News

Subscribe to our News Feed

RSS feed for this site

  • Energy crunch for UK power in seven years

    • Steve Holliday, chief executive of National Grid told the Times newspaper that Britain could face regular blackouts within seven years if the Government does not intervene to prevent an energy gap that will be created by future power station closures. The warning came after Ofgem, the energy industry regulator, said it was to consider fresh incentives to encourage the development of renewable energy schemes in Britain.
Worried about planning Permission?

Residential - From the 6th April 2008 homeowners will be able to install Solar Panels on their property without the need for planning permission as long as the following is adhered to:-

1) Roof mounted panels must not protude more than 200mm from the roof slope
2) Freestanding panels must not exceed 4 meters above ground level

See here for more details.

Commercial - In most cases this is yes however, a phone call to your local planning department will confirm the exact requirements. We can provide this as a service if required.

Know what you are looking for?

The We Support Solar Campaign

We are backing the We Support Solar campaign who are working to highlight the value of solar PV in the UK and to ensure the Government sets an appropriate rate for the solar Feed-in Tariff to ensure a clean, renewable future for generations to come.

The Renewable Energy Assurance Scheme
We are members of the Renewable Energy Assurance Scheme (REAL) and abide by the high standards set out in their code of practice


The Greater manchester Chamber of Commerce

We are members of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce who actively promote and support North West Businesses.

Solar Electricity AC Solutions.

 

Provide Electricity For Yor Home

This is a more expensive and complex solution than DC however you can use the electricity to power all your household appliances like fridges, freezers, TV etc. The first thing you need to do is to convert the output from the panel from a DC to AC and this is done using an inverter.

How Much Will I Need To Power My Property?

The answer to this will be as individual as a property however a typical domestic system of between 1 & 2kW will provide around 1/3 of the annual demand of a average family.

As a bonus, if you are generating more than you can use then it is possible to sell this excess back to the grid. It is possible to get 8-10p per kWh and can be used to supplement your higher winter costs.

Dont forget to change your light bulbs to low energy ones - every little helps.

Clean Energy Cashback Scheme

In April 2010 the UK government is committed to introduce the Clean Energy Cashback Scheme (also referred to as a Feed In Tariff) where the generator of 'green' electricity is rewarded with a fixed rate of between 26 pence and 36.5 pence for every kWh of electricity they produce making the installation of PV systems much more attractive.

Inverters

An inverter is effectively a transformer in reverse (the transformer is the 'brick' that sits between the mains plug and your appliance such as a laptop or games console). It takes a DC input from the solar panel and converts it to a 240v AC output. This output is then connected directly to your consumer fuse box on its own dedicated circuit.