Record Rise In Domestic Solar Panel Installations

According to the energy regulator Ofgem, record numbers of home owners are having solar panels fitted to their properties.
Recently released figures for August 2010 indictate that panels have been fitted to 2256 homes, well up from 1700 in July and 1400 June. Installations since April last yeat have riseon to a record 6688 homes. The Feed In Tariggs (FITs) system became available on the 1st April last year enabling energy suppliers to make payments to householders and communities who generate their own electricity from renewable or low carbon sources such as Solar electricity or wind turbines.

The system quarantees a minimum payment for all the electricity generated by the system, as well as a separate payment for the electricity exported to the national grid. These payments are in additional to the bill savings made by using the electricity generated on site.
Once installed homeowners should experience a monthly reduction in their electricity bill and then recieve an income from the Feed-In-Tariff provider. However, if you have taken out a loan to pay for the installation you will obviously have to take the montly repayments into consideration.

Feed-In-Tariffs are designed sp that the average monthly income from you will be significantly greater than that of your monthly loan repayments (based on a 25 year loan)
Homeowners recieve 41.3pence per unit of electricity generated, regardless of whether this unit is used on site or sold back to the National Grid. After the panels are installed, the tariff is paid for 25 years and increased in line with the rate of inflation.

This replaces the previous system, under which people could obtain grants to help cover the cost of installing the green technology. According to the energy savin trust solar panels usually cost between £6,000 and £12,000 to buy and install, depending on size. The panels most commonly installed by homeowners consisting of eight panels able to generate up to 2.5kW, cost between £10,000 and £12,000.
The trust calculates such panels could generate up to £700 a year from the feed-in tariff, as well as saving homeowners about £100 a year on energy bills.
In addition an extra £25-£30 could be made by selling unused energy back to the National Grid.
As an alternative to direct purchase by the homeowner, a number of companies are now funding the total cost of the installation in return for a lease over the homeowner's roof. This lease typically lasts 25 years, during which time the homeowner uses any electricity generated for free but foregoes the income from the FIT which goes to the company who financed the installation.

For futher information visit http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

Renewable Home Heating - Solar Panels

Given today’s concerns about global warming and climate change, a growing number of us are looking to use renewable energy to reduce our carbon footprint and, when it comes to providing domestic heating and hot water solutions which satisfy these demands it can be quite confusing.

If you’d like to reduce the amount of fossil fuels that you depend on to heat the water in your home and, at the same time, significantly lower your carbon dioxide emissions, why not consider installing a solar water heating system? Solar water heating systems work by absorbing solar energy. The energy is transferred from the solar panel to heat the water in your hot water cylinder. Highly efficient, completely controllable and low maintenance, a solar water heating system is easiest to install if you already have a conventional ‘system’ or ‘regular’ boiler
and could provide up to 60%* of your annual hot water from a clean, renewable source of energy. Works come rain or shine, So ideal for the British Weather!Solar water heating panels do not rely on high temperatures or even direct sunlight to work. Even on cloudy days, they can deliver significant energy savings. That's because they work on the principle of light absorption, rather than needing heat or direct sunlight.
Unless your home is a listed building or in a conservation area, planning permission for solar water heating panels is unlikely to be required. However it is always best to check with your local planning office. For renewables planning guidance visit www.energysavingtrust.org.uk