Truth about domestic solar panel installations

I have had anpther great week here at Energy Friend, telling people the truth about solar power and how it could benefit them. Take Mr and Mrs anon for example who have just installed solar panels 1 year after their first child was born. Not only is this lovely bundle of joy going to grow up in an energy efficient house, his clever parents are ploughing all of the feed in tariff money into a savings account for him. Soon he’ll be off to University with around £30,000 of tax free, cash behind him thanks to solar panels and the feed in tariff.

This is a great thing for them and could be for many others, but unfortunately i have been frustrated this week by items in the press, here are just some of the myths i have heard this week and that just arent true.

“You get 43p per unit for pumping electricity back into the grid”

This is not true. You actually get 46p per unit for pumping it back into the grid. You get 43p for generating the unit. You will hopefully use that unit in your house, which of course means a saving on your energy bill. You are encouraged to use the energy you generate. If you do, you will have cheaper bills and get a great tax free return paid into your bank.

“If you want the feed in tariff you need to beat the August 1st deadline”

This deadline is for large systems, such as fields or warehouses. The reason for the cut to the feed in tariff for large systems is to preserve the scheme for small domestic installations.

Sustainable society is just a generation away

How far are we from a truly sustainable society? It seems to me that encouraging renewable energy generation is only one piece of the puzzle but the goal of true sustainability “enough for all, forever” may not be as far away as we think.

I was encouraged by the words of an eight year old boy in a conversation I overheard recently:

Boy: “Where is the bin?”
Adult: “Just over there, by the sink.”
Boy wanders off and returns
Boy: “No, where is the recycling bin?”

Of course the boy has grown up in a society where recycling, carbon footprint, sustainability are household words, they appear on every news broadcast, street corner and package and always have done as far as an eight year old boy is concerned. In his opinion taking care of the environment is part of his everyday life. For the adult this is not the case, they are trying to change their behaviour to be sustainable, but the children growing up are having their behaviour shaped by a society striving to be green.

The technology exists in our current society to be sustainable, the ambition exists in our current society to be sustainable, but does the will exist? Do our leaders, really have the will to say “stop” to fossil fuel abuse, to say “stop” to a throw away society? I dont know if they do, but I do know that if a certain young boy grows up to be a leader then a sustainable society may be closer than we think.

Colin Robinson

CEO Energy Friend
“Working together for a sustainable future”

What will effect the energy generated by my solar power installation

Sorry, I wrote a really long blog about this and then added the image and all the text disappeared!!! using ipad app to do wordpress. I will update this with the correct content when I have some free time. Apologies for the confusion here!

Colin