One of the most recent success stories from the solar sector is from Boston Council, Lincolnshire, UK, who have installed solar panels onto the roofs of their leisure centres.

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by Powerhouse Museum
The total cost to the Council for the solar panels is estimated to be £105,000 which is hoped to be recouped within a nine-year period.
The initial install was done via the solar feed in tariff which helped towards the installation costs.
The tariff will give a return on every kilowatt of electricity they produce in excess of their needs. This hopes to earn the centres £260,000 over the lifetime of the solar panels, along with vastly reducing their carbon footprint at the same time.
The head of the Boston City Council, Peter Bradford stated that the energy savings could be up to 80 to 90% over the lifetime of the solar array.
He also stated that the main criteria for the PV panels was to produce good clean, low carbon footprint energy for the leisure centres and taking the centres out of the loop of future energy price increases.
It is not just the financial help with the solar panel install that is of benefit, but also the tariff from all the excess energy you will produce. This has been the main incentive to businesses as income can be generated from the solar panels long-term with very little maintenance.
The basic maths speak for themselves. For example a typical 3 kW solar panel system will cost roughly £10,000 and can produce 2500 kW hrs of energy per year.
Through the solar feed in tariff, this could generate an income of £670 every year, on top of the other savings.
These terms works out better than a regular savings account.
With the economy of scale and more people investing into solar panels, prices will ultimately drop to the point where it will be a complete no-brainer to consider solar panels as an electricity generating option.
Current research is being done all over the globe to make solar panels cheaper to produce, more efficient, more aesthetically pleasing ( especially when installed on listed buildings) and basically cheaper to produce all around.
We’re going to see a bright future, literally, for solar panels as they get more efficient and cost-effective as we move forward.
We are somewhat reliant on government schemes at present, so it is up to individual solar installation companies to provide information and service to make sure clients have the confidence in solar panels moving forward.

If you would like to know about the best solar panels, please contact pvpanelguide.co.uk.