Heat Pump, Solar Panel, Rainwater Harvesting and Wind Turbine product journal

Will Solar PV Panels increase the value of my home?

July 8th, 2010

Installing Solar PV panels has shown to increase your home’s value, shows research carried out in Europe and the United States. The research shows that homes typically sell for £6,500 to £13,000 more than comparable homes without PV. The value is often more than the initial investment to install the system to begin with.

A survey on 2,700 adults in the UK found that, a third of those questioned, responded that they would be willing to pay more for a house with a solar photovoltaic installation, and more than half of those questions would also be interested in looking to whether solar panels would be suitable for them and their home. These findings would suggest that despite the initial outlay costs of installing solar panels, it seems that adding a renewable energy option to your home will go to add financial viability. Philip Sellwood, chief executive of the Energy Saving Trust suggested that it also seems that Britons are willing to pay more for a property with a renewable energy source, which could be as attractive, if not more, to a house hunter as a new fitted kitchen.

Posted in News, Solar PV Panels | 1 Comment »

Heat Generation Grants Closed – Good or Bad?

June 2nd, 2010

The Government announced that heat generation grants from the Low Carbon Buildings Program (LCBP) are now closed to new entrants.

On the face of it this is bad news for heat generating renewables, however most of us were already aware that these grants would be brought to a close within the next 8 months due to the impending Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). In addition many felt that the LCBP grants were too small to properly influence a buyers decision, meaning that anyone claiming the grant would have made the purchase anyway. From this respect it should and will not deter people from making the decision to fit a heat pump or solar thermal panels.

What does this mean for the RHI?

The new government have not given any specific guidance in respect to the RHI at this stage. Closing the LCBP grants does mean that there are extra funds to inject into the RHI. There is also wide acknowledgement that to make a significant impact on the CO2 output from domestic homes we must focus on the methods used for home heating and hot water. The majority of CO2 emitted from a domestic home can be contributed directly to space and water heating and this is an area which now has no direct government stimulus to modify homeowners behaviour. Having said this for many people fuel prices alone provide a massive incentive to heat our homes more efficiently.

The government also made clear this week that they intend to stick to targets to make all new home built from 2016 to be zero carbon.

Posted in Heat Pumps, News, Solar Water Heating | No Comments »

PV & Wind FiTs – Who's Eligible?

May 24th, 2010

With the subject of FiTs and ROCs flying around everywhere, it’s hard to know – Who’s entitled to what…

FiT: Came into force in the UK on April 1^st 2010.

ROC: Came into effect in the UK on April 1^st 2002.

All technologies commissioned on or after 15^th July 2009 are entitled to the new government incentive of 41.3p/kWh produced under the FiT scheme. All technologies before this date are only entitled to 9p/kWh. This only applies however, to those that were receiving ROCs.

If you don’t fit into this category, then things begin to get a little complicated. Take a look at our FiT and ROCs eligibility flowchart which can help you get to the bottom of any queries. Answer the questions accordingly to find your answer.

Unfortunately if your system was installed before 15^th July 2009 and isn’t accredited under RO then you will not be eligible for the FiTs.

Any installations from July 15th 2009, installed by Intelligent Energy Solutions, are eligible for the FiTs!

The following websites may also be of benefit to you, to see if you are eligible:

Posted in News, Solar PV Panels, Wind Turbines | No Comments »

Feed In Tariff Factsheet

May 12th, 2010

Intelligent Energy Solutions launches their new factsheet for the Feed in Tariff (FiT). The factsheet includes:-

Information about the feed in tariff for both photovoltaic and wind power systems
List of frequently asked questions
A worked example of how to calculate the available revenue/savings
A guide as to how to apply for the FiT

You can view the Feed in Tariff fact sheet here. If you have any problems downloading please contact us.

Posted in Solar PV Panels, Wind Turbines | No Comments »

Solar Panel Cost

May 7th, 2010

The primary question that most people are interested in at this moment in time is “What are the costs associated with Solar Panels?”
The first thing to determine is which type of panel you are most suitable for you. As a general rule of thumb we would advise that solar thermal panels (for heating domestic water) are the lowest investment cost starting from around £3000 (inc VAT, after £400 grant). PhotoVoltaic panels can offer a much higher rate of return but requires a larger initial investment.
PV solar panels historically were less cost effective than solar thermal panels but due to the massive government incentives that came into law at the beginning of April this year (2010) PV panels are very much the panels of choice for the discerning investor.
As an example a 4kW PV system can cost around £18,500 (inc VAT and scaffolding), this will generate around £1800 per year in revenue and savings, this gives a return on investment of almost 10%. It is also worth remembering that this revenue is tax free which, for a high rate tax payer, is the equivalent to a 16% bank account.

Posted in Solar PV Panels, Solar Water Heating | No Comments »

Affordable Solar Energy – PV & Thermal

April 7th, 2010

How affordable is solar energy today?

The government has and is making massive changes to how solar panels operate in commercial and domestic premises.

Solar Photovoltaics

With the new Feed In Tariff (FIT) paying up to 41.3p/kWh for every unit of electricity generated solar photovoltaics (PV) are now an investment that cannot be ignored. For example a 4kW PV system can now offer a Return on Investment of up to 10% tax free. This makes solar PV more affoardble than ever.

Solar Thermal

Does this leave solar thermal systems out in the cold. Well, not for long. The government outlined a new Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) that is planned to come into law in April 2011. This scheme plans to pay 18p/kWh for every unit of heat generated by the system. The RHI will certainly put solar thermal system back on the map.

So our conclusion is that Solar Panels have never been so affordable.

Posted in Solar PV Panels, Solar Water Heating | No Comments »

Ed Miliband announces "green loan energy plan"

March 8th, 2010

Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Miliband has announced a "green loan" energy plan for homes, to help people pay for improvements to their homes to make them more energy efficient. Home owners can borrow up to £10,000 to make improvements to their home.

Consumers will be offered long-term loans to install insulation, solar panels or other green technologies, which they can repay through energy bills, spreading the upfront cost over a number of years. The loan remains attached to the property where the technology was installed, allowing the resident to move house, knowing the new owner has taken over the repayment for the technological system.

The Pay As You Save (PAYS) scheme, which was first announced last year, has already been trialled by around 500 homes. Loans are expected to be available from 2012.

Posted in News, Renewable Energy | No Comments »

Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for Solar Thermal Panels

February 28th, 2010

The government has announced a new feed in tariff for low carbon heating technologies. This is planned to come into effect in April 2011 and will guarantee payments for those who install solar thermal systems.
Under the proposed tariffs the installation of a solar thermal system will provide an income of 18p per kwh of heat produced.The installation of solar thermal panels in an average semi-detached house with adequate insulation levels could be rewarded with £250 a year plus an additional saving on fuel.

This makes already solar thermals even more attractive from a financial and environmental point of view.

The consulation documentation can be found here:-

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/rhi/rhi.aspx

Posted in News, Solar Water Heating | No Comments »

Economy 7 – Is it worth it?

February 26th, 2010

Many of our customers have historically been signed up to an economy 7 package.

Given the name I can understand how people would assume that it must be good value. Consumers often forget that to receive a very attractive night rate you must pay more for electricity during the day.

This means that the savings are not always there. To prove the point I have done few basic calculations.

Is 40% of your total electricity usage at night?
Typically economy 7 rates are presently in the region of 15p/kWh during the day and 5p/kWh at night. A typical standard rate is 11p/kWh for any time usage.

This means that for Economy 7 tariff to save the home owner money they must use around 40% of their electricity at night. For homes that are heated with storage heaters this is easily achieved but for home that use gas or even a heat pump this is often not the case.

For most people even putting the washing machine and an hot water cylinder immersion heater on at night will not increase night usage to 40% of their total.

I am not saying that Economy 7 is a waste of time but it is important to realise that it is not always the cheapest option.

Posted in Heat Pumps, News, Renewable Energy | No Comments »

Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for Heat Pumps

February 22nd, 2010

The government has announced a world first in a feed in tariff for low carbon heating technologies. This will come into effect in April 2011 and guarantee payments for those who install ground source heat pumps and air source heat pumps.
Under the proposed tariffs the installation of a heat pump will provide an income of 7.5p per kwh of heat produced for air source heat pumps and 7p/kWh for ground source heat pumps.
The installation of an air source heat pump in an average semi-detached house with adequate insulation levels could be rewarded with £1,000 a year and lead to savings of £200 per year if used instead of a conventional fossil fuel system. This means that the payback for a heat pump is under six years, and if you are replacing a boiler anyway, then the payback is only 3.5 years.

So these systems are now enormously attractive from a financial and environmental point of view.

Ed Miliband, secretary of state for Energy and Climate Change said “The guarantee of getting an income on top of saving on energy bills will be an incentive to householders and communities wanting to make a move to low carbon living. The feed-in tariff will change the way householders and communities think about their future energy needs, making the payback for investment far shorter than in the past.”

The consulation documentation can be found here:-

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/rhi/rhi.aspx

Posted in Heat Pumps, News | 2 Comments »

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