How Renewable Energy Directives are Costing the Industry, and the Earth
Like other businesses, solar energy companies have a right to compete properly in the global marketplace. To be given a fair chance to prosper, to thrive. But renewable energy subsidies (governmental directives) can make it nigh on impossible for many solar companies to even survive.
Throw other headaches into the mix, such as 1) the increasingly stringent solar thermal qualification requirements, 2) burdensome administration, and 3) an over-complicated application process; and it's not hard to see why solar thermal engineers, and sales persons, everywhere are shaking their heads.
Cutting solar firms a bit more slack when it comes to adhering to directives (or getting rid of some of them altogether) could actually see a considerable rise in solar thermal sales, which surely can only be good for our planet? Solar is a renewable energy option that offers so many benefits, after all:
- Quick and easy to install
- Little or no maintenance, or replacement of parts, required
- Reduces energy bills, as well as the user's Carbon Footprint
- Can heat water supplies, as well as rooms
- Can be self-fitted by purchasers, meaning no timeframe on installation or disruption to the home or commercial premises
So, what exactly is the problem? Why do so many solar energy solution providers, such as Navitron – UK leaders in renewable technology – find trading in solar so tough when offering products that offer myriad advantages, as well as being an affordable option for both domestic customers and business owners alike?
Here's why...
The key events that have sent the solar thermal industry from giddy heights to the doldrums, include:
1. The announcement of the Feed-In Tarff Scheme, or 'FIT' (“Get paid for the electricity you generate!”). After this arrived, sales of solar continually dropped month-by-month, and have done so for years ever since
2. MCS's arrival – the Microgeneration Certification Scheme offers a nationally recognised quality assurance mark (“The preferred option in the market place!”), supported by the Department of Energy and Climate Change; however, for so many solar companies, the cost of MCS accreditation has proved wholly prohibitive.
For those solar firms who somehow continued to trade (selling mostly solar PV rather than solar thermal products) after MCS's arrival, the administration and compliance costs proved onerous. Due to this, Navitron itself has been forced to reduce focus on wind turbines, hydro turbines and heat pumps, in fact, to concentrate on solar.
3. The introduction of the Renewable Heat Incentive, or 'RHI' (“Earn a fixed income for every kilowatt hour of heat you produce!”). This saw an immediate fall-off in sales of solar thermal solutions by a whopping 50%, as customers decided to postpone their decision to invest in solar until the scheme was in full swing.
Another major negative about RHI is that any system that also contributes to heating, as opposed to just a property's domestic hot water supply, is excluded from qualifying for the scheme – hard to understand let alone accept, as this is surely the most effective use of the energy, and significant environmental savings can be made?
Due to administration and compliance, in the solar industry costs are skyrocketing in tandem with profits plummeting. Navitron's solar sales are now 90% solar PV: 10% solar thermal, in fact, on roughly the same turnover. Imagine that. So with their directives, schemes, tariffs, accreditations and all the rest of it, the powers-that-be, in asking for the moon, seem to have cost the Earth. Prior to all this, the solar thermal industry was positively booming. Navitron was selling up to 400 solar thermal systems-a-month, without a single satisfied customer claiming the then £300 subsidy!
Lunacy.
For press information please contact Jack Knight at jackknight@navitron.org.uk.
Navitron Ltd
2 Lands End Way,
Oakham, Rutland,
LE15 6RB
Tel: 44 (0) 1572 725512
Fax: 44 (0) 1572 724390
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