So now I have a solar PV system how do I make the most of it???

KevinG

Doc_N wrote: »

Anyone else concerned that when the Government announces shortly (as it surely will) that the 'Green Taxes' are to be taken off energy bills and added to general taxation, FIT payments could be at risk?

Seems extremely unlikely to me, that would be a complete capitulation to the energy companies and potentially far more damaging politically.

John_Pierpoint

Doc_N wrote: »

Anyone else concerned that when the Government announces shortly (as it surely will) that the 'Green Taxes' are to be taken off energy bills and added to general taxation, FIT payments could be at risk?

Theoretically, no risk at all, because they're based on a government 'promise to pay', but I suppose it depends how much you trust governments, and how much damage the switch to general taxation would cost the Treasury.

The government and their mate from Canada are hard at work printing money to write off their debt and dump obligations on our children and their children.
Sorry kids as a society we are a few steps closer to the road to Argentina.

I would very much doubt that the government will default on a specific contract, nor would I expect them to move the tax from the power bills to general taxation as then everyone, not just the OECD, will see it as the tax it really is.

Here is the reality of what is happening:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4765235

Martyn1981

KevinG wrote: »

Seems extremely unlikely to me, that would be a complete capitulation to the energy companies and potentially far more damaging politically.

To me too.

I appreciate that most of this is pretty unclear, but my general understanding was that they were considering shifting the social 'stuff'. Whereas the energy subsidies just reflect the rising cost of energy, as we shift away (very slowly) from FF's. Also, I'd have thought the govt is going to have a hard enough time getting the nuclear subsidies past the EU state aid rules as it is - moving the subsidies into direct taxation will only make it trickier.

Article today:

DECC confirms solar support not part of Cameron’s ‘green levies review’

http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/decc_confirms_solar_support_not_part_of_camerons_green_levies_review_3367

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has released a statement confirming that investor schemes such as the feed-in tariff (FiT), renewables obligation (RO) and contracts for difference (CfD) will not be affected by the Prime Minister’s ‘green levies review’.

Mart.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

EricMears wrote: »

There doesn't seem to be any way in the MSE editor (even the 'advanced' version) of putting in a subscript. Method adopted of changing font size is probably the best you can get.

The lines below were composed in MSword (any other wordprocessor would do) seemed to be rendered OK when I viewed them in the editor but finished up in the forum as simply large & small characters - completely missing the point when I wanted to use a superscript !

E=MC2

H2SO4

A noble attempt, sir.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

EricMears wrote: »

There doesn't seem to be any way in the MSE editor

E=MC2

H2SO4

Best I can do with copy-and-paste:

E=mc²
H₂SO₄

Superscript OK but subscript not very sub.

Martyn1981

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Article today:

DECC confirms solar support not part of Cameron’s ‘green levies review’

http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/decc_confirms_solar_support_not_part_of_camerons_green_levies_review_3367

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has released a statement confirming that investor schemes such as the feed-in tariff (FiT), renewables obligation (RO) and contracts for difference (CfD) will not be affected by the Prime Minister’s ‘green levies review’.

And the pantomime continues.

Fallon: ‘Green levies review’ to include all renewable support

http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/fallon_green_levies_review_to_include_all_renewable_support_2356

UK energy minister Michael Fallon has said that the coalition government is scrutinising all green levies, undermining the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s recent reassurance that renewable support is not being reviewed.

If you think this is confusing for domestic PV'ers, imagine how this constant back and forth on energy policy impacts the larger companies and investors looking to make decisions on constructing PV farms costing millions, and off-shore wind farms costing billions?

Mart.

Martyn1981

Just to make sure that they've covered every possible answer to the same question. The latest government version is that the renewable energy subsidies are secure, but their source (energy bill or govt funding) may be reviewed.

Ed Davey reiterates that renewable investment incentives are safe from ‘green levies review’

http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/ed_davey_reiterates_that_renewable_investment_incentives_are_safe_from_3356

Energy secretary Ed Davey has publicly reiterated the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s pledge that support for renewables will not form part of the Prime Minister’s pledged ‘green levies review’.

Speaking at the launch of Renewables UK, the secretary of state for energy and climate change reassured the audience that investor schemes were not part of the review, he said: “The current review is not about changing investment incentives for renewables, such as the renewables obligation, contracts for difference or the feed-in tariffs scheme.

[Note. This article is actually dated yesterday, so there may have been several more (and differing) versions issued by now!]

Mart.

nobby1963

Hi All,
Just thought I would do a quick post to say we have just had at the beginning of the month our 'two year anniversary' of our P.V. Install.
I have just worked out that with the FIT payments received to date and what we have produced so far this quarter but not yet submitted ( reading not due till beginning of Dec ) we have 'earnings' of £3800.
That's a payback of less than six years for us - we paid £11000 for our system & had it installed before the FIT was cut.
I know my figures don't allow for any interest that would have been earned from the lump sum if it was invested but interest rates are not good and I'm working on the savings in my electricity costs and now also having an Immersun the savings in my oil costs for hot water we haven't done bad.
Happy Days !
Nobby.

John_Pierpoint

More political madness, millions of £s worth of expensive renewable energy is purchased and thrown away.

Here are some futuristic ideas for storing it away

In 2009, Williams developed a flywheel - which temporarily stores energy - for their formula 1 car. After the Research and Development was done, the F1 governing body changed the rules, and there was no longer space for a flywheel on their car. No matter, these things have other uses. Mark Smout from the Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL has proposed a design for the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, which uses banks of these flywheels to regulate the energy from the nearby wind farm. It also uses spare electricity to grow a sea defence for the island. Marnie Chesterton reports on this flywheel technology and Tim Fox, energy expert at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers describes to Adam other potential solutions for storing energy on the National Grid.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03hwrxh

What ever happened to the interruptable freezer experiment? [Send it a message to turn on or off for a number of minutes regardless of the thermostat setting]

orrery

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

More political madness, millions of £s worth of expensive renewable energy is purchased and thrown away.
...
Here are some futuristic ideas for storing it away
What ever happened to the interruptable freezer experiment? [Send it a message to turn on or off for a number of minutes regardless of the thermostat setting]

There is a massive flywheel in use at the JET fusion facility. One wag at JET estimated that - if it ever goes wrong it is likely to make it to Abingdon, clearing everything in its path along the way.

There really is loads we can do - washing machines and dishwashers that turn on automatically, bulk water heating in homes, hydro-electric storage (the Dinorwig scheme has been running for decades - my father was one of the engineers that built it). All we need is a bit of joined up government <sigh of despair>.