week ending 24 August 2012
November FiT Rates
Ofgem has released its official installation figures for May, June and July which determine what the feed-in tariff rates will be starting from November 1. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has identified three capacity bands in which installed capacity is monitored: Domestic Scale (0-10kW), Small Commercial (10-50kW) and Large Commercial installations (50kW-5MW). The installation levels in each of these bandings will determine how much the various FiT banding rates will be reduced by. Installations in the domestic-scale banding stood at 163.769MW. As this lies in between 100-200MW this will enact a 3.5 percent tariff digression on the existing 4kW tariff band (16p) and >4-10kW tariff band (14.5p). From November 1, the 4kW FiT rate will be 15.44p while the >4-10kW FiT rate will stand at 13.99p.
Solar Portal 24th Aug 2012 more >>
Commercial Retrofits
A growing number of companies are realizing the social, environmental and cost benefits of retrofitting their buildings. Earlier this month, accounting giant Ernst & Young (ERSNP) announced the completion of an energy-efficient lighting system at its New York headquarters. The project - one of the city’s largest light retrofits - will cut the building’s annual energy use by nearly 2.9 million kilowatt-hours.
Business Green 24th Aug 2012 more >>
Solar Savings
A manufacturer which designs and makes superthermal wetsuits has fitted solar panels to its two sites in North Devon. As a result, Barnstaple and Braunton-based Reed Chillcheater will benefit by around £4,000 a year from the panels as a result of lower electricity bills and income from the Feed in Tariff. The panels were installed by South Molton-based Source Renewable, who designed bespoke arrays, with an 8.4kWp system at its factory in Barnstaple and a 9.6kWp system at its headquarters in Braunton.
Western Morning News 24th August 2012 more >>
VAT Battle
Village halls across the UK are set to lose out on thousands of pounds in energy efficiency savings because of rules from Brussels forcing charitable buildings to pay the full VAT on green goods, such as solar thermal panels and insulation. Chancellor George Osborne is locked in a battle with the European Union over his decision to allow a lower five per cent rate of VAT on some energy-saving materials instead of the standard 20 per cent.
Business Green 24th Aug 2012 more >>
LED Financing
Companies are being offered efficient LED-lighting systems worth up to £150,000 for no upfront cost through an innovative financing scheme launched this week by UK firm Light Planet. The company has raised £5m of venture capital to set up the scheme, which will not tie businesses into loans in the manner of the Green Deal energy efficiency scheme, but will instead see the firm recoup its costs by taking 80 per cent of the energy bill savings that result from the LED deployment.
Business Green 24th Aug 2012 more >>
Community Tidal
A tidal turbine, which ministers claim will be the world’s first community-owned device of its kind, is to be built in Scotland. The Nova-30 turbine will be used by the North Yell community to power an industrial estate and ice plant in Shetland. It will be built by Scottish firms Steel Engineering and Nova Innovation. First Minister Alex Salmond said it showed Scotland was leading the way in offshore engineering. The Nova-30 will be fabricated for Leith-based Nova by Steel Engineering, which said the deal would help to safeguard and create jobs at its facility in Renfrew. Announcing the contract during a visit to Steel Engineering, Mr Salmond said the turbine would be connected to the grid and provide electricity to people in one of the most remote parts of Scotland.
BBC 23rd Aug 2012 more >>
Times 24th Aug 2012 more >>
Scotsman 24th Aug 2012 more >>
Business Green 24th Aug 2012 more >>
Local Authority Emissions
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has released the estimated carbon emissions for all Local Authorities (LA) across the UK for 2010. The figures show that only 12 out of 406 LAs managed to curb their carbon emissions in 2010. Emission rates in 394 LAs across the UK actually increased on 2009 levels, a complete reversal of the trend observed between 2008 and 2009, where emission levels decreased almost universally across the UK.
Solar Portal 23rd Aug 2012 more >>
Solar Care Homes
A major project to build 35 care homes over a two-year period has kicked off with the installation of 300 Kingspan solar thermal vacuum tubes across two sites in Liverpool and Nottingham.
British Builder 23rd Aug 2012 more >>
Solar Reduces Bills
Some consumers in Britain are taking the edge off high energy bills by having solar panels fitted to their properties to generate their own electricity. According to a uSwitch poll, two-thirds of people with solar panels have seen their bills significantly reduced, with the average amount being £82.20 a month.
Boiler Juice 23rd Aug 2012 more >>
Solar Bank
Triodos, a bank that invests in environmentally and socially sustainable projects, has reduced its carbon emissions through its recently installed solar panel array at its headquarters in Bristol. The bank installed 40 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to the roof of its offices earlier in the year and is on track to generate almost 9,000 kilowatt hours of clean electricity a year from the array.
Edie 23rd Aug 2012 more >>
Solar Stalls
The latest solar installation figures released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) show that the UK solar industry is continuing to suffer from a serious slump in installation rates following the introduction of fresh FiT cuts in August. Total 0-50kWp installations between August 5-19 stand at an extremely disappointing 1,155 – a full 88 percent lower than three weeks ago. Of the 1,155 installations, 99 percent were small domestic systems in the 0-4kW banding. Unfortunately, DECC does not provide any distinction on the type of installations performed. Therefore, it is impossible to know how many of the 1,138 installations were carried out by so-called ‘free solar’ companies. The last two weeks have seen just a dozen installations completed in the 4-10kWp banding and an incredible five installations in the 50-100kWp banding.
Solar Portal 23rd Aug 2012 more >>
Solar & Green Deal
October this year heralds the start of a possible game-changing Government initiative called the Green Deal. The Green Deal will open up the residential improvements market as never before by removing the need for householders to fund the cost of energy efficiency up front through the use of an innovative type of loan secured against the energy meter of a property, rather than the householders themselves, and is based on a principle known as the ‘Golden Rule’ that ensures the cost of financing the installed measures is less than the energy saved by their installation. This article will focus on why Government has developed this scheme and how will it will realistically affect the solar installation industry.
Solar Portal 23rd Aug 2012 more >>
East Midlands Airport
STAFF at East Midlands Airport are celebrating after reaching their goal to become the first airport in the country to make all ground operations carbon-neutral. It has invested £4 million in renewable energy sources, including a wind farm. It is the first UK airport to plant an on-site 26 hectare willow farm, which produces fuel for a bio-mass boiler installed in the terminal building. It also became the first airport in the country to install two on-site wind turbines, providing 5% of the airport’s electricity.
Derby Telegraph 23rd Aug 2012 more >>
Durham Solar
A husband and wife whose passion for solar energy led them to set up their own business have urged homeowners not be put off by recent reductions in tariff payments. Ian and Lindsey Reed set up Durham-based Home Solar Saver Co late last year and their business is now starting to grow. They say that despite the Feed In Tariff – payments made by energy supply companies to people using renewables – being reduced from August 1, homeowners and small businesses can still be better off with solar. Mr Reed explained: “A lot of people think that it isn’t worth using solar energy since the tariff changed, but we have a ground-breaking system available that leaves our customers much better off than if they use conventional systems.” Home Solar Saver uses a wireless monitoring device that ensures that their customers use as much as possible of the free electricity rather than it being returned to the grid.
Bdaily 22nd Aug 2012 more >>
Dundee College
Dundee College wants to build a 170ft wind turbine at its Kingsway campus.
Courier 22nd Aug 2012 more >>
Wind Co-op
MORE than £300,000 has been invested into a Forest wind turbine in just four weeks. More than 15 people have invested £330,000 in the 500kw turbine project at Great Dunkilns Farm, near St Briavels; the UK’s first wind turbine to be financed “democratically”. The turbine is the brainchild of a company from Woolaston, which is employing local businesses to do as much of the building work on the site as possible.
Gloucester citizen 22nd Aug 2012 more >>
Solar Thermal Arts Centre
AN arts centre has been given thousands of pounds to put towards its new energy system. The Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, in Hawthornvale, Newhaven, reopened recently following a year-long renovation. The purpose-built facility was handed an £8000 grant from the ScottishPower Green Energy Trust to pay for the installation of a complex solar thermal heating and hot water system.
Scotsman 22nd Aug 2012 more >>
Olympic Energy
The Guardian has reported that around one million visitors accessed the Olympic Park via a tiled walkway where their footsteps powered the streetlights using a hybrid technology that converts kinetic energy into electricity.
H&V news 21st Aug 2012 more >>
Highlands and Small Turbines
The Highland Council has prepared planning guidance for Small-Scale Wind Turbine Proposals and is asking for people’s views on it. From tomorrow (23rd August) the draft guidance is available to view on the website www.highland.gov.uk and in local Highland Council Libraries, Service Points and at Council Headquarters in Inverness. The consultation runs until 4th October 2012. The Council is supportive of appropriate renewable energy developments, including micro and small-scale schemes. The Highland Renewable Energy Strategy sets out this broad support and recognises the potential for different types and scales of scheme to contribute to meeting energy needs.
Caithness Business Index 22nd Aug 2012 more >>
THE public is being asked to comment on new planning guidelines for the growing interest in small-scale wind farm developments in the Highlands. A draft guidance on wind turbine proposals, many of which have caused considerable controversy, has been produced by Highland Council. Thomas Prag, chairman of the Planning, Environment and Development Committee, said: “The council supports the principle of renewables - including wind energy. “Small scale turbines are part of that, but they can cause quite a bit of controversy locally, so we need a consistent approach to judge each application on its merits. “This draft guidance aims to set out the framework on which each decision will be based.
Scotsman 24th Aug 2012 more >>
Aviva buys Solar
Aviva Investors, an arm of the giant insurance group, and HomeSun have completed a deal under which Aviva will acquire the solar developer’s 23MW portfolio of residential photovoltaic systems in a transaction worth around £100m. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition gives Aviva ownership of HomeSun’s portfolio and access to the related feed-in tariff payments, which will provide 25 years of returns.
Modern Power Systems 22nd Aug 2012 more >>
LSE goes solar
The London School of Economics (LSE) has revealed it completed two major new solar arrays ahead of the latest wave of cuts to government feed-in tariff incentives, taking its projected solar output to 75,000kWh a year. The world-renowned university confirmed it has now invested up to £135,000 in six solar arrays deployed by renewable energy firm Myriad CEG at sites across London.
Business Green 21st Aug 2012 more >>
Solar North
Inverness firm Cairngorm Windows said yesterday it had sold £5million-worth of its solar panels in just over a year. Cairngorm launched the solar business in spring last year, but has since fitted hundreds of photovoltaic panels for customers across the north and north-east.
Press & Journal 21st Aug 2012 more >>
Herald 21st Aug 2012 more >>
Solar Farm
Forest Heath District Council is currently considering a planning application submitted by Switch2Renewables to turn 15 hectares of agricultural land into a 7.5MW solar power plant.
Solar Portal 21st Aug 2012 more >>
Birmingham Solar
WORK has been completed on a £250,000 scheme to install solar panels on the roof of the former HP Sauce factory in Aston Cross. The project will meet all daytime power demands for East Ends Foods, which is now based at the factory.
Birmingham Mail 21st Aug 2012 more >>
Lincoln solar council houses
Solar panels have been fitted to the first new council houses to be built in Lincoln for 20 years. Each of the five new town houses that have been built on Wellington Street have been fitted with six solar photovoltaic panels.
This is Lincolnshire 21st Aug 2012 more >>
Renewable Heat Incentive
While the feed-in tariff has been grabbing all the headlines, the UK Government has quietly launched a similar cash-back scheme for solar heating in non-domestic applications. But what is this incentive scheme, how does it work and what are the best opportunities for this technology in the UK?
Solar Portal 20th Aug 2012 more >>
Solar Demand
Businesses welcome plans to change the way government reports on market demand for solar power. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) currently publishes weekly data on solar feed-in tariff uptake, but the figures are drawn from different sources and can sometimes underestimate the actual result by up to 40 per cent.
Business Green 20th Aug 2012 more >>
Heat Pumps
Industry has called for the Government to end distortions in the commercial market for renewable heating by allowing air-to-water heat pumps to compete fairly with other sources of renewable heat. The move comes following protracted exchanges of correspondence between Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker MP and a coalition that incudes the Micropower Council, the Heat Pumps Association, BEAMA and the Heating and Hot Water Industry Council. These organisations called on the Government to stick to its original timetable to introduce a renewable heat tariff for air-to-water heat pumps in October.
Builders Merchants News 20th Aug 2012 more >>
Scottish Insulation Scheme
ONLY 841 of Scotland’s 2.37 million households have taken advantage of a flagship Scottish Government policy introduced to make homes greener as part of world-leading climate change legislation. Three years ago ministers introduced a scheme that offered council tax discounts to home-owners who were prepared to make their properties more environmentally friendly by getting their lofts and walls insulated. The initiative was a key part of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, which has been hailed as the most ambitious attempt to cut greenhouse emissions anywhere in the world. However, a survey of Scotland’s 32 councils, conducted using Freedom of Information legislation, has revealed that fewer than one household a day has taken advantage of the initiative since it became law. Opposition politicians claimed the take-up was “pathetic” and urged the Scottish Government to do more to promote the scheme.
Scotsman 20th Aug 2012 more >>
Hydro Investment
Venture capital firm Albion Ventures has made its first investment in the hydro-electricity sector, providing £1.3m to Welsh company Dragon Hydro Limited in a deal that will enable the development of a 300kW hydropower scheme on the Afon Cadair river in the county of Gwynedd in Wales.
Business Green 20th Aug 2012 more >>
Optimise your solar
Businesses and households that have installed solar panels are being invited to submit data on their performance to a new free service that promises to let them know if their system has been properly optimised.
Business Green 20th Aug 2012 more >>
Eco-Islands
The Isle of Wight could find itself at the heart of global efforts to decarbonise island communities, as the community prepares to host the inaugural Ecoislands Global Summit this October. The Isle of Wight’s own Ecoisland Partnership, which is co-ordinating high-profile plans to make the island renewable energy self-sufficient by 2020, is inviting island governments from around the world to attend the summit on October 16 and 17.
Business Green 20th Aug 2012 more >>
Small Wind
HS Harbon & Sons, a UK-based electrical engineering company, has gone into partnership with local businessman Richard Crowe to set up Harbon Wind Turbines. Harbon Wind Turbines’ aim was to design an advanced concept turbine that would outperform the products of established suppliers. Now the company has created and tested the 60kW HWT60 variable speed wind turbine and has already taken its first orders for the model.
Engineer Live 20th Aug 2012 more >>
A shade greener
Renewable energy specialist A Shade Greener has signed a £50 million supply deal with one of the world’s largest producers of solar panels. Tankersley-based A Shade Greener lays claim to being the UK’s leading installer of free solar panels, employs more than 600 people, most of them in South Yorkshire, and reckons to have saved 11,000 homeowners £4.5 million on their electricity bills.
Sheffield Star 20th Aug 2012 more >>
Local Authority Finance
Local authorities are increasingly interested in the potential for investments in energy efficiency and demand reduction to provide significant savings in energy costs, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and wider economic and social benefits. A number have started to take action at scale on the low carbon agenda; examples include Birmingham City Council’s intention to refurbish 200,000 properties by 2026 and Leeds City Region’s commissioning of an assessment of the costs and benefits of taking action on climate change. As yet, however, investments in low carbon cities fall short of their theoretical potential. A key reason for this is the scale of capital required. For example, for Leeds to finance all of its available investments in energy demand reduction, billions of pounds would be required - a level that dwarfs the amounts of investment being proposed by initiatives like the Green Deal.
Guardian 17th Aug 2012 more >>
Micro CHP
Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited (CFCL) has made its BlueGen micro combined heat and power (micro-CHP) fuel cell available in the UK at a new lower price, starting from £19,950. The price excludes installation and any accessories but does include VAT, set at a special rate of 5% for energy efficiency products. The BlueGen can provide up to 13,000 kWh of electricity per year and up to 200 litres of hot water per day, saving 3-4 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year in comparison to conventional technologies. It is the first domestic fuel cell to be accredited by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), allowing it to take advantage of the UK Government’s feed in tariff cash-back scheme for micro-CHP.
Fuel Cell Today 17th Aug 2012 more >>
Cold Solar
Eco Environments has carried out its biggest commercial project to date when it installed almost 1,700 Hyundai solar panels on behalf of temperature controlled storage and distribution specialist Cold Move.
Energy Management 17th Aug 2012 more >>
Solar Farm Oversubscribed
THE chance to buy shares in the world’s largest community owned solar farm has been over-subscribed by almost 50 per cent. It was originally hoped the offer at Westmill Farm, near Watchfield, would raise £4m but organisers say it has attracted a total of £5.98m from would-be investors.
Witney Gazette 17th Aug 2012 more >>
FiT Fiddle
SCOTLAND’S greatest science fiction writer claims he has been short-changed out of thousands of pounds after putting solar panels on his roof.
Deadline 16th Aug 2012 more >>
Bradford’s Solar Hospital
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is improving its carbon footprint with the help of a renewable energy firm. The Trust has brought in Eco Environments to handle the installation of almost 200 solar panels across Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital.
Telegraph & Argus 16th Aug 2012 more >>