Solar panel costs are set to come down if new figures from British Gas are to be believed.

British Gas reckons that the roofs of UK homes could earn upwards of £7 billion, with individual houses earning from between £600 and £1,000, effectively slashing the solar panel costs. The cost of buying a solar panel could, they believe, be completely made back by using the solar panel itself, making this piece of technology certainly worth a thought.

The report believes that over 12 million households are in fact equipped with roofs that would benefit from solar panels. Once fitted, the solar panel would then be responsible for producing electricity that could meet half of the household’s needs.

The Government’s Feed-in Tariff scheme has been developed to encourage their use, with the programme paying owners of the solar panels for the electricity they generate. Households with a solar panel could therefore earn up to £600 a year from having the solar panels installed on their roofs, and those which can accommodate bigger systems could get up to £1000.

Carbon savings are of course the biggest benefit from using solar panels; the average solar panel on a household roof can save up to 692kg of CO2 per year. If every house were to take on a solar panel, then the UK would save roughly 8.5 million tonnes of Co2; an impressive figure for a relatively small nation.

After a period of piloting schemes, British Gas have announced that they are putting a big push behind the offering of solar power to British households. mySolar Energy is believed by British Gas to be the new way forward in solar power, providing end-to-end solar installation service, as well as carrying out assessment of energy consumption in homes, installing the solar panels, and issuing a CEPP (Certificate of Expected Panel Performance) to homeowners should they wish to sell their home. On top of this, British Gas is working with the new government to entwine their offer with the Feed-in Tariff.

British Gas hope to offer two ways in which customers can get involved with using solar power; the first involves British Gas installing the panel at no cost, but claiming the Feed-in Tariff from the solar panel. However, the householders get to benefit from the electricity their panel generates; this has been dubbed the ‘rent a roof’ scheme. The second way in which people can engage with this new idea is to buy the solar panels up front from British Gas, and claim the Feed-in Tariff for themselves; for this, a two year 0% APR has been offered.

Solar panel costs are no longer a thing of myth and legend with British Gas’s new research and report, as well as its push for a more solar-panel oriented nation. They argue that the benefits of having a solar panel vastly outweigh any negatives that customers may have heard, and point to the success of the pilot schemes.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Baxi Boiler Group is calling for co-ordinated thinking when it comes to the Government’s Carbon Emissions Reduction Target scheme, commonly known as CERT.

Whole home efficiency solutions will, says the Baxi Boiler Group, help to both reduce fuel poverty and reach the required level of carbon savings. CERT, which began in April 2008, has placed a 3 year obligation on energy suppliers to meet household targets in carbon saving, targets that are widely perceived as very ambitious.

CERT, as a carbon saving scheme, have given suppliers these targets to promote carbon saving ideas. Ways in which suppliers can meet these targets include promotion of energy saving measures, such as loft and cavity wall insulating, and more efficient heating and lighting.

CERT has accomplished savings that total to 149 Mt CO2, which is around 81% of its 185 Mt CO2 target. Whilst 905 of these savings come from improvements and insulation and lighting, only 43% came from priority groups. With heating measures, a small growth was recorded at 8.5 Mt CO2, with appliances and microgeneration also behind on 5.5 and 0.66 Mt CO2 (respectively).

Simon Osborne, Baxi Group’s Channel Specification Manager, says, “CERT is an important mechanism for delivering efficient improvements in the home. Clearly, installing high efficiency appliances in leaky, poorly insulated dwellings is not the right approach. However, energy efficient boilers, and microgeneration applications in particular, should be playing a greater role as part of a co-ordinated CERT response with cuts carbon emissions with the whole building envelope.”

It is not only the boiler companies and CERT that should be addressing these targets though. “It is important also for Government and the energy suppliers to address the targeting of the scheme. At present, the priority groups most likely to be affected by issues of fuel poverty are not receiving sufficient support through CERT,” adds Simon Osborne.

The call from groups such as the Baxi Boiler Group is one of a more rounded approach, with a wider outlook into cutting carbon emissions.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Coalition Minister Chris Huhne has told The Sunday Telegraph that he’s in favour of wind power as a way of solving the country’s looming energy crisis.

He said that more should be done to harness both offshore and onshore wind power. And these comments are being made against a backdrop of the UK having to currently import around 27% of its energy.

In a situation likely to put pressure on the new coalition, the Energy Secretary made clear his feelings that there was no money for state subsidies in order to build a new generation of nuclear plants. This was the idea which was the preferred way out of the energy crisis for both the Conservative and Labour parties.

And it’s not just a question of the Liberal Democrats being ‘coerced’ into voting for the nuclear power option. As part of the coalition agreement, they are allowed to abstain whenever a vote is taken in Parliament on funding for nuclear power.

Mr Huhne also said that he was a big supporter of electric cars. His comments were part of his general strategy to see that the UK becomes far more independent in terms of producing its own energy. This, he said, would allow the country to withstand external influences, including conflict, that usually send prices rocketing. He argues that the UK cannot survive on oil and gas which is running out.

He said that given the nightmare with planning issues, the best way forward was likely to be offshore wind farms. He told the newspaper:
“Offshore wind, I think partly as a result of fewer planning issues, is likely to be an important part of our energy independence going forward.

“We have a tremendous natural resource in the Dogger Bank, which is an enormous shallow area of the North Sea, the same size as Wales.

“It’s relatively cheap to put wind turbines in that shallow area. It’s beautifully windy so it does actually produce a lot of electricity – that is a really important natural resource for us.”

Yet of the 235 wind farms currently in operation, only 12 are operating offshore. Potentially, these farms have the capacity to generate over 4,000 mega watts of electricity, yet rarely reach that level as the wind is not consistent. As for the future, some five offshore farms are currently in construction, 27 onshore are being built and a further 468 farms are being planned.

As for nuclear power, Mr Huhne said:
“We basically said exactly the same as Labour on the point about no public subsidy. I suspect the difference is that we mean it. I suspect that new nuclear will go ahead. Investors are telling me very strongly that they expect to be able to go ahead given the framework we can put in place.”

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Energy supplier British gas has come with an energy efficiency initiative that is designed to help some of the country’s 50,000 most hard-pressed households cut their bills.

And the energy efficiency initiatives come in the form of assessments and schemes (such as loft insulation) which could cut the average bill by around £250 a year. Some £10 million has been allocated to the scheme.

And British Gas reckon that as well as making savings in terms of their bills, households will also be helping the environment, saving an estimated 10,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

The boss of British Gas, Phil Bentley, said:
“Improving energy efficiency in our homes is the quickest way to cut our bills and lower carbon emissions. And this initiative will particularly help our most vulnerable and hard-pressed families.

“By targeting free energy assessments and other measures at those who need it most, we can make a real difference to the quality of their lives and do our bit for the planet at the same time.”

Working alongside British Gas will be a number of charities including the Money Advice Trust and Scope, the RNIB and the National Energy Action. Local MPs will also be on hand to provide advice and ensure that the energy initiatives are properly targeted.

Those eligible for the scheme include British Gas customers who are aged over 70, or those who are receiving income, or disability benefits.

Coming within the scheme’s remit is a major energy efficiency survey of the household. This will include an insulation survey, as well as a printed and personalised energy assessment (which comes complete with behavioural pattern assessments). Free products will range from standby savers, to energy monitors and insulation products.

This energy efficiency announcement from British Gas is one of a number of initiatives including £15 million of solar panels for up to 750 schools.

Guest Article by Neil Camp