“Get some”

Paul Kniveton has lived in his Broadacres bungalow for 17 years, having moved up from Cornwall. When his home was chosen for rooftop solar under Broadacres Housing Association’s Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF) Wave 3 programme — the retrofit scheme RPS is delivering across Yorkshire — the installation was quick and the difference was almost immediate. Just a week after switch-on, Paul was already watching his meter tell a different story.

A quick, straightforward install

For Paul, the process was simple from the outset. He describes it in two words — “easy, straightforward” — and says the communication throughout was good. There was no disruption to speak of, and the panels were fitted and switched on without fuss.

Already seeing a difference

Only a week after the panels were fitted, Paul had started to notice the change. He checks his meter every morning and keeps a note of what he is using — and he is drawing noticeably less from the grid than before.

He has even begun to spot the patterns in his own usage. “Friday is the most expensive day,” he observes — the kind of insight that makes it easier to use power wisely.

A new daily routine

The panels have changed when Paul uses electricity, not just how much. “Yeah, I do it in the day now,” he says.

Where he used to run the washing in the evening, he now waits for daylight hours — when the power his roof is generating is effectively free. “I do my washing when it’s free.”

Real savings on the horizon

Paul reckons his electricity was costing around £1,400 a year for a bungalow like his. With solar now generating on his roof, he expects that figure to fall sharply — “way less,” as he puts it.

Asked what he would say to a neighbour thinking about it, his answer was short and to the point: “Get some.”

What’s changed for Paul

• Solar PV generating electricity on-site, cutting what he draws from the grid

• Using measurably less from the meter just a week after switch-on

• Shifted everyday tasks like washing to free daytime hours

• Expects annual electricity costs well below the ~£1,400 he used to pay

• A quick, straightforward install he’d tell neighbours to “get some”

Easy, straightforward. The communication was good…For a bungalow like mine it was around £1,400 a year — now it’s going to be way less.
Paul Kniveton, Broadacres resident