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Posted by Cathy Debenham on 12th December 2008 at 5:29 pm
This is a great week for YouGen to go live, as renewable energy is high on the international agenda. On Tuesday EU leaders agreed that a fifth of Europe’s energy mix should come from renewable sources by 2020. Politicians and green campaigners alike welcomed the decision (“a ray of hope admidst …
Posted in: General, Energy efficiency
Renewable energy grants still available
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 15th January 2009 at 9:23 am
Homeowners who want to install energy generating equipment such as solar panels, wind turbines or biomass boilers will be able to apply for grants until June 2010. It is anticipated that a feed-in tariff should be in place by then, which will incentivise homeowners and communities to invest in micro…
Posted in: General
Bring some heart into renewable energy
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 12th January 2009 at 4:31 pm
I’m fascinated by the psychology of how we spend money. Is it our heads or our hearts that rule? While we probably like to think of ourselves as rational, logical human beings – and we even sometimes spend lots of time researching things to back up our beliefs – my feeling is that the he…
Posted in: General
Low-carbon living = improved quality of life
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 2nd January 2009 at 4:21 pm
Part of the difficulty of encouraging people to invest in low-carbon living is the difficulty of imagining what it will be like. Too much of the media coverage paints a picture of deprivation and hair shirts, leaving us shivering at the thought, and tempted to stick our heads in the sand. Now a…
Posted in: General, Energy efficiency
Microgeneration makes you feel good
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 7th January 2009 at 10:55 am
What makes you feel good? For me, the sun is one of many things. When it pops it's head out on a cloudy day life just perks up. When it streams through my office window on a winter's afternoon, not only am I warmer, but I feel better, and I think I get more done. Watching it light up the hills as i…
Posted in: General, Solar heat & hot water
Great British Refurb gets the thumbs up
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 21st April 2009 at 2:34 pm
Generating your own renewable energy, increased energy efficiency and whole-house eco-makeovers received the thumbs up from the UK public yesterday, according to new research. The survey aimed to establish what is needed for the public to take action to install renewable energy and generation and en…
Posted in: General, Energy efficiency
Blueprint for feed-in tariffs proposed by industry
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 30th March 2009 at 11:58 am
The renewable energy industry presented its proposals for how feed-in tariffs could best be introduced to energy minister Mike O’Brien last week. Last year’s Energy Act outlined plans for a feed-in tariff to pay microgenerators for the electricity and heat that they produce from April 2010. The …
Posted in: General
Will feed in tariffs deliver for us?
Posted by Matthew Rhodes on 27th March 2009 at 7:38 am
I spent most of yesterday at a conference about feed in tariffs, the new incentive mechanism proposed for renewable energy technologies from next April (2010) to replace the existing grant regime. It was organised by the Renewable Energy Association (REA) It is encouraging to see the government …
Posted in: General
Pioneering renewable energy finance scheme wins award
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 8th July 2009 at 8:50 am
Loan schemes and finance for energy efficiency or renewable energy schemes are thin on the ground, so it's always good to hear about a new one. It's especially good to hear about a pioneering new approach that has the potential to be replicated around the country. I recently wrote about Kirklees…
Posted in: General, Energy efficiency
Will feed in tariffs change the market?
Posted by Matthew Rhodes on 7th August 2009 at 9:03 am
The announcement by the Government last month of proposed feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for renewables from next April marks a fundamental change in the way small scale renewables are incentivised in the UK, and is long overdue. There is no question that feed-in tariffs are the right mechanism to use. …
Posted in: General, Hydro electricity, Solar electricity, Wind turbines
Solar panels have never been so attractive
Posted by Chris Rudge on 10th August 2009 at 10:50 am
With the feed-in tariff due to start in April 2010 (after a short consultation period to October) the benefits of installing a solar photovoltaic (PV) system on our houses before the end of the 2009 are probably better than we will ever have again. Simply put, if you have a PV installation befor…
Posted in: Solar electricity
Welsh ease planning rules for renewable energy
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 12th August 2009 at 9:40 am
Welsh planning rules for domestic renewable energy installations have been changed to make it easier for homeowners to generate their own heat and electricity. Following Scotland's lead, the Welsh Assembly has announced new regulations which mean that some microgeneration technologies will no lon…
Posted in: General, Biomass, Combined heat & power, Heat pumps, Hydro electricity, Rainwater harvesting, Solar electricity, Solar heat & hot water, Wind turbines
Feed-in tariffs are not fair to renewable energy pioneers
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 14th August 2009 at 9:17 am
Renewable energy pioneers have been dealt a dismal hand by DECC's proposed rates for the feed-in tariff. Existing microgenerators (whose installation has been accredited under the Renewable Obligation) will be automatically transferred to the feed-in tariff on a rate of 9p per kWh (kilowatt hours)…
Posted in: General, Hydro electricity, Solar electricity, Wind turbines
Off-grid versus on-grid microgeneration in practice
Posted by Matthew Rhodes on 17th August 2009 at 11:57 am
I really needed a holiday this year. So when we arrived at the holiday cottage we had rented in Orkney and saw the 6kW wind turbine outside my heart sank a little. We had accidentally opted for two weeks of off-grid existence – and slightly dodgily designed off-grid existence at that – with only…
Posted in: General, Wind turbines
Existing generators angry at feed-in cuts to income
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 15th September 2009 at 8:32 am
Feed-in tariffs are designed to incentivise people to invest in renewable sources of energy generation. Yet, the government's proposals will give much lower rates to existing microgenerators, leading to a cut in income for many. This seems a perverse move from government. The numbers of micro wi…
Posted in: General, Hydro electricity, Solar electricity, Wind turbines
Solar PV: how to tell the difference between panel types
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 25th September 2009 at 9:50 am
Solar PV (photovoltaic) panels come in lots of different types - mostly with long and complicated names - so it's not easy to know what the difference is. Last night I went to an excellent evening organised by the Sid Valley Energy Action Group - a group of enthusiastic volunteers who promote ene…
Posted in: Solar electricity
Island grid increases energy security aspect of microgeneration
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 28th September 2009 at 10:04 am
Security of electricity supply is one of the main reasons that people install their own solar panels or wind turbine. However, a system that is connected to the national grid currently doesn't afford total control. The benefit of grid connection is that you can sell any excess you generate to the…
Posted in: Hydro electricity, Solar electricity, Wind turbines
Feed-in rate announcement may be delayed
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 24th November 2009 at 4:07 pm
The much awaited results of the consultation on feed-in tariffs may take a little longer than hoped. Internal wrangling between government departments is to blame according to the Guardian, and it's not clear when we're going to find out. Ed Milliband had apparently hoped to have the policy i…
Posted in: General, Hydro electricity, Solar electricity, Wind turbines
What will 2010 bring for microgeneration?
Posted by Matthew Rhodes on 18th January 2010 at 9:39 am
I have a growing feeling that 2010 will mark a watershed in the development of microgeneration in the UK . The introduction of feed-in tariffs (FiTs) from April marks a sea change in established attitudes to small scale renewables, and a very belated attempt by the UK to catch up with the rest of…
Posted in: General
Four reasons the renewable energy grants system is failing
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 22nd January 2010 at 9:31 am
The Low Carbon Building Programme started out with worthy goals for domestic microgeneration. Sadly it is failing to achieve most of them, according to research from the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University1. Goal 1: support a more holistic approach to reducing carbon emissions by …
Posted in: General
500 households to try Pay As You Save schemes
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 1st February 2010 at 8:53 am
Talk on how to finance making your house more energy efficient has turned to action - that's the good news. The bad news is that it's a small scheme that will only reach about 500 households in five areas of England between December 2009 and April 2011. Households in Birmingham, Sunderland, Londo…
Posted in: General, Energy efficiency
Energy efficiency a priority for M&S home insurance
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 12th February 2010 at 9:41 am
Recently I asked whether renewable energy affects your house insurance. In the twittering that followed the blog's publication I discovered a home insurance policy that stands out from the crowd for the approach it takes to energy efficiency. Ever since Stuart Rose announced its Plan A, M&S h…
Posted in: General, Energy efficiency
Conservatives support fair treatment for all microgenerators
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 17th February 2010 at 9:07 am
If elected, the Conservatives will pay early adopters of microgeneration technologies the same rate of Clean Energy Cashback (the government's new financial incentive for renewable generation) as new installers according to a new campaigning website. Charles Hendry, the shadow minister for energy…
Posted in: General, Hydro electricity, Solar electricity, Wind turbines
Barriers to microgeneration part 2: finance
Posted by on 31st May 2010 at 9:37 pm
Initial capital outlay is a major barrier to installing microgeneration systems, whatever someone's motivation. Renewable energy installations can cost from £4,000 to £25,000. Access to sums of capital of this size is not realistic for most UK homeowners. So how do we get around this? Especiall…
Posted in: General
Overcoming obstacles to microgeneration part 3: planning
Posted by on 11th June 2010 at 9:32 am
Planning permission for renewable energy and microgeneration brings up such a wide range of issues that we're worried you might fall asleep at your computer if we covered them all. So, in this blog, we focus on: The process of planning application and approval Planning directives The pr…
Posted in: General
Selling the electricity you generate to the grid
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 20th August 2010 at 10:13 am
The feed-in tariff has made it simpler to sell the electricity you generate, but don't use in the house, back to the grid. It has set standard rates to be paid for electricity generated which are dependent on type of technology and size of system, and all exported electricity is paid at 3p per kWh. …
Posted in: Hydro electricity, Solar electricity, Wind turbines
What types of solar PV panels are there?
Posted by Paul Hutchens on 2nd August 2010 at 9:58 am
Photovoltaic solar panels (PV) come in many different forms. Do you know your polycrystalline from your mono, or thin film from hybrid? No - I thought not, and frankly I do not think I would if I were not in the industry! There are a number of different types of solar photovoltaic systems avai…
Posted in: Solar electricity
Feed-in tariff registration: why is it taking so long?
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 3rd September 2010 at 9:55 am
I've heard a number of complaints from people about how long it's taking to register their solar or wind installation for the feed-in tariff, so when I was talking to Ofgem about grants this week, I asked about that too. It appears that the delay is mostly in migrating installations that were reg…
Posted in: General
Government breaks feed-in tariff promise for early adopters
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 16th September 2010 at 5:44 pm
Tories and LibDems both promised equal feed-in tariff rates to early adopters of renewable energy in the run up to the general election. Now the coalition government has broken that promise and we're calling on early adopters, and others that care about the shift to renewable energy, to let their M…
Posted in: General
Access to finance is a major barrier to microgeneration
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 18th January 2011 at 9:58 am
Access to finance for renewable energy installations is a critical barrier for consumers, especially those for whom renewable heat would have the most benefits in reducing fuel poverty, according to research published by Consumer Focus Scotland. In its report Power at Home, published in Nov…
Posted in: General
Early adopters continue to call for equal feed-in tariffs
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 28th January 2011 at 9:50 am
While the feed-in tariff is being hailed as a great success, and solar PV installations are sky rocketing, the voice of early adopters has disappeared from the media. However, a group of microgeneration pioneers who are receiving just 9p per kWh generation tariff (compared to the 43.1p received by t…
Posted in: General
How grid-connected home-generated electricity works
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 2nd February 2011 at 8:45 am
Understanding how a home microgeneration system switches from solar PV (or wind) generated power to mains electricity and back again is much simpler than you might think. It's all completely automatic and requires no human intervention. The system comes with an inverter, which converts the home g…
Posted in: Green Electricity
Deeming export of electricity for feed-in tariff
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 25th October 2010 at 9:05 am
Deeming is usually associated with the proposed renewable heat incentive, but it is also used in the feed-in tariff to estimate the amount of electricity that is exported to the grid by microgeneration systems. We recently received the following question: "It would be interesting and informative …
Posted in: General, Green Electricity
Three things to consider before running a heat pumps with solar or wind power
Posted by John Barker-Brown on 30th June 2011 at 10:46 am
There is currently a lot of interest in becoming completely self-sufficient in terms of energy and heat. Security of supply, being green, low running costs, etc are all motives for doing this and more and more people are asking is it possible to run their ground source heat pump from their solar pv …
Posted in: Heat pumps, Solar electricity, Wind turbines
Ashden Awards winner lists ways to increase uptake of retrofit
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 18th July 2011 at 10:20 am
Hampshire-based Radian housing association won the Gold at this year's Ashden Awards, for an ambitious and innovative programme of retrofitting hard-to-treat homes and building eco-homes that far exceed the current minimum standards for energy efficiency. Paul Ciniglio, Radian's sustainability a…
Posted in: Energy efficiency
How to maintain and service your ground source heat pump
Posted by John Barker-Brown on 3rd August 2011 at 9:03 am
The Government's microgeneration strategy states: "More work is required on understanding the durability of microgeneration installations, including their key components. We want consumers to be aware, at least in general terms, of the minimum requirements for aftercare service and maintenance for e…
Posted in: Heat pumps
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