Buyer beware as rogue solar installers claim 43.3p feed-in tariff

Getting the best out of solar panels

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 16th December 2008 at 4:20 pm

Get a few people with solar panels together (as happened this weekend) and inevitably there's discussion about how to get the most out of your solar thermal system. This is probably because the amount of hot water generated by solar thermal systems is dependent on how we use the system (as was confi…

Posted in: Solar electricity, Solar heat & hot water

Efficiency or cost per watt - which is most important?

Posted by Graham Eastwick on 2nd March 2009 at 1:56 pm

The development of thin film photovoltaics (PV) is progressing fast. It's still not as efficient as crystalline silicone solar panels, but I have read of projects using thin film technologies from single roofs up to large “solar farms” with capacities in the region of 40 MW. Crystalline…

Posted in: Solar electricity

Grants for Solar PV projects on community buildings

Posted by Graham Eastwick on 13th February 2009 at 9:22 am

Grants are in the news again! The tranche of cash recently added to the Low Carbon Building Programme phase 2 looks likely to be exhausted towards the end of this month. If you have a community project that requires funding from this programme, my advice is to make sure that you get the application …

Posted in: Solar electricity

Living the green dream

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 10th February 2009 at 2:15 pm

Comfort and beauty don’t have to go out of the window in pursuit of energy efficiency and low carbon living. It is possible to live in beautiful luxury, with barely a fossil fuel involved. Banish all thoughts of The Good Life, I know it’s true, I’ve just seen the evidence. Recently I visit…

Posted in: General, Energy efficiency, Biomass, Solar heat & hot water

Good Energy rewards renewable heat generators

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 3rd February 2009 at 10:42 am

Solar thermal panels to heat your water just got more attractive with the launch of Good Energy's renewable heat incentive, or HotROC, contract. This means that customers who generate heat or hot water from renewable sources are paid for the energy they create. This is a first step towards putting t…

Posted in: Biomass, Combined heat & power, Solar heat & hot water

Optimising solar pv siting

Posted by Graham Eastwick on 28th January 2009 at 8:34 am

It’s obvious that solar PV systems need as much sunlight as possible – so the ideal is to position them at about 37 degrees to the horizontal (in the UK) and facing due South. Even better, if you can afford one, are tracker systems that ensure the modules follow the sun through the sky – altho…

Posted in: Solar electricity

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

Solar panels are flexible and easy

Posted by Graham Eastwick on 9th January 2009 at 8:35 am

Solar PV (photovoltaic) is a great technology because it is so flexible and easy to manage. In most cases, once you have fitted it and connected to the grid you can forget about it, and watch your carbon emissions and energy costs fall and stay down for the next 25 years or so. One of the many p…

Posted in: Solar electricity

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

PV shipments grow as community grants dry up

Posted by Graham Eastwick on 18th March 2009 at 10:29 am

Shipments of photovoltaic (PV) panels (solar electricity) are growing year on year at a rapid rate around the world. Much of this is driven by multi-MW PV farms or so called Solar Parks. These require large areas of land and are best suited to sunnier climes and places where land is more available. …

Posted in: Solar electricity

Support for microgenerators increased this month

Posted by Graham Eastwick on 20th April 2009 at 8:42 am

Financial incentives for people generating electricity with photovoltaic solar panels (PV) are provided though the system of renewable obligations certificates, (commonly referred to as ROCs). All electricity providers have to buy these certificates each year, in proportion to the amount o…

Posted in: Combined heat & power, Hydro electricity, Solar electricity, Wind turbines

What the renewable energy strategy and low carbon transition plan mean for your home

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 20th July 2009 at 3:01 pm

Households are expected to make cuts in their carbon emissions of 29% by 2020 according to the Government's Low Carbon Transition Plan, announced by Ed Miliband last week (houses currently emit more than a third of the UK's carbon). This will be done through a combination of cutting the amount o…

Posted in: General, Solar electricity, Wind turbines

Siting your PV panels

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 3rd August 2009 at 3:58 pm

When buying photovoltaic (PV) panels to generate electricity for their home, most people put them on the roof. However, this isn't the only place, and may not be the one that gives the best results. Below is John Smith's story about his decision to site his solar panels in the corner of a field…

Posted in: Solar electricity

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

Controlling solar thermal systems

Posted by Gabriel Wondrausch on 10th September 2009 at 9:43 am

The controllers used in solar thermal systems come in many different shapes and sizes and offer a variety of different options. The most basic controllers just have a differential control - this activates the solar pump when the temperature at the sensor on the collector is at a higher temperature t…

Posted in: Solar heat & hot water

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

Solar panels fall in price

Posted by Chris Rudge on 11th November 2009 at 10:30 am

There is both good news and bad news in the solar PV (photovoltaic) installation world. Over the last few months, the cost of solar electricity modules has fallen by anything up to 10%. This is due to an early year slump in demand throughout Europe in caused by the credit crisis. There had also b…

Posted in: Solar electricity

Feed-in tariff: your questions answered

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 8th February 2010 at 12:02 pm

The introduction of the feed-in tariff (known as Clean Energy Cashback scheme) opens a new and exciting era for microgeneration. Here we answer some of the most common questions on the new scheme. If you've got any more, please add a comment below and we'll do our best to answer. The information bel…

Posted in: General, Hydro electricity, Solar electricity, Wind turbines

What is the best solar hot water panel for a small space?

Posted by Gabriel Wondrausch on 31st July 2009 at 8:47 am

Question from YouGen user: I have a 7 year old Solartwin panel on my roof which I believe is performing poorly and is not metered. The company say that the harder water is likely to be too much for the panel and that it needs an indirect panel. Thus I feel I need to replace it. It is a landscape sha…

Posted in: Solar heat & hot water

Renewable energy is coming to a supermarket near you

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 1st March 2010 at 10:31 am

"I'm just popping down to Tesco for a solar panel" doesn't sound right somehow. Maybe it's just me, but I not sure that the entry of the supermarkets into the renewable energy market is a good thing. Sainsbury is first out of the starting gates. It opened Home Energy Centres in three of its…

Posted in: General, Energy efficiency, Solar electricity, Solar heat & hot water

How to read IV charts for PV solar panels

Posted by Chris Rudge on 6th April 2010 at 10:14 am

Q: I'm being offered a Sharp 235w panel instead of Powerglaz 235w. The IV (current/voltage) charts look different. Can someone explain IV for me? A: I've just had a look at the charts for the Powerglaz polycrystalline 660235 against the Sharp NU235 Monocrystalline, and see that they do have diff…

Posted in: Solar electricity

Avoiding the solar cowboys

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 28th April 2010 at 10:01 am

Only one of 14 solar thermal salespeople proved worthy of recommendation in Which?'s recent investigation into solar panel companies. This is devastating news both for the industry and, more importantly, for people wanting to switch to solar hot water systems. Ten of the companies misled research…

Posted in: Heat pumps, Solar heat & hot water

Solar PV installations are held up by a shortage of inverters

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 17th May 2010 at 9:18 am

Delays of up to 17 weeks on delivery of inverters is causing problems for solar panel installers. With demand up because of the feed-in tariff, installers cannot finish jobs on time, as they wait for inverters. 'The inverter situation is pretty drastic,' said Chris Aloise, managing director of Eu…

Posted in: Solar electricity

Six tips to save you from solar panel cowboys

Posted by Paul Hutchens on 28th June 2010 at 9:07 am

Solar hot water is intrinsically an ethical industry. We all want to save the planet don't we? So we need to ensure that unscrupulous companies do not thrive and give us all a bad name! When there is a chance of making a buck or two it will always attract the greedy and less scrupulous businesses…

Posted in: Solar heat & hot water

Solar panels are now an investment opportunity

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 16th July 2010 at 11:40 am

There are lots of reasons people install solar panels on their roof. It may be to protect themselves from rising energy prices, a desire to reduce their carbon footprint, or concern about energy security. Until recently, it certainly wasn't to make money. However, two things have changed. The int…

Posted in: Solar electricity, Green Electricity

Free solar panels: is it too good to be true?

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 11th August 2010 at 8:54 am

Solar PV panels worth £10-12,000, installed on your roof, free of charge - it sounds too good to be true, but is it really? The 'rent a roof' model, as it is known, is proving attractive to installers and investors. A Shade Greener, Homesun and Isis Solar are just three of companies offering the…

Posted in: Solar electricity

Has the purpose of the feed-in tariff changed?

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 23rd March 2011 at 12:07 pm

Do you know what the purpose of the feed-in tariff is? I thought that I did. I thought that it was about lowering the country's carbon emissions, to help us meet our EU carbon emission reduction targets. But, apparently not. According to Alasdair Grainger, the DECC official speaking at yes…

Posted in: General

How to store your solar generated electricity to use in the evening

Posted by Chris Rudge on 11th May 2011 at 9:28 am

Q: I have installed solar panels and am amazed at the power I am creating. This is great in sunlight hours - but has anything been produced to store this power so I can use it in the evenings? This is such a waste of free power, surely someone somewhere must have this on board. It…

Posted in: Solar electricity

Solar PV: how to complain if you've been mis-sold

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 7th July 2011 at 9:25 am

Q: I just received a call from Anglian (0845 296 9668) who were offering an incredible 40% discount on their products. They were claiming you don't need direct sunlight for solar PV, only daylight and that PV can be placed on a north facing roof. Is there someone who I could complain to, as I know …

Posted in: General, Solar electricity

Five ways to recognise a solar shark ... and make sure they don't eat you

Posted by Cathy Debenham on 19th December 2008 at 10:51 am

It used to be double glazing that was renowned for dodgy salesman. Now some of the techniques they used are being kept alive by companies selling solar thermal panels, heat pumps and wind turbines. The BBC and the Mail on Sunday are just two of the media who have been watching out for fins. There…

Posted in: Heat pumps, Solar heat & hot water, Wind turbines