Solar Panels - Big financial incentives mean tax free return of 10% pa

A report in last weeks Telegraph waxed lyrical about the level of return homeowners could see from installing a solar panel system on their home.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change's Clean Energy Cashback Scheme (Feed-in Tariff's) is offering financial incentives to people investing in solar technology.

The scheme, introduced in April 2010 replaced the existing grants system and now homeowners are rewarded for every unit of electricity they generate.

Interestingly, Energy companies are required by law to buy back any excess homeowners generate.

The tariff's only cover photovoltaic panel systems (electricity generating panels) at present but the previous Government had planned to introduce RHI - Renewable Heat Incentives from next April (2011).

The Telegraph's column makes a lot of sense and I'm sure if you're still sceptical about the financial benefits of installing a solar panel system on your home (or business), then it'll certainly give you some food for thought.

Click here to read the full article now.

If you'd like to get your own quote for installing solar panels on your own home, use Solar Panel Quoter - instant online quotes without the need for a salesman to call.

photo credit: stevendepolo

Could your 'green loan' carry forward to your homes new owner?

A story in the Telegraph revealed that there are plans to make loans used to install renewable energy fixed to the property rather than the owner.

This could see home buyers 'inheriting' loans that were taken out by the previous owners to install solar panels etc.

The Government is concerned that one of the barriers to installing the likes of solar energy is the pay back period.

The Telegraph estimates a typical £10,000 installation would take 10+ years to get back. With the average amount of time people live in a house before moving being 9 to 12 years, the present system is seen as a major hurdle - why would a homeowner pay for and install a system that they will never get the benefit of?

An energy scheme being proposed is 'pay as you save green loans' and is currently under trial as part of a £4 million pilot.

The Telegraph reports that the "Government is expected to roll out the scheme across the country and also introduce legislation so that loans can be attached to the home rather than the owner".

Read the full report with quotes from Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Miliband by clicking here

photo credit: madmolecule

Pacific ocean sinking in garbage

Following neatly on from yesterdays post about a recycling plant in Tyneside using heat from the furnaces to produce energy, I received a 'tweet' from Green For You - advising of this column in the Telegraph.co.uk

I think you'll get the gist of the article from this except:

"The Great Pacific Garbage patch was originally discovered in 1997 by Captain Charles Moore.
Roughtly the size of Texas, the patch is characterised by exceptionally high concentrations of suspended plastic, chemical sludge, and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre."

Apparently, the particles are so small and under the surface that they can't be photographed from the air.

Think I'll stick with swimming the English Channel for now.

photo credit: Joost J. Bakker IJmuiden

Cold spell sapped wind power - huff & puff all you like..

You might be forgiven for missing this story, during the coldest days of the snowy weather we experienced at the start of 2010, as you were probably wrapped up in so many layers that nothing got through.

Apparently, we weren't the only ones affected by the cold weather - spare a thought for your local Wind Turbine.

The Telegraph reported a couple of weeks ago how the high pressure associated with the cold spell meant a distinct lack of wind. As a result, only 0.2% of a possible 5% of the UK's energy was generated by the UK's current wind turbines over the coldest few days.

Jeremy Nicholson, director of the Energy Intensive Users Group (EIUG) is quoted as warning "If we had this 30 gigawatts of wind power, it wouldn't have contributed anything of any significance this winter," he said. "The current cold snap is a warning that our power generation and gas supplies are under strain and it is getting worse."

The Telegraphs piece makes both interesting and disturbing reading at the same time. The situation wasn't helped when the National Grid issued two warnings about gas supply, following problems with a Norwegian gas pipeline coinciding with the cold weather.

Well worth 5 minutes of your time for a read - click here to read the full article.

photo credit: bulinna