Solar PV some amazing feedback

Today over a drink with a user of Solar PV panels, installed a year ago, she told me with great excitement that no only did she receive a £900 for the energy she had produced (12 panels on a south facing roof), she also got a letter from her electricity provider that they were going to reduce her monthly electric standing order from £36 to £15. She was over the moon. Thought to share that bit of good news with you all.

Visit to Julian Marsh's house

18 Feb 2012: DNC writes: "Project Nottingham organised a visit to Julian Marsh's house in the Meadows, Nottingham. Although I have seen it from the outside, and heard Julian's lecture and read the article in the Architects Journal, I hadn't seen the interior. 

Panoramic image of the front, with the house closely touching the neighbours at the corner - significantly reducing their heat losses. The front entrance has steps because it was built before the recent Severn-Trent flood prevention bank was built, and there is disabled access at the side door.

Steel Stair and Bottle Wall - the stair is of bent mild steel plate, and the baluster has stretched flexible PVC curtaining of the sort used in warehouses - a reminiscence of the old Meat Factory on the site. The wall is of concrete shelves alternating with recycled Ecover bottles filled with salt water. This has a high thermal capacity (4 times that of concrete) and soaks up winter sun, and releases it later. I am inspired to start collecting bottles myself now! The grilles in the floor allow cool air from the cavity below the ground floor during the hot months of summer.

 Wood-burning stove and flue at the centre of the house in the double height living space. There is also a large roof light above, cascading the room with daylight. Most of the floor is light cream coloured rubber surface, giving high daylight levels internally.

Rainwater purification filters - these provide most of the cold water, except the main CW tap in the kitchen that remains connected to the mains. The house is heated by a Dimplex ground source heat pump, with underfloor heating. There is a MVHR system for ventilation support, and the ground and first floors have concrete ceilings for optimum thermal mass.

 Teak washbasin in the bathroom - and there is teak flooring in the shower. As the ensuite bathroom is furthest from the stair, it has a concealed door which leads to a fire escape.

Entrance courtyard elevation - the garden is full of raised vegetable beds, and under the walkway is a 4000 litre rainwater storage tank. The PV array is facing due south at the perfect angle. There are more PVs behind the beam above the roof. There are fixing points for a wind turbine that never happened because of opposition from the planners.
  There are many other features, such as the composting toilet, the use of a larder instead of a fridge, the sunspace design of the front facade, the use of flitched parallax beams and columns, multi walled polycarbonate panels, parking space for electric car, and more that make this house totally unique and unrepeatable - it is totally born of the spirit of its location and of Julian's ingenuity."

High Court ruling on Feed in Tariff

24 Dec 2011: It seems that the High Court found that the government were wrongful in pressing ahead with major changes to the Feed in Tariff without considering that the consultation process was not completed, and that the deadlines given have caused untold chaos in the solar installation industry.... and we should not forget some of the inevitable job losses or company closures.

[See the Guardian Report for details. ]

Most people assume that Cameron and Osborne (who seems from his actions and saying to have little regard for the 'Green' revolution) will just carry on regardless of the Court ruling, or of the effects on the Solar industry and customers. 

Why link to Insulation?

When this was first mooted, it was proposed that the higher tariff should apply to houses which meet an Energy Performance Certificate of level "C". Although this sounds at first sight like a good incentive, it reveals, at closer inspection to be just another form of discouragement, and favouring the well off.

   Energy Generation is a different matter from Energy Conservation, and both are excellent, but there is No Reason for them to be so tightly linked, or for one to exclude the other. Should we also make a law that only houses with PV panels should be Insulated? Of course not. That demonstrates the absurdity of the proposal. There are other ways to incentivise insulation, and these are being done.

  Society needs Energy, so why should we not encourage panels to be fixed on garages, barns and old houses that are not easy to insulate? In the same way, there are many buildings than can and should be insulated, but because of chimneys, dormers, trees or hips, they cannot be adapted for photovoltaic. 

    It can cost more to insulate a house up to level C than to fix solar panels. This becomes a charter favouring the rich or the owner occupier, because it requires an expensive operation on the house first, and perhaps a season's delay. 

   What does it do for social housing (especially of older dwellings)? A quick one or two day installation of panels can reduce future fuel poverty for a whole street, but a programme of insulation of a whole street would mean a complex and expensive process of decanting tenants etc. with funds that the local authorities or housing associations do not have.

December PV scramble!

21 Nov 2011: DNC writes: I had an email from Good Energy today to say that they will have staff in the office on Saturday 10th (10-4pm) and Sunday 11th (12-6pm) in December to super-streamline OfGem registrations in time for the midnight deadline of Dec 11th. If you get your installation registered by then, you are on the 43pence tariff for the next 25 years! Some utility companies are telling people that they need 3 or 4 weeks to register, so don't take that nonsense from them - switch!
    I don't normally want to promote one company only, but if they can do this for the customers, it's a benefit for all. Also. I hope they can lose George Monbiot his £100 bet - he bet someone that renewable energy companies can't maintain their prices till  2014... but GE have already maintained their prices without an increase for 4 years - due to the fact that their 'Wholesale Fuel' price is zero - the Wind for their windfarm and the Sun for their customers who are home generators!
     This underlines the fundamental benefit of renewable technology - it trumps all the arguments of people who say that Wind farms or Solar or Hydro is not 'economic'. The fossil/nuclear generators are helped by the many visible and invisible subsidies and economies of scale that the fossil/nuclear systems get - but every other one of these is trumped by the fact that the renewables come free, but the nuclear fossils have a Wholesale fuel purchase price, with competition from others to obtain those fuels, with risks of war or hostilities cutting off the supply.

Want PV? soon, you will need an EPC!

5 Nov 2011: After April 12th 2012, it's likely that householders will have to get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for their house to be eligible for the 21pence tariff. The EPC should be grade 'C' or better. Without this, you may only be eligible for 9 pence/unit.
   This is going to need clarifying, because it seems to be bad news for people in historic buildings who are unable to bring the buildings up to grade C, or those who have to erect panels in the orchard, garage or uninsulated outbuildings because the house is historic, listed or is encrusted with chimneys and dormers. You need EPCs in order to sell a house, so there is now a small industry of EPC assessors. Google EPC and you will find loads, including some companies based in West Bridgford/ Rushcliffe. If your house does not yet meet grade C, then you will get advice from the assessor on how far it can be taken.

How do you get an EPC?
• EPCs are explained further on the DECC website,
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/BuyingAndSellingYourHome/Energyperformancecertificates/index.htm
• It costs between £30 and £70 to get an EPC evaluation, there are many companies offering to do one. See this page:
https://www.epcregister.com/searchAssessor.html
• Here's an example of a EPC for a house in 'AnyTown'
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/319282.pdf

Get your PV quickly!

30 Oct 2011: There are changes to the PV Feed in Tariff coming up, and these will affect newcomers, not those who already have it. The likelihood is that the FIT will drop from 43pence a unit to about 21p a unit. This is still well above the buy-in price of electricity, but gives a slower return - more like 18 years, instead of 8 years.
   This is partially to deter the slap-happy buyer who is doing it for the money, and not considering the quality of the installation, or the better use of their money, for example by Thermal Insulation. The other reason is that the world price of panels has fallen so massively, that the cost of installation has halved in just 2 years - scaffolding labour and inverters are the same, but the Chinese production volume and quality have improved beyond all predictions. Relative to what they have invested, the return (from a micro-levy on all energy buyers) is too great.
  It is a big blow for the Solar industry which has geared up to meet the demand, and now has to diversify or see many new companies closing or merging.
    If you have PV up, but have not yet registered for FIT, do it now! If you are merely thinking about PV, then decide quickly as there may be only a month to get it fitted, and installers will have such full order books that you cannot be 'shopping around for a bargain' - just decide quickly.
See a few links.
http://rushcliffesolar.blogspot.com/2011/10/changes-to-fit.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2011/oct/28/feed-in-tariffs-solarpower
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2120568/feed-tariff-cuts-threaten-kill-solar-pv
http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/news/national-news/122739-consumers-and-industry-react-with-fury-to-leaked-feed-in-tariff-cut-plans.html

Radcliffe Superhome!

20 October 2011: DNC writes: Michael Bedford of Radcliffe has just had his house added to the Superhomes website, which is for retrofit to older homes, using energy saving methods or technology. See:
http://www.superhomes.org.uk/superhomes/nottingham-johns-road
Somehow, I guess that this is one house that will be warm this winter, however bad the weather gets!
This is about the most comprehensive retrofit that anybody could do. Here's a list of the main features:

• 60mm Phenolic foam external insulation 
• 20mm Spacetherm (Aerogel) + Fermaboard panels internal insulation 
• 120mm Celotex floor insulation and 250mm Celotex loft insulation 
• TITON MVHR system 
• Hi-performance ALPHA gas boiler 
• 2.4 SqM solar thermal panel 
• 10x245W Photovoltaic panels  2.45 KWp
  (in the photo, nine are visible, the tenth one cropped from the photo)
• Low energy lighting throughout 
• Low energy appliances

September Heatwave

2 Oct 2011: DNC writes: The heat wave at the end of September 2011 produced 3 successive PV-Maximum days in a row. As it is after the Equinox, these averaged 13.5 kWh only per day on my east facing 4KW array, but it is still nice to have them. The lower daily harvest is due to lower sun angles and short hours of daylight. It's distressing how quickly it gets dark in the early evenings!
    It says something about the summer we have had (a lot of cloudy bright conditions) that that last day that PV was close to a maximum was 14th June, and previous to that it was May 1st and 2nd!
     For those who installed in early 2011, the good news is that 2011 has so far been sunnier than 2010, July and September being notably better.
dnicholsoncole@gmail.com 

Green Street eco housing

Eco Houses are attracting a lot of interest, judging by the speed at which the new homes on Green Street in the Meadows sold. Here are a few paragraphs about this development:

The development, which is a mixture of three and four bed contemporary town houses, comprises 38 homes in total. Designed by Nottingham based award winning architects, Marsh Grochowski, it is positioned next to the picturesque Victoria Gardens on the Trent Embankment.

The scheme builds on Blueprint’s core values of design driven quality and sustainability. Features include solar photovoltaic supplemented electricity, whole-house heat recovery, super insulation and air tightness way above new building standards.

The homes were priced from around £175,000 to £235,000 and were sold nationally by Savills via their Nottingham office and locally by Royston & Lund in West Bridgford. 

Considering PVs for your roof?

If you are fairly local to West Bridgford and are considering PV panels for your roof, why not join a group of would-be PV owners who are getting together to research, and possibly buy, PVs as a group?

This first meeting is for buyers (not for companies who install PV) to get together. Independent expert David Nicholson-Cole of Rushcliffe Solar will be there to provide independent advice on whether your roof is suitable for PV, and how much electricity it might be able to generate.

Just come along to Belle and Jerome in West Bridgford at 7.30pm on Monday 12th September 2011 (we'll be upstairs).

If you are interested but can't make this date, or have any other questions, just email info@wbecohouses.co.uk for more information.

Things you need to know about Insulation and Electrics

With many people thinking about insulating the loft, under the floor and so on, it is perhaps a very good time to draw to your attention to the issues around electric cables.

If, like me, you start to glaze over at the first mention of electricity, don’t worry – there are some very basic facts you need to know, and from there on in you just need to ask a competent electrician.

First thing – don’t just leave your cables going through, within or adjacent to insulation, close to underfloor heating, and so on. They may get too hot and become a fire risk. That’s not to say you can’t put your cables there, it just means….

Second thing - a competent electrician can do the calculations you need, to check what size cable is needed for the particular situation, in case it needs increasing to dissipate the necessary amount of heat.

In addition to your electric cables, watch out for downlighters, which also need to dissipate heat. Some electrical installers just pull your loft insulation out of the way, solving one problem but creating another. (Most downlighters should have fire hoods over them as well, while we’re on the subject.) Again, the solution is a good electrician (with something called a Part P qualification and the relevant experience).

And while we’re here, a reminder that the Wiring Regulations call for the installer of any new circuit to affix a label to the Consumer Unit (old version is a Fuse Box) which indicates when the next inspection is due. If you don’t have one of these, chances are you have not had your wiring checked in 10 years, which is definitely not a good idea.

The process is called a Periodic Inspection and Testing Report (PIR), and there has just been an Amendment to the 17th Edition of the Wiring Regulations released, coming into force on January 1st 2012, when it will then be called the Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). Unless you have been advised differently (because an inspection has found deterioration in your installation), the Wiring Regulations require there to be a PIR done every 10 years, or on change of ownership.

This information has been provided by Helen Hill, who is a member of the Eco House Group, and a qualified electrician.

If you are looking to find a competent, qualified electrician, Helen makes the following suggestions: 

1) Trustmark has a website where you can look for a local tradesperson. It is the government’s approved operator scheme which ensures standards, processes and complaints procedures are maintained. Info at http://www.trustmark.org.uk/key-benefits .

2) The equivalent to Trustmark, if a company is installing renewable energy, is the Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd (REAL) scheme, info athttp://www.realassurance.org.uk/ , and a company does not need to be in both Trustmark and REAL if they do both types of installations. REAL also has a database where you can look up companies to see if they are members of the scheme. They, and Trustmark, also have Deposit protection schemes.

3) Qualifications – some people calling themselves electricians have just done a very short course (which can be as short as 5 days, costing £795) to get the Part P qualification, usually for domestic installations only. For example, kitchen fitters can get a Part P limited scope qualification this way, so they should not do other types of installation. On the other hand, some people spend two years at college getting City & Guilds Electrotechnical qualifications, followed by further qualifications including the C&G 2391 Inspection & Testing. There should be someone in each company who has sufficient knowledge and experience to pass the 2391 in my view, as it is supposed to assess the skills and knowledge necessary to fill in the Electrical Installation Certificate correctly.

4) The Part P qualification means that the electrical company should work to the current Edition of the Wiring Regulations (17th , and an amendment will take effect on Jan 1st 2012), they should issue Electrical Installation Certificates or Minor Works Certificates (needed when selling your house), and they should notify the Local Authority Building Control that work has been done to the standards set out in Part P of the Building Regulations, if the work done is notifiable (such as a new circuit). If the work is done “cash-in-hand” they are working the black market, avoiding VAT administration, and you probably have no guarantees of workmanship, warranties, or safety, as they will not want records of transactions.

5) Trade Associations – most electrical contractors will be members of a Trade Association, so that they can notify Building Control directly through their Trade Association. This is easier and cheaper, as going it alone costs about £150 per notification. Examples of electrical Trade Associations, in no particular order are NAPIT, NICEIC, ELECSA (with SELECT in Scotland) and so on. Another advantage of using one of their members is that they have Work Guarantee Schemes, should the company go out of business.

Help our local eco-school!

One member of the Eco House Group has just sent me this invitation to help a local eco-school win a bid to get some solar panels. It's only a case of following the link below and clicking a button. If you can spare a minute, please do!

Edwalton school, 3 times green flag eco-school has just been shortlisted for the winner of the Times Educational Supplement sustainable school of the year award. The school has also just become the First Primary School in Britain to be awarded with interim accredithation by 'Specialist Schools and Academies Trust' for Rural Dimension - March 2011. Edwalton has a long and proud tradition of environmental awareness and the children reflect these values in their caring attitudes towards nature, animals and others.

None of these wonderful green accolades however come with funding, Edwalton like most other schools has had to absorb significant cuts in it’s budget this year. To help fund the school farm and the schools continued commitment to environmental suitability the school is bidding to win funding for solar panels from the energyshare fund.

You can help! To get through to the next round of the funding application the school has to collect supporters, all you need to do is visit the schools energyshare page and click the red ‘support this group’ button. The deadline is the 30th of June.

PV Milestone reached!

28 Aug: DNicholsoncole writes: Today, in the Peveril Solar House, the PV roof galloped through another milestone, that of 3,000 kWh generation since it was installed last October - that is magnificent! about 200 more than expected in one year, and still a month to run before the anniversary! Three megawatts sounds like a lot to me, and we've done it in under 11 months.
   Once the Feed in Tariff has been running for a year, this sort of performance will be bringing in over £1,500 a year, and in our case somewhat more, as we use more of our own power than the average house - having a Heat Pump for heating.
  And for anybody who still doubts, we had a negative electricity bill this week. This doesn't mean that the house meter goes in reverse, it was negative because they owed for power generation prior to April 1st, and also their previous bill was based on an estimate of normal consumption, when our real daily import at this time of year is abnormally low, less then half that of a year ago.