The second Monmouthshire Eco Open Doors takes place on the weekend of April 27th and 28th 2013. Twenty seven properties will be opening, ranging from a school, a community allotment project, a church, a village hall, new eco-houses, and older houses that have been retro-fitted to make them more eco-friendly.

Property owners will be available to talk to you about their own experience of having energy saving and energy generating features installed, and what it’s like to live with them. This year, installers will also be present at some properties to provide more technical information and give advice on whether the technologies will be suitable for your property.

Visit the Website monecoopendoors.org.uk which provides details of all the properties and have a look at the map on this site to plan which places to visit during the weekend.

We value your feedback. If you have any comments about the event, or would like to open next year please email us: events@monecoopendoors.org.uk

Phil Powell of Gwent Energy CIC told us “This project is a truly community focussed project. We are now making share options available for local environmentally aware people to invest in – at a better return than any savings account.” The electricity generated will make a huge contribution to running the farm, which had already invested in Green heat exchange technology, and will offset a considerable amount of Carbon.

Green Park Power have installed many systems on the homes of infirm local people and several systems for community buildings in Monmouthshire on behalf of Gwent Energy. In many cases they have been part funded by people who use the building. Bridges Community Centre in Monmouth has a 10kw system installed a year ago that saves them about £500 a year on electricity and centre users who invested get a tariff income as well.

If you have a community project in mind or would like to invest in local community energy then visit www.gwentenergycic.org.uk or call Phil Powell on 0750 600 4581

ING Direct believes that the surge in solar’s popularity is because the British public are increasingly becoming concerned with sustainability and cheaper energy costs.

Published below is the top 5 list of most desirable property extras determined by ING Direct’s survey:
1. Solar panels (38 percent)
2=. Weekly bin collections (32 percent)
2=. Satellite TV connection (32 percent)
4. Greenhouse (25 percent)
5. Walk-in wardrobe (24 percent)

The full list shows just how much solar technology has risen to prominence in the UK, beating out real estate stalwarts such as greenhouses and ponds to the top spot. More than 360,000 homes in the UK now generate their own energy thanks to a solar installation – a 349 percent increase from August last year.

Green Park Power,installed the electrical works and oversaw the commissioning of the installation. Gwent Energy, a community interest company dedicated to supporting alternative energy, provided the initial design and managed the project. Roofrite, of Abertillery, mounted the panels whilst installing a brand new roof.
Richard Lewis Chairman of Homemakers said ‘As a recycling charity we are exceptionally proud of our green credentials and this solar installation is both energy saving and educational’.
Homemakers will also be organising educational tours for school parties and other interested groups. Homemakers would like to thank Abergavenny Town Council for their financial support with the project. For further information contact Green Park Power at www.greenparkpower.co.uk

Boffins at Cambridge University have developed a ‘micro’ inverter that will replace the traditional string inverter used to harvest the energy generated by the PV panels. As each solar panel is served by an individual micro inverter any variations in performance, perhaps due to shading from clouds, trees, chimneys, or debris, does not drag down the performance of other panels and has less impact on the total power generated. This typically results in a 5% to 20% improvement in energy production overall.
David Morales, Quality Manager at Green Park Power, explains “As the micro inverter converts relatively small amounts of electricity, generated by individual solar modules, and uses more reliable components than traditional inverters, they eliminate the single most common cause of losses in solar PV systems.”
The solar array can then be monitored by the home owner with a web based system. This makes it easy to view the performance of each panel – the installation company can also monitor this remotely for system performance checks.
Andrew Green of Green Park Power said “We have installed a number of these systems and have found that Micro inverters are more cost effective and less restricted in moderate shade and on variable roof pitch or orientation. There is also a cost advantage for smaller systems (2-8 panels) when compared to the traditional set up so now is a good time for smaller homes to GO SOLAR.”.

An overview of the proposals are as follows:

• A tariff of 21p/kWh will take effect from 1st April this year for domestic-size solar panels with an eligibility date on or after 3rd March 2012. The tariff is scheduled to reduce further in July 2012 (with several options put forward that build in a 2 month warning for the industry before changes are implemented)
• Properties installing solar panels will from 1st April have to have an Energy performance rating of D (they have bowed to industry pressure to lower it from C)
• Those properties that do not meet this energy efficiency requirement will receive a lower tariff level, starting at 8.9% in April 2012
• There will be a new ‘multi installation’ tariff to take into account the economies of scale achieved where there are more than 25 installations which will be 80% of the tariff applied to the individual solar PV installations
• The Government is proposing that ‘community-owned’ installations, such as those installed by social housing landlords, may be treated differently to commercial operators. The Government is seeking opinion on how community-owned installations are to be defined, and what fair and sustainable tariff rates may be applied
• The subsidy levels will be tied to falling costs (with suggested changes every 6 months to reflect falling prices, again with a warning system for the industry)
• The period of time that the tariff payments will be paid to be reduced from 25 years to 20 years
• DECC will appeal the High Court ruling – its case has to be lodged by February 21st
• The consultation closes on 3rd April

Because of the pending Supreme Court appeal, it is till unknown what rate any installations between 12th December 2011 and 2nd March 2012 will generate. Whilst the High Court ruling should mean that installs in this period would attract the higher 43.3p rate, the advice from REAL and the Energy Savings Trust is to use the 21p rate in preparing calculations.

If you want to read DECC’s press release and the consultation documents, they can be found at the DECC web site.

Friends of the Earth is urging the Government to come up with a new proposal which would allow solar payments to fall in line with reduced installation costs, while ensuring the solar industry continues to play a key part in developing a cleaner future.

The environmental campaigning charity is also calling for more money to encourage solar installations – paid for by the revenue the industry raises for the Treasury, the removal of planned restrictions that would prevent poorer households from installing solar panels and more support for community-owned schemes.

The Government’s own independent advisors say the economy must be weaned off of increasingly expensive fossil fuels like gas by investing in clean energy and slashing energy waste. Friends of the Earth’s Final Demand campaign is urging the Government to launch an investigation into the role of the Big Six energy firms in stopping people in Britain having energy we can all afford.

Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director Andy Atkins said:

“These botched and illegal plans have cast a huge shadow over the solar industry, jeopardising thousands of jobs. We hope this ruling will prevent Ministers rushing through damaging changes to clean energy subsidies – giving solar firms a much-needed confidence boost.

Ministers must now come up with a sensible plan that protects the UK’s solar industry and allows cash-strapped homes and businesses to free themselves from expensive fossil fuels by plugging into clean energy. Solar payments should fall in line with falling installation costs but the speed of the Government’s proposals threatened to devastate the entire industry.”