How solar panels caused a ripple effect of sustainability for one Irish family

When an Irish family of five found themselves spending thousands on electricity bills, they knew something had to give. First driven to make energy-efficient choices in order to save money, once they got the ball rolling, they began to understand the positive impact of these sustainable decisions, with a little help from Pinergy Solar.

Thomas Kent, a design manager for Arc Engineering, and his wife Eileen, a teacher, started their green energy journey by installing a heat pump in their house. The pump is a really sustainable source of energy, but running it can bump up the price of electricity bills. Their household, with three kids under ten, was spending around €3,600 on electricity. They needed a way to offset some of this. Thomas did his homework and decided Pinergy Solar was the perfect partner to provide his family’s solar installation.

The Kents knew adding solar panels to their home energy system would let them make their own electricity. They could then use this instead of electricity from the grid, meaning their bills would go down. One sustainable change usually causes a ripple effect, and when Thomas and Eileen added the panels to the heat pump, it turned their house into a micro-generating system. “Microgeneration allows you to sell excess energy from your panels back onto the grid,” Thomas explains.

Pinergy Solar came out to survey the house and recommended a set of ground-mounted panels. The sloping site was a tricky spot for the installation, but Pinergy Solar’s technical team solved the problem by setting the panels at a five-degree angle. A total of 21 panels were installed 75m away from the garage, exposing them fully to the sun and still leaving plenty of space around the family home. Speaking on his experience, Thomas says: “Since it was ground-mounted on a hill, we had a few more things to work out. Thankfully, the Pinergy Solar team are very knowledgeable and are very quick to come back to us on any questions.”

Since the panels were put in last June, they’ve supplied 67% of the family’s electricity, hitting Thomas and Eileen’s target of offsetting their energy costs. The whole family’s habits have changed too. When the sun is out, the Kents take that as a green light to run appliances. The Pinergy Solar team set the household up on the monitoring app, which, along with the installation of a new Smart Meter, lets them know exactly what electricity they’re using. These all help keep costs down.

The Kent house is built on Thomas’ parents’ land, but Eileen’s father has panels too. Microgeneration has become a source of pride for Thomas, and friendly competition: “It’s like checking the news. I look at it every day just to check out the power that we are using, and I compare it to the father-in-law!” he says. And best of all, the Kent family knows they’re doing even more than before for the environment. “One reason was to save money, but it was more about doing our part to be sustainable.”

To find out more about Pinergy Solar’s offering, visit their website today.

Imagery via Damien Eagers / Coalesce