What people have said about us:

“I would be happy to recommend Athena Electrical. The team is reliable and efficient with great attention to detail ... and it’s great to have a few women around for a change.”

Imelda Redmond

“We’re very glad that we went with Athena. Their quote was competitively priced among the four quotes we took from national and local companies. They spent time discussing the project with us, making sure they knew what we wanted and that we understood what we needed to about solar energy. They are commited to good workmanship and green energy. We recommend Athena.”

Bernard, N16

“The service was excellent, and unstinting. Sylvia Haller, in particular, went beyond the requirements of the contract to ensure that the work was done in accordance with local authority requirements. Everyone involved was friendly and helpful, and I would recommend them with out hesitation.”

Tim H (Hitchcock)

“Both Sylvia and Viv were very knowledgeable and explained lots of useful stuff to me - which helped me with getting other quotes as I then knew what to ask. They offered three different options and Viv spent time (on a Sunday!) talking these through with me. The electricians and roofers doing the installation were friendly, careful and considerate (and kept the place clean). Extremely professional work throughout. Too early for me to say whether my expectations are met regarding the power produced and any future savings I may make on electricity costs (only had it for a few weeks) but I'm just pleased to be part of producing power in a clean, positive way and reducing my carbon footprint a bit.”

Alison Rayner

“Really good, sound advice from the very beginning about the viability of installing solar on an east-west roof. Easy to contact, quick replies to any detailed questions we had. Provided a competitive estimate, in good detail.”

Philip Pearson

“Athena have been excellent suppliers - great technical knowledge, good communication, timely installation and clear advice and information throughout. The extra bonus was that they tidied up after their contractors so thoroughly we hardly knew they had been here! Most importantly, they have helped us reduce our carbon footprint by at least 30%. Lovin’ it!”

Jo Clare

“Viv (who owns the company) gave fantastic service – she always responded quickly to queries, which was particularly impressive given how busy Athena were just before the reduction to feed-in tariff. All the Athena staff and their subcontractors were courteous and friendly during the installation.”

Mandy H


Click here to read more recommendations and view Athena Electrical's customer rating page on YouGen's website.

Case Studies

Alconbury Road, London E5
2 roofs L shape, 16 Modules 4kWp system with Micro-Inverters.

The main roof and back extension of this Victorian terrace accommodate a 4kWp solar PV system, which is the maximum size permitted to qualify from the higher rate payments under the Feed-in-Tariff scheme.

16 Panasonic Hybrid solar panels producing up to 240W each are spread over the two roofs to minimise shading from typical obstacles like chimneys. To maximize the output this system uses Micro-Inverters, which offers further advantages:

  • no need for high voltage DC cabling from the roof to a central inverter;
  • ready to use AC electricity supplying home appliances instantly; -
  • built-in monitoring software allowing the customer to watch the ‘real-time’ performance of every single module via a free dedicated website.
  • Reduction in the negative effects of shading.
  • With 6 panels facing south-west and 10 panels facing south-east, this generator has produced 2000kWh in the first seven months.

    To make the most of the free solar electricity an ‘Optimmersion’ (Energeno) was installed. This device detects and re-routes any surplus solar energy to the Immersion heater to keep the hot water tank at the chosen temperature and so reducing the need of the boiler heating up the water. On 27th September David e-mailed us to say “The gas charge is down to £8 per month, I think because the hot water is all from the solar”.

    This very happy customer also installed a CHP boiler (Central Heating and Power), gaining even more in-house generated electricity. This boiler is 100% efficient through its ability to convert surplus heat into electricity, earning 10p per KWhour under the CHP FiT scheme.

    System Cost: £10,500 

    Estimated energy output: 3080kWh 

    Expected Feed in Tariff p/a: £475 (at p15.44 rate) 

    Total annual income and bill savings: £787 

    Annual return on investment: 7.8%
    Payback period: 9.5 years

    Paradise Row, Stoke Newington
    Although only a small roof space we managed to
    install a configuration of 10 Solar PV panels that produce a good income for this N16 landlord. In a competitive rental marketplace, our customer is also able to offer reduced electricity bills as an added incentive to her tenants.

    System cost: £9000
    Electricity savings pa: £117
    Total income pa: £ 887
    Payback time: 10 years
    Lifetime benefit: £22,180

    Bouverie Rd, N16
    It’s a small valley gutter roof, allowing only for 8 solar panels on the south-facing side to be installed. That’s why the customer went for the powerful 250Watt Hybrid panels, which are adding up the electricity production to a staggering 2kWpeak system (2000Watt peak at any given moment during a sunny midday in July). The system is expected to produce around 1820kWh (that is 50% of the yearly use of an average household).

    System size: 2kWp
    System cost: £10,000
    Electricity savings pa: £114
    Total income pa: £ 930
    Payback time: 11 years
    Lifetime benefit: £23,500 (tax free and index linked)

    Cecil Road

    14 Sharp NU 185W modules making a 2.6kWp system
    Annual expected output: 2300kWh
    Yearly FiT payments: £995 plus bill savings of £145
    Lifetime benefit: £23,975.00
    Total cost (incl VAT): £11,336.85
    Payback time: 9.8 years
    Annual return on investment: 10.2%

    cecil-road

    Hawksley Road London N16, East – West System 3.92kWp, 2 x 8 Suntech 245W modules

    By utilizing the East and West facing slopes of this 3-storey mid-terrace property, the available mounting area was doubled and we were able to install the maximum eligible system size (<4kW) to benefit from the higher FiT tariff. This installation has two solar arrays: 8 modules facing east, catching the morning to midday sun and 8 modules to the west converting the afternoon and evening sun into electricity. Compared with a south-facing array, east-west solar systems work longer hours and so make up for the minimal losses (around 15%) of not facing south at the optimal angle. The electricity output will cover around two thirds of the annual electricity needs for this property and its inhabitants and guarantees an enormous bill reduction apart from the FiT and export payments for 25 years.

    System Cost: £10,400
    Estimated energy output: 2750kWh
    Expected Feed in Tariff: £577 (at 21p rate)
    Total annual income and bill savings: £797
    Annual return on investment: 7.7%

    cecil-road

    190 Evering Road, London E5, 3 in 1: Multi Green-Roof with Top-Up from the west slope

    This large hipped roof already had a Solar Thermal system installed on the south-facing roof as well as a velux window, leaving limited space or a pv system. By using the highly efficient Panasonic Hybrid 240 Watt panels, we were able to install a ‘staggered’ array of 5 Modules 1.2kWp system producing up to 1050kWh per year. To top this up, a second array of 5 Hybrid Modules were fitted on the west-facing slope of the roof to catch the afternoon and evening sun and add around 700 to 800kWh p/a to the total of this PV system.

    System Cost: £9,500
    Estimated energy output: 1942kWh
    Expected Feed in Tariff: £841 (at 43.3p rate)
    Total annual income and bill savings: £992
    Annual return on investment: 10.5%

    cecil-road

    Evering Road E5, 2.9kWp system, 12 Sanyo Hybrid 240W modules

    An end of terrace Victorian house with its typical hipped roof shape allowing for 12 modules to form a 2.8kW system, producing around 2400kWh per year and replace up to 40% of the annual energy imported from the grid. Being located in a Conservation Area, the Homeowner obtained a ‘Certificate of lawfulness’ from the local planning authorities for this project. Since October 2011 planning restrictions for the installation of solar panels have been relaxed and planning permission is not normally required for the installation of roof mounted solar panels in a Conservation Area.

    System Cost: £13,000
    Estimated energy output: 2370kWh
    Expected Feed in Tariff: £1040 (at 43.3p rate)
    Total annual income and bill savings: £1230
    Annual return on investment: 9.5%

    cecil-road

    Highbury New Park, London N1 - Case Study

    Coping with shading - chimney stacks on London Roofs.

    On most London roofs there are chimneys in various shapes and forms towering above the ridge heights and casting shade on to the solar panels at certain times of the day and as the sun changes its path during the seasons.

    This property’s roof is south-facing and has a large chimney stack to the west, which will affect parts of the array from around 3.30 in the afternoon and lower the output as soon as one of the panels gets shaded. The solution here was to split the array into 2 independent strings, one string connecting all the panels that will be affected by the afternoon shade and the other string connecting the unaffected modules, which are furthest away from the chimney walls and can receive more hours of unobstructed direct sun light.

    System Cost: £10,400
    Estimated energy output: 2318kWh
    Expected Feed in Tariff: £841 (at 43.3p rate)
    Total annual income and bill savings: £1207
    Annual return on investment: 11.6%

    cecil-road

    Carysfort Rd N16 - Case study lead flashing, Slate roofs – lead flashing for solar panel mounting hooks

    Fitting solar PV systems on to slate roofs requires special skills as the steel hooks carrying the mounting system need to be fitted securely to the rafters without leaving the roof prone to leaks where the hooks protrude through the slates. Our experienced roofers are using lead flashing which hugs neatly around the hooks and the surrounding slate tiles are then cut to shape to work perfectly together with the lead flashing.

    cecil-road

    Mapledene Road, London E8 Case Study, Loft conversion with Solar Slates roof-integrated

    As part of loft conversion works at this small 2 bed Victorian terrace house, the solar system has been integrated into the roof and blends beautifully with the new natural slates fitting exactly between the two Velux windows. Two rows of 47W solar slates form a 1.13kWp system should return up to 1000kWh per year, reducing electricity imported from the grid by around 35%.

    System Cost: £6,950
    Estimated energy output: 961kWh
    Expected Feed in Tariff: £416 (at 43.3p rate)
    Total annual income and bill savings: £496
    Annual return on investment: 7%

    cecil-road
     

    © Athena Electrical 2011 | Registered in England and Wales No: 03228401

    Legal | Cookies | MCS certificate number: NIC 1516