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

British Gas is helping the nation to get the swimming habit.

Rebecca Adlington, the swimming sensation who has just achieved European glory with another gold medal, has just launched the 3 Free Swims Campaign for British Gas at Clissold Leisure Centre, in Hackney, London.

3 free swims will be given away to British Gas customers at various health clubs, leisure centres and hotels the length and breadth of the UK. The drive is to get children away from the tempting television screen during their summer holidays and into a fun and healthy activity that they can enjoy with their families. The swims are to be directed at all ages, from toddlers to teenagers through to adults.

The programme runs until 30th November 2010, and until then 500 venues up and down the country will be open for the 3 free swims. As a swimmer herself, Rebecca Adlington understands the importance of getting children and adults into the water, helping them to get fit and have some fun: “It’s great that so many pools are taking part all over the country which means that British Gas 3 Free Swims will be accessible to a huge number of people, from all walks of life. Hopefully they’ll enjoy it so much that they’ll keep on swimming.”

Last year, British Gas were involved in a similar idea, the ‘British Gas Free Swim’ campaign, which proved incredibly popular. Over 300,000 people took part, and it has given British Gas the confidence and drive to get behind another similar campaign this year.

“We at British Gas are delighted to be able to offer our customers the opportunity to enjoy 3 free swims. More people swim every week than any other sport, and as the principal Partner of British swimming at all levels, we’d love to see even more of you in the pool,” says British Gas.

As well as the fun and fitness elements to swimming, British Gas are keen to stress the vital lessons swimming can teach adults and children; drowning is believed by safety experts to be the third most common cause of accidental death in children. Not only will the scheme allow adults and children alike to get more confident in the water, but to encourage first time swimmers to get their first taste of swimming.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

British Gas Care is one of the organisations which has joined a top national newspapers campaign to get jobs for ex-servicemen and women.

The Sun has created the Jobs for heroes campaign and British Gas Care is giving the initiative its full backing. British Gas, as one of Britain’s largest employers, has invited ex-servicemen and women to join their organisation and retrain; as insulation fitters, engineers, energy experts, and a number of other roles.

British Gas believe that these men and women will be the kind of high calibre candidates – with discipline and the skill set needed – that will be of great benefit to the organisation.

As Managing Director of British Gas, Phil Bentley is behind the campaign to attract these former military personnel: “Our ex-servicemen and women are great British heroes, and we are proud to have them join our ranks. Many of the skills they gain in the forces are perfectly suited to the roles we’re recruiting for. So if you’ve left the military, I invite you to join our green army and help us to lead the low-carbon revolution in Britain.”

In other drives to help the employment rates of Britain, British Gas has double the number of apprenticeships running this year. The search for specialists is still on, however, and British Gas believe that attracting ex-service people will bring in a new flock of employees with the special talents needed.

Neil Beresford, a radar plotter for the Royal Navy frigates, has been trained for years in an environment that demanded the highest quality of work and left no margin for error. Like many service men and women, Neil decided that after 22 years in the service he wanted a more settled home life and work; he joined British Gas as a Service and Repair engineer.

Neil said of his new-found work: “It’s a big organisation but I quickly felt at home. I love being an expert in something people value so much. And living so close to crewmates aboard ship gives you great people skills when it comes to understanding customers.”

British Gas can recite a list of former military personnel who have joined their organisation from a wild field of ranks and jobs within the military. British Gas Care want to provide ex-service men and women with the stable job they may desire after years in the service, and hope to gain from their wide spectrum of skills, both personal and professional.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

British Gas heating has launched a second version of its popular iPhone App.

The newest version App has promised to make it even easier for customers of British Gas heating to check their energy use, track their energy bills, and to avoid estimated bills by submitting meter readings.

The popularity of the app has shown in the numbers; around 100,000 customers have downloaded the App since its release in November. The App made British Gas the first UK energy company to offer such a piece of technology for customers.

Through their iPhones, iPods and iPads, there have been 18000 customers submitting meter readings in the month of June. This second version only increases its handiness and usefulness to any energy consumer: customers can now view their account’s balance, see the amount of their last bill and check when the next is due. Graphs can also be personalised to show their energy consumption.

One of the most popular aspects of the App has been the email facility, allowing customers to email British Gas with queries and questions, giving them a handy way to get in touch with their energy provider.

Head of Online services, Benjamin Braun, says, “The British Gas iPhone App has quickly caught the imagination of our smart phone-savvy customers, who increasingly rely on it to provide a quick and simple way to submit meter readings.

“More customers already contact us over the web than by telephone and with these new features, we expect that our App will quickly become the main way that many of our iPhone customers will manage their British Gas account.”

Not only is British Gas heating the first to provide such a service to its regular customers, it is now the first to provide similar technology to its business customers. It has now rolled out a meter reading application that allows businesses to see their gas and electricity readings and update their bills.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

The UK’s religious buildings could generate some £34 million a year if they installed solar panels says the UK’s largest supplier of gas.

By installing solar panels on churches and other religious buildings including temples and mosques, the British Gas Green Streets Programme reckons that millions could be made by utilising the Feed-In Tariffs. This is a programme which pays companies, organisations and households for providing “green” electricity.

It reckons that power worth £29 million could be generated, plus savings of £5 million for not having to buy electricity from the grid, totalling £34 million.

British Gas reckons that this will be good news for the various religions that operate in the UK, especially the number of Church of England dioceses that are currently running deficits.

What’s more, British Gas reckons that the collective use of solar panels by religions could save some 42,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year which, they point out, equates to over 600 transatlantic flights.

Managing director of British Gas Phil Bentley said:
“These potential savings are great news for the UK’s religious buildings and their congregations, and give them the opportunity to lead their communities in tackling climate change and helping Britain move towards a low carbon society. Religious buildings are particularly well suited to solar power as they tend to have large south-facing rooves which receive direct sunlight for the main part of the day.

“The Government’s Feed-In Tariff scheme is the key to unlocking the potential of solar power in Britain. As Britain’s energy company, we at British Gas are committed to helping households, business and community and faith groups make the most of this opportunity to cut their carbon footprint and earn money for the electricity they generate.”

And the Church of England appear keen on the idea. A spokesman said:
“The Church of England is committed to saving energy and becoming greener throughout the UK and the potential for solar panels on our churches is an exciting prospect. Even though not all UK churches could adopt this model due to planning and architectural conservation laws, there may be thousands of Church of England buildings out there that could help create a greener future by generating clean energy as well as some much needed income.”

And it’s already happening. St Silas Church in London has already had its south facing roof equipped with solar panels. These are in the form of PV tiles which have been manufactured specially to blend in with the Welsh slate.

And the Masjid-e-Hamza Mosque in Birmingham plans to follow suit and hopes to be better off by the tune of nearly £6,500 a year.

Guest Article by Neil Camp