Nearly 90 per cent of contractors believe the government proposal to halve the Feed-in Tariff rate will lead to a major fall in customer demand for solar panel works, according to the Electrical Contractors’ Association.

The government’s new strategy envisages the ideal cost of installing renewable microgeneration technologies to move to around £5,000-6,000 with a payback period of around five years so that millions of householders take it up. But it’s worried that if its strategy is a success, then its support schemes may run out of money.

Its new Microgeneration Strategy and Action Plan for England, published yesterday, aims to remove non-financial barriers to the spread of these technologies, and calls for more demonstration homes, which are known to be the best way to promote uptake, and for industry, local authorities and government bodies to work together.

But the government is worried about the scheme becoming a victim of its own success. Its accompanying impact assessment warns that implementing the strategy “could encourage greater uptake than we have projected” which “would drive up subsidy costs of the schemes”.

As a result it promises to keep a close watch on levels of uptake given that more funding would not be available over and above the £15 million allocated to the Renewable Heat Premium Payments, £850 million funding for the Renewable Heat Incentive or the £610 million a year for FITs.

Launching the strategy and action plan, DECC minister Greg Barker said: “The onus is on the industry itself to make the most of the opportunities presented by the financial incentives – supported by Government action to streamline regulation such as planning and standards, while at the same time ensuring consumers are protected.”

As an example of what could be done, the government proposes that information on financial incentives could be included in Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) to stimulate take-up of renewables. Market research by Consumer Focus has shown that more people would take up renewable energy in their homes if this was included at the point of property sale or rental as part of the green deal advice process.

An army of skilled workers will be required to meet the demand but accreditation needs to be standardised. A survey is to be undertaken of all training schemes to recommend what’s needed to create the competent installers of tomorrow, to be completed by October 2012.

Industry must do its bit as well, including analysing the whole product life-cycle for each microgeneration technology to pinpoint where things could go wrong in advance and bolster customer confidence. It should do more to market the concept of microgeneration and the potential benefits to consumers with independent sources of advice by September this year, and produce a guide on warranties and insurance schemes for customers and factsheets for each technology with information on maintenance and the longevity of key components, by April next year.

Micro-hydro will be removed from the Microgeneration Certification Scheme for the purpose of Feed-In Tariff eligibility to make it easier for customers to find an appropriate installer. Schemes under 50kW are already rigorously regulated under environmental and planning consenting requirements. The chief executive of the British Hydropower Association, David Williams, called this “a great relief”.

Importantly, the strategy recognises also the value of heat pumps, micro-CHP and, into the future, compressors and absorption chillers which could provide solar-powered cooling.

Wood fuel is also considered vital and the government is developing a Bio-energy Strategy for publication later this year, which will set out the government’s strategic direction for bio-energy to 2020 and beyond.

Building Regulations and the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) will also be amended to better quantify the benefit of including renewables in developments.

Government and industry will work together to explore opportunities to expand the microgeneration sector by working with European level initiatives. This includes, for example, Smart Cities, which launched on 21 June, and addresses technologies, local production and energy networks, including electricity, heating and cooling.

Launching the initiative, Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said: “With an 80 million Euro package we plan to demonstrate smart integration of urban energy technologies in selected pilot cities. This will kick-start important new markets for European industry. Cities are key to the EU’s objectives of 20% energy saving by 2020 and to developing a low carbon economy by 2050, because 70% of the EU’s energy consumption takes place in cities.” Manchester, where EAEM is based, is the English city taking the lead in this imaginative scheme.

Community energy

Connected with this, the government wants to encourage more communities to take up district level renewable energy schemes that would be owned by the communities themselves.

Currently there are many barriers facing communities that wish to do this, such as lack of knowledge about planning, local awareness, skills, time and access to finance. DECC has pledged to do more to address these issues with a stakeholder group to be set up next month, including developing the Community Energy Online web portal and engaging in collective purchasing of renewable energy in order to get a better deal.

The latter opportunity was identified earlier this year in a BIS proposal, Better Choices: Better Deals. It cites the pioneering example of Barnet in achieving this and, in fact, many of the initiatives set out in the microgeneration strategy.

Good Energy, in particular, has welcomed the recognition in the strategy that community energy projects come in all shapes and sizes and could be as large as 20MW in capacity, and that the government is committed to a wider distributed energy strategy as part of its Electricity Market Reform

Communities want to act, but barriers and frustrations continue to limit their work – The Communities and Climate report, ‘Creating Low Carbon Communities’, is now out, http://lowcarboncommunities.net/2011-conference-report/
The report makes it clear that there are still many challenges to be resolved if the energy within communities to tackle climate change is to be mobilised effectively. There is clearly a lack of funding – both capital and revenue – but there are other issues:
• Infrastructure to support low carbon behaviour change is poorly developed
• Other sectors do not understand the potential of community action
• National media have little interest in the community action agenda
• The sense of urgency around action on climate change has been lost
The report highlights ways to tackle these issues that were discussed at the event, along with much other useful information.
Chris Church, Chair of LLCCN, said “The energy, drive and imagination we need to tackle climate change in the UK is out there in our communities. But if those communities are to take effective action they need much better support from the government, from councils and from energy suppliers.”
Peter Lipman, chair of the Transition Network added, “The crucial, critical role that communities have to play in responding meaningfully to the challenges we all face needs far greater recognition. The conference again showed how many communities aren’t striving to make small changes while keeping the basic structure of society the same, but instead are setting out to transform society on the basis of local communities working to create a more sustainable and resilient lifestyle for themselves. To do that they’ll need much more support from government and others.”

The behaviour of a building’s users may be at least as important as its design when it comes to energy use. Kathryn Janda, from the UK Energy Research Centre’s Energy Demand theme, argues that architects are well placed to take more responsibility for educating and informing the general public about how buildings work and that school buildings in particular could become part of the education process and not just static spaces.

Writing in Architectural Science Review, Dr Janda describes American studies showing that energy bills in “zero-energy homes” are not zero. These houses are designed to be energy efficient and produce their own energy through solar power. While the houses in this solar community do use less energy on average than those in a neighbouring “normal” community, both neighbourhoods show the same overall variance in energy usage. There are some high consumers, some average consumers, and some low-energy users. To Dr Janda, this means that smart buildings aren’t the solution—smart people are.

New DCLG guidance on EPCs for holiday let property

We have received new guidance from DCLG regarding holiday lets. The guidance states that an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) must be obtained for properties that are rented out as holiday lets for 4 months or more in any 12 month period. This change will take effect from 30 June 2011. Holiday lets are defined as a roofed construction having walls for which energy is used to condition the indoor environment, This definition excludes caravans, tents, mobile homes etc

DCLG guidance is somewhat limited at present and you may well have questions as a result. Please email your questions to ian.owen@active-energy.co.uk.

The Government’s early review of Feed-in-tariffs received a mixed welcome today from the Microgeneration Industry. Whilst the majority of household and small-scale installations look safe until at least April 2012, the Government sprang a significant surprise by announcing a “fast-track” review for all solar PV above 50kW in size, a significantly different market from the “field-based” solar that has recently been the subject of clear and unambiguous concern from Ministers. Commenting on the news, Dave Sowden, Chief Executive, the Micropower Council said: “We welcome many aspects of today’s news, including that the review will be strongly based on evidence, that we don’t expect the majority of technologies to be affected by over a year, and the minimum notice period for changes. These are exactly what we had asked for. “However, the review of all solar PV above 50kW came as a complete shock. Many installations such as schools, buildings such as retail outlets and public buildings will be affected by this, where key opportunities exist to engage the public, and where, unlike large field-based solar, no prior indications have been given that tariffs were likely to change early. There is now real concerns of job losses in the sector from the uncertainty caused by inclusion of this market segment in an accelerated review.”

Active Energy Assessors provide cost/benefit analysis for all renewable energy applications email ian.owen@active-energy.co.uk

A recent update to the Code for Sustainable Homes contains some changes aimed at bringing it into line with the October 2010 revision to the Building Regulations.

 The Communities and Local Government department’s summary of the code changes said: ‘The government is committed to reduce the burden of regulation, and to reducing duplication. Future plans to review the future role of the Code are currently being considered, alongside a wider rationalisation of housing standards.’

Key changes include:-
* Aligning the code with Part L 2010. Code level 4 continues to be a 44 per cent improvement above Part L 2006 (25 per cent above Part L 2010).
* Adopting the Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard (FEES), which replaces Heat Loss Parameter in ENE2.
* Moving credits from ENE1 to ENE2 to incentivise a ‘fabric first approach’.
* Allowing fractions of credits in ENE1 and 2. If this proves successful the government may consider rolling it out to other areas as appropriate.
* Removing credits for internal lighting and replacing this with a new Energy Display category.
* Requiring evidence to be provided by housebuilders on the energy efficiency of appliances provided as optional extras if they choose to gain the 1 credit for leaflet provision.
* Introducing a requirement for certification under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme or assurance under the CHPQA, in issue ENE7.
* Adopting the revised standards for Surface Water Management in SUR1, subject to amendments by the Environment Agency and other experts. This will be removed once the National Standards for SUDS are introduced.

Streamlining measures include:

* Postponing the introduction of Lifetime Homes as a mandatory requirement at code level 4 and 5.
* Introducing an exemption on steeply sloping sites for the external Lifetime Homes requirements, and award three out of the four available points.
* Changing the technical guide criteria in order to better reflect current thinking and standards on accessibility.
* Removing the mandatory requirement for Site Waste Management Plans, and replacing this with voluntary credits for minimising or diverting waste to landfill.

For help and advice on your CSH projects or Part L Building Regs compliance contact ian.owen@active-energy.co.uk

The Energy Saving Trust is looking for community groups join their Green Communities programme for the coming year.

The Green Communities programme provides support to a community group and is designed to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions on a community scale. During this time the Energy Saving Trust help the community through a process of calculating their carbon footprint using our web based carbon foot printing tool, help the community to develop a carbon reduction action plan, help prioritise the actions based on what will give good carbon dioxide savings and whether the action can be implemented within the timescales available and provide support in implementing a community insulation project or a renewable technology project.

By engaging on this programme the community group can also gain access to the various other services that the West Midlands Energy Saving Trust advice centre offer, such as:

 Co-branded letters – promote the community group and insulation/micro-generation schemes in the area
 Access to Energy Saving Trust communication materials
 Support at events
 Renewable Technology showcases – the chance to take a look at micro-generation technologies and to speak to the installers
 Access to schemes and installers for insulation measures / renewable technologies
 Access to a driving simulator
 Signposting to funding

Added to this they may be able to loan out Real Time Display Monitors.

Community groups on the programme will also be able to gain access to free training courses offered by the communities network, such as:

 Finding out about energy
 Making it happen
 Planning for success
 Energy Auditing for your Community Building
 Energy Auditing for Old and Listed Buildings
 Funding your Community Project
 Local Authorities Planning Process

If you want to get involved you can contact :-

Sustainable Staffordshire, Friars Mill, Stafford, Friars Mill, Friars Terrace
Stafford ST17 4DX 01785 242 525

West Midlands Energy Saving Trust advice centre
Tel. 0121 543 2893

The new Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to make his coalition the “greenest government ever” and committed central departments to a 10% cut in emissions over the next 12 months. The effort, echoing the 10:10 campaign launched last year – which only the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) signed up to, will be led by a new government steering group.
The steering group will be headed by Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne and joined by representatives from key departments and the private sector. Government departments will also publish their energy use online in real time so that the public can hold ministers and civil servants to account.
Central government departments totalling around 8000 buildings were responsible for 1.45 million tonnes of carbon emission in 2008/9, around 7% of public sector emissions. His comments were echoed by Huhne, who has confirmed that he will be joined at DECC by Charles Hendry and Greg Barker.
He also pledged to make it easier for homeowners to improve their energy efficiency and give the power industry the confidence to invest in low-carbon projects.

Home Information Packs have been suspended but EPCs remain in place

The Government has announced the suspension of Home Information Packs with immediate effect from 21 May 2010.
Homes marketed for sale on or after 21 May 2010 will no longer require a Home Information Pack (HIP).
The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will be retained. Sellers will still be required to commission, but won’t need to have received an EPC before marketing their property.

For all EPC enquiries contact Active Energy Assessors Ltd – 01785 66 00 66
Further information on the suspension of HIPs  is available on the Communities and Local Government website at www.communities.gov.uk/housing/buyingselling/homeinformation/