The Net Zero Team recently held a webinar on solar panel installation in church buildings. This included a talk by Historic Environment Scotland, followed by contributions from three Scottish Episcopal charges, all of which have installed solar panels on their buildings.
You can watch this webinar back here and download the case study presentations below.
Many people have concerns about the feasibility of installing solar panels on church buildings. Common questions include:
- How much will it cost?
- How much will it save?
- What will they look like when installed?
Sharing the experiences of others can help answers these questions and enable others to make informed decisions.
Cost
The cost of purchase and installation will of course depend on how many solar panels and batteries are installed, but they are free of VAT. You will require:
- A solar array (the total number of solar panels)
- Batteries (to store electricity generated)
- An invertor (to convert the direct current (DC) energy produced by the solar panel into alternate current (AC))
In September 2023, St Mary’s, Broughty Ferry installed a 15.48kw solar array, three 5.8kw solar batteries and a 10kw solar invertor for £27,650.
Saving
The saving on your electric bill will depend on a number of factors, such as the number of solar panels and batteries installed, usage of your church and how much you receive for exporting excess electricity to the grid. However, our case studies can help.
Saint Andrew’s, St Andrews:
- Saint Andrew’s in St Andrews generated in 28 months the amount of electricity that is currently used by the Church in five years.
- Saint Andrew’s has reduced its annual electricity bill by around 25%.
St Mary’s, Broughty Ferry:
- The solar installation provided 70% of the building’s electrical energy during 2024.
- The 5650kWh exported to the grid earned £850 through Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) payments.
Batteries are needed to store electricity for evenings and it will still be necessary to purchase grid electricity in the winter months, but despite this, there are demonstrable savings. St Mary’s use Solax Power, a smart phone app to monitor the performance of their solar panels. The image below shows the performance of the panels during each calendar month of 2024.
Whilst the daily Standing Charge will still apply, there is a further financial saving because whilst VAT is charged at 20% for high consuming businesses, lower consumers are only charged 5% VAT. St Mary’s has reduced its consumption to the level that it only attracts VAT at 5%.
Your electricity supplier should provide you with a rebate for the electricity exported to the grid, but the rate will depend on your supplier. You can apply through your electricity supplier for Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) payments for this exported energy. St Mary’s had to get their meter changed to record exported energy before payments commenced.
Aesthetics
Churches have a major asset – large roofs which are usually east-west orientated, resulted in one south-facing side. Solar panels do not have to be intrusive nor situated on the highest rooftop.
At St Mary’s Broughty Ferry, solar panels were positioned on the main roof (Roof A in the image below). The panels are unintrusive due to the double-pitched roof, and the elevated position of the building in relation to the street and railway, which means Roof B obscures the view of Roof A (see image below).
Saint Andrews, St Andrews is an example of successful installation on a listed building in a conservation area. There will be an in-person Solar Panel Open Church Event at Saint Andrews, St Andrews on 24th April – you can find more details and register to attend here.
For any further advice, please do contact the Net Zero team.
Neil Rawlins, Carbon Projects and Data Officer and Bethany Nelson, Empowerment Coordinator
