Solar energy specialists undertake 10kW project

Shropshire’s leading solar energy specialist, Salop Energy Ltd, has recently undertaken the latest in a series of larger-scale projects booked in for the spring. The Shrewsbury based company was commissioned to carry out the installation on a farm estate in Powys.

The huge array, of 42 high powered Sharp solar modules, will generate its new owner nearly £4,000 per annum in feed in tariff income and electricity savings.

Rapidly

With nearly everyone expecting electricity costs to rise rapidly over the coming years, the savings on producing your own energy means a much shorter payback term. Gordon Ryan, director of Salop Energy Ltd, explained:

“The system installed in Powys will pay for itself in just eight years, and this is without factoring any future increases in electricity costs. We all know electricity bills are going to rise steeply in the future, and because our client will be generating nearly half of his annual electricity consumption, he will now be buying in only half the electricity he previously did from the utility company.”

Under the “Feed in Tariff” scheme you get paid for generating your own electricity, irrespective of whether you then use the power that you have generated. Any excess electricity not used is sold back to the Grid operator who then sells it on.

The commercial benefits and opportunities offered by Solar Power

Salop Energy is running a series of seminars for any interested businesses or farmers this spring at its unique demonstration centre and showrooms, the first of which is taking place on Wednesday,May 11. There will be two seminars running on the day,the first of which will run from 10am until midday and the second session will be 1pm until 3pm. Refreshments and catering will be provided. Gordon Ryan continued:

“It will be a day of expert presentations introducing you to all aspects of commercial solar power and the guaranteed revenue it can bring to your business. This is not a sales event, but an informative session including demonstrations of the various forms of photovoltaic systems and projections of the outstanding revenue streams they could create for you. The day is also the grand opening of our unique display centre.”

Interested parties are asked to reserve a place or register an interest by contacting This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or calling 01743 236266.

Read the actual newspaper article here.

Move welcomed by county firm

The announcement that the Government intends bringing forward a comprehensive review of the Feed in Tariffs (FITs) scheme is great news for consumers, according to one of Shropshire’s leading solar energy companies. Gareth Jehu, who is a director of Shrewsbury based Salop Energy Ltd, went on to explain: “Following growing evidence that large-scale solar farms could soak up money intended to help homes, communities and small businesses generate their own electricity ,the Government has acted quickly and in order to protect the longevity and availability of higher rate tariffs."

Benefit

The early review,which is due by December 2011, will mean many more homeowners and businesses will now be able to benefit from the feed-in tariff scheme than might have been the
case had large-scale solar parks been allowed to continue apace.

“What we think will happen after the review is that any system over 50kW in capacity will be subject to a reduced tariff. We fully expect the Government to leave the smaller-scale systems up to 50kW alone until April 2012. The Feed in Tariffs are fixed for 25 years at whatever level an entrant joins them, and are RPI Index linked, making them inflation proof. Now that the cost of photovoltaic systems has dropped, net returns on investment of 12 per cent
are now achievable, significantly more than any bank or building society can offer .”

In order to cope with further demand for its services Salop Energy recently moved to a new much larger unit on Maverick Business Park, Shrewsbury.

“The new facility we have is absolutely fantastic and unique. We have a state-of-the-art showroom where solar modules and inverters from all of the world’s leading brands are on display" said Gareth.
“We now have our own warehouse facilities, five internal tiled-and-slated roofs which act firstly as a training centre for new staff and secondly displays to clients the different rail mounting options which are available to mount the modules on their roof.”

Business is also brisk for the company which was one of the first 50 in the UK to achieve the Micro certification standard required to fit both solar thermal and photovoltaic systems.
“We are immensely proud to have achieved complete 100 per cent client-base satisfaction on all our installations and our ever growing database of previous installations is open to any inspection" said Gareth.
“Having a specialist roofing partner (Sharps Roofing) within our company has been a major advantage for us, as anybody who is considering a system will tell you that next to having quality products installed, their roof is their primary concern.”
The Salop Energy team are highly experienced in solar power projects of all sizes with many case studies dotted around Shropshire, Hereford and Mid Wales.

Read the full article here.

Energy company is enjoying busy spell

A Shrewsbury-based solar power energy company has been enjoying a busy spell thanks to the recently introduced government clean energy cash-back scheme, or feed in tariffs as they are also known, whereby homeowners install solar photovoltaic systems (PV).

Salop Energy,based at Maverick Business Park, has been in undated with clients interested in taking up the new incentive launched by the Government on April 1this year. Director of Salop Energy,Gordon Ryan, says:

“The recently launched feed in tariff scheme is a tremendous boost for the industry as a whole, but more importantly, for the consumer it offers a tremendous opportunity as an investment, especially given the current low interest rates offered by banks and building society’s on ISAs and high interest accounts. And this is a situation unlikely to change for some time yet.”

“The current return on investment from banks and building society’s is around 2.5 per cent, yet from a PV system the average return is a staggering 8.5 per cent, this figure will increase further with the inevitable energy price increases."

What is PV and how does the scheme work?

A solar photovoltaic system or (PV) as it is also known is an array of modules (panels) that are usually roofmounted (or fixed on aframe on the ground in some cases) that produce electricity.An average size system can produce half of your annual electricity consumption, larger systems of around 4kW could mean you generate nearly all your own electricity. The new scheme introduced by the Government rewards system owners via atariff for producing there own electricity.The tariff,which runs for 25 years, is indexed linked making it inflation proof and is guaranteed by the Government.

Once you have invested in aphotovoltaic system and it is installed, you sign up to the Government tariff through your utility company,which would have sent out an application pack. Once signed up you get paid via your utility company for the electricity your PV system has generated – this is recorded by ageneration meter,part of the installation. This device is asmall meter that can read how much electricity your system is generating.

Selling your electricity back to the grid and the income your PV system will generate

With the scheme you gain an income three ways. Firstly,because the government is extremely keen to encourage clean, green energy and also have major carbon reduction targets to achieve, they have agreed to subsidise the utility companies in the way of payment. This payment is called Feed in tariff income. For every unit of electricity your system produces you will be paid 41.3p – even if you use the electricity you still get paid for producing it. Secondly,because you are not buying in so much electricity from your supplier,which is usually priced at between 10p and 15p per unit, you are making a saving, which is called “reduced import savings”. Thirdly ,when you are not at home or not using much electricity your PV system will be generating power you can’t use. This excess power flows through your generation meter and is sold to the National Grid, which it sells on to other consumers,
but you get paid for it, as it is your electricity they have sold. This is called “export income.

Example of a typical 4kW system and the tariff income this system will generate:

• Feed in tariff income –£1,404.20p

• Import savings –£382.50

• Export income –£25.50

• Total income per annum –£1,812.20

This calculation is an accurate assessment on how a4kW system will perform and is based upon using SAP 2005 figures 850 kWh per kW installed with 75 per cent personal usage of the electricity produced, some companies may use higher figures that are misleading. Remember as energy prices increase so do your savings.

Read the full article here.

Shropshire Star, Wednesday 13th March 2010