Marlow making a go of Solar!

http://www.generateyourown.co.uk/marlow
Quoting the Good Energy Newsletter it seems Marlow are making good progress with a solar initiative:

"Transition Town Marlow held a really successful public meeting last week to mark the official launch of their Solar 100 Project, which aims to get Marlow residents generating their own renewable heat and power." 

   "Our Microgeneration Team went along to the meeting to show our support and were thrilled to find the auditorium packed with residents who had all turned up to hear Philip, Willi and the rest of TTM explain how all participating residents would be rewarded with a 20% rebate for the cost of their installation if the community reached its target of installing 100 solar systems in 12 months."

    "Hugo House, our Head of Generation Marketing, also delivered a presentation that offered advice on how to finance their solar project, and how the new feed-in tariffs would work."

Does your meter go in reverse?

19 April : Some people ask if the meter will literally 'go in reverse' if you have a good day of photovoltaic generation.  Mine doesn't, it remains static during the day and only moves forward if we do some ironing or use the kettle a lot, or the heating has to be on. After sunset, it rolls along as a normal one would. Chris Brook of EvoEnergy has provided me with an answer:

"Whether your meter works in reverse depends on the type of meter installed. Old style mechanical meters will run in reverse and people with these will get an extra, though unintended, financial benefit. If you have a more modern electronic meter this will accurately record the units of electricity you import from the grid. It will be stationary if the amount of energy you are producing exceeds your current demand. Your [OfGem] generation meter will tell you accurately how much you have produced. In terms of what you export, this will only be measured accurately if your electricity supplier installs an import/export meter. The only energy provider currently doing this is Scottish and Southern Electricity. Other major providers intend to estimate how much you have exported based on the amount generated. As far as we know most are going with a generous 50/50 estimate.

Energy you produce will flow to its nearest point of use. If there is demand within your home this will be nearest. If you produce more than you currently demand the excess will flow to its nearest point of use via your mains electricity cable. In all likelihood there will be demand from one of your neighbours and this is where the electricity will be used. The electricity flows via the grid to your neighbours."

In this way, there is no transmission loss. There are no substations or transformers to go through, which eat energy at the change over. It is another reason why the generous Feed in Tariff can be justified. For every kilowatt used by your or your neighbours, it is saving the heat equivalent of 3 kilowatts of coal in a distant power station.

Loan Scheme for householders - perhaps....

The Guardian has a good article on a new Loan scheme for householders, based on Pay as you Earn from your Feed in Tariff. This is not zero interest, but is low interest, similar to Mortgage rates (which are cheaper than normal bank loans.) And you would still experience much reduced electricity bills, as I do now.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/mar/06/solar-panels-pay-as-you-save
But before you go ahead, note that the article points out that the scheme will take time to go through, and would not complete until after the General Election.
The feed in tariff is agreed by all parties, so that is not affected.

Feed in Tariff replaces grants

Feb 2010: At the time of going to press, Rushcliffe Reports was correct in urging people to hurry to get PV panels installed to get both the Grant and the Tariff.
But shortly after, the government announced that the Feed in Tariff fully replaces the grant - with immediate effect.
    However, do not be disheartened. It is often the effect that after a subsidy is lifted, the market mechanisms adjust, suppliers become more competitive and the cost evens out. In likelihood, this is going to happen because the Feed in Tariff is bringing a rush of business enabling the industry to lower its prices and admit more companies who are competing.

Sudden Surge of interest

Since the item in Rushcliffe Reports, publicising the feed in tariffs etc, there has been a sudden Surge of interest in Photovoltaic roofs, and my mailbox is filling. Please allow me time to cope with this. I will try to get an individual answer to each request.

By the way, the SUNBOX project on my house is working (this is solar heat being pumped deep into the earth for retrieval by heatpump) and can be read about on http://chargingtheearth.blogspot.com/ Whoever heard of a house being heated partially with 'swimming pool panels' ? Well, the panels pump the equivalent of a kilowatt for several hours a day deep into the ground. The heat pump gets that heat out later.

Jeremy Leggett replies to Monbiot

I am glad to see that Jeremy Leggett has provided a spirited reply to George Monbiot's misleading article; you can read it at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/mar/09/george-monbiot-bet-solar-pv
We do not regret our PV at all, it is pumping electricity into the grid very well. In March we have already equalled the whole of February's harvest by the 9th of March - more than 3 weeks to go yet!
In September, I am planning to add another 3 panels on my south wall.

Brignall takes the boot out!

Miles Brignall has a long report in the Guardian Money section, following the announcement of the Feed in tariffs and now the scheme of loans for householders. The cost of installation can be met from the future Feed in Tariff earnings. These, the responsibility and the loan, can be passed on to the inheritors/ buyers of the house if you move on.
  Read the article and give it some good thought. It makes huge sense, and is a good riposte to the destructive article by Monbiot.

Monbiot puts the boot in

I have never disagreed with Georges Monbiot before. But in an article in the Guardian, he has written a horrible diatribe against solar PV which of course throws comfort to the deniers, and conveniently ignores arguments which dent his. I will try to answer some of these, but to place a responding comment on the Guardian website you have to register and create a new password etc, which is so tiresome.
      His argument is typical of those who have come round to the idea of reviving Nuclear power, and is in favour of highly centralised power plants, or offshore windfarms. I cannot believe the naivety of one of his arguments which is similar to the right wing "if you give child benefit to the poor they will only spend it on drink" - in which he argues that you could be paying feed in tariff to families living in uninsulated houses, when they should be spending it on insulation. The reality (which he ignores) is that PV is something that highly conscientious people fit after they have already done the easy things like insulation and double glazing.
  I may add more.. but I am getting ready for an early start in the morning to go to EcoBuild.

Please support early adopters

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Microgenerators/
Please support Microgenerators who had the foresight and generosity to install PV panels or wind turbines earlier than July 2009, but now are penalised with a lousy feedin tariff. Please sign the Petition to the Govt.
I nearly installed these 3 years ago, but was put off by the poor feed in tariff then. But for people who invested at a time when their main purpose was altruistic (because the return was nothing, and the capital cost was higher) this is incredibly unfair.

Guardian make it front page

Feb 7: Well, PV and the Feed in Tariff was on the front page of the MONEY section of Saturday's garden http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/feb/06/solar-power-bright-investment being reported by Miles Brignall as the best thing you could do with capital at the moment - all the things I have been saying about PV panels. If you have 8 or more square meters of roof facing in the right direction, go for it!

Solar Feed in Tariff : Great News!

Monday 1st Feb is the date for the government to announce the decision on Feed in Tariffs. It seems that the rate for generators is better than expected, it will be 41.3p/kWh for domestic PV generators, plus 3p for units sold to the Grid. This is for 25 yrs.
    For people who wait 2 yrs (2012) the amount paid will degress by 8.5%, and by that amount every 2yrs thereafter. So do it sooner!

   Apparently, it will be index linked. We don't yet know if the rate for installations larger than 4kW are progressive or banded, i.e. if we add three more panels, do we get 41.3p for the first 22 panels, and only 36p for the ones after that... or does the whole installation go to the next band? Good news, and it makes the economic calculation for PV even more beneficial.

    I am told that the Nottingham Evening Post are doing a feature article about the feed-in-tariffs on Tuesday 2nd Feb
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn10_010/pn10_010.aspx

An example of Photovoltaic power!

David NC writes, Dec 31: Well I am setting an example with (as far as I know) the largest domestic PV installation in Rushcliffe.
I saw the evidence of the grant and the new April 2010 tariffs and realised that this is a wonderful opportunity. So I now will get totally free energy, all year round, including my heating and hotwater.
The Solar Roof is made of 22 Sharp 180W panels facing East-South-East, so gets most of its power in the morning, and should generate 2800kWhr over the entire year. If I had the same number of panels facing due south, I could expect 3300kWhr. Either of those figures are more than the average annual power requirements of a typical British house and family - but it can generate enough revenue to pay the entire heating costs too!
The result of the power generation plus a record of daily and monthly power and temperatures are published to the internet, and you can see it at Sunnyportal.com
The black panels you see with the scaffolding are Thermal Panels: this is a self build project, for me to put solar heat 48metres deep under the house, for my heatpump to retrieve later. The purpose of this is research into ways to improve the Coefficient of Performance of the heatpump. You can read more about this in the house blog: http://chargingtheearth.blogspot.com/

Welcome to Rushcliffe Solar!

Welcome to Rushcliffe Solar!
Dec 1: Members of West Bridgford Transition went to Rushcliffe Borough Council to present an idea about making a Solar Initiative in the borough. David Nicholson-Cole went with Karina Wells and Hugh McClintock. We met three of the Sustainability team, and presented a powerpoint explaining the ideas.

 David NC writes: "I am doing a pilot study, developing a methodology for what could be a larger project, done by volunteers. I am evolving a Filemaker database structure, with the fields that would be required such as area, orientation, location. We could create a website that people could go to, to get information and register their interest."

David is using Map-Photo analysis, combining Googlemaps and Bing.com aerial photography, and Digimap vectorised OS plans to map the roofs of West Bridgford, (and a bit of local knowledge) assessing them for building type, roof angle, kilo-wattage that could be installed. Main buildings, plus streets, plus some individual houses. Using local knowledge wherever possible, and with a bit of hard work and persistence, identifying 500-1000 prime targets for PV generation. Nottingham Forest, Rushcliffe CC, Notts County Hall, ASDA, the Tennis Centre, Trent Bridge CC, some of the churches, and suchlike are all good for larger installations. But then whole streets have house that are suitable… and many streets have hipped roofs in which none of the houses are suitable.

The end result would be to have an informative website, and to write a very clear colour leaflet setting out the benefits, payback and costs, and then an individual form letter from the database to the householders declaring that their property has been identified in the research project as extremely suitable, and inviting them to ask for further details with a view to having their roof done (with a grant if before April 2010).

To keep this simple, this project is focused on Solar Photovoltaic (PV) – which needs clear roofs. PV is answering the longer term need which is to reduce coal and gas burning for grid electricity - it is essential in the move to 'Carbon-zero' buildings.

[PV is different from Solar thermal which can be fitted with little 2 sqm panels on any roof, and usefully supplements existing heating systems.]