According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 50% of the world’s energy will come from solar and wind by 2050. Solar energy enables you to power your home using renewable energy which can lower your energy bills and reduce your reliance on energy suppliers. While this sounds very appealing, you may be wondering if the UK has enough sunny days to make investing in solar energy worthwhile? It in fact only requires a certain level of daylight to extract the sun’s energy, which means the UK can still harness solar energy even during cloudy days.

If you’re interested in solar energy, below are four steps to help you decide if it’s right for you.

1) Conduct an energy audit

Before you think about investing in solar energy, it’s a good idea to make sure your house is well-insulated. A badly insulated house means your heating system won’t be as effective. You could either hire a professional to conduct an energy audit or do it yourself. This will help locate the areas in your house that could waste energy e.g. your attic, loft, flat roof, windows and walls, and provide recommendations on how to improve insulation.

2) Try exterior solar lighting

If your house is well-insulated but you’re not quite ready to invest in solar panels, you could purchase a few exterior solar lights to light your garden or drive at night. Just place them in the ground in your desired location. Make sure they have good access to sunlight in the day to charge up. The lights will vary in brightness, since the bigger the solar panel, the brighter the light.

3) Test out solar powered applications

You could also explore using small-scale solar powered applications. There are two ways to go about this. The first is to try out solar power chargers for your mobile, laptop or handheld equipment. For the second, look for standalone solar powered equipment such as garden lanterns or camping lanterns, for example.

4) Invest in a few solar panels

Once you’re ready to splash out and invest in solar panels, you could consider installing a few panels at a time to avoid a huge initial investment. Try installing them on your shed, greenhouse or garage, instead of your roof. But make sure they are south facing. This will maximise the energy from the sun and produce the most electricity from your solar panels. If your solar panels face east or west, they will potentially produce about 20% less electricity than south facing ones.

If you now feel ready to invest in a full array of solar panels, make sure you’ve done your research, checked that your roof is south facing and feel confident that investing in solar power is right for you. Speak to a reputable expert and do a careful estimation of your energy usage needs. Then do the sums to figure out how much quality solar panels will cost you and how much money you will be able to save in the long-term. Once you’re satisfied that solar power is right for you, and your house is well-insulated enough, you might be ready.