9000 units in 2021. Towards the end of that year energy prices began to rise quickly, so I did some cost comparisons and decided it was time to get solar panels and a home storage battery, which were installed in May 2022, and we also switched electricity supplier. This transformed our energy bills. In 2023 our consumption increased to 11,300 units of electricity because we were driving a lot more miles. Of this, 3400 units were free electricity from our panels and battery. For the other 7900 units, instead of 35p we paid an average of 17p/unit by charging our cars and the house battery at the overnight cheap rate on Octopus Energy’s “Go” tariff, and we sold 800 units back to our supplier. On Octopus’s standard variable tariff, we would have paid around £4200, but our actual payments for the year were only £1440 - we saved £2760, cutting our bill by two thirds. A good chunk of this was due to cheap rate charging for our cars, but similar percentage savings can be achieved by homes without an EV. After having our system installed, I did the same for two other members of our family, each with slightly different energy needs from us, on different energy tariffs, and both have made big savings on their energy bills, as well as reducing their carbon footprints. My experience made me even more of an advocate for solar power, and when talking to people about it I found that many were interested in getting solar panels, but weren’t sure where to start, what size or type of system was right for them, or weren’t confident about approaching installation companies. I’d been in that position myself and learnt a lot from going through the process three times, so I enjoyed passing on what I knew. When a friend suggested that I could turn my interest and experience into a new job I was doubtful, but then I found industry research which confirmed what I’d heard: for many people there are significant barriers to the uptake of rooftop solar, such as not understanding the technology, not knowing where to get reliable advice, worries about “cowboy” installers, and disliking a hard sell and clickbait adverts on social media. So, after several months of research, training, getting to know and learning from some trusted installers, and testing my service on friends and family, SO Solar Advice was born. I hope that as a knowledgeable owner of solar PV panels and battery storage, I can help you to overcome those barriers and enjoy the same benefits from generating your own electricity that we have.
