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Eco2solar have just been awarded the coveted UK Microgeneration Scheme certificate – one of only 14 solar water heating installers in the UK to achieve this award! “The audit process rigorously tested our ability to design and install solar systems safely and competently” commented Managing Director Paul Hutchens “but much more than that we had to demonstrate that processes and procedures were in place for ordering material, handling enquiries, testing equipment and health & safety – much of it to ISO 9001 standards.
See
www.greenbooklive.com for more details
This certificate means that eco2solar are now ahead of the game and able to offer government grants until at least 2010. The company also has the capability to design and install large solar systems for commercial and community buildings such as apartment blocks, health centres and care homes.
We have just exhibited at the national Homebuilding & Renovating Show at the NEC. Out of 50,000 people who attended the show many visited our stand and we have been busy since compiling quotes for potential customers and installing the first system ordered following the show.
Residents
of the Wyre Forest area may be eligible for
a £400 grant from the government AND a £1000
grant from Wyre Forest District Council
totalling a whopping £1400 if they have a
solar heating system installed by eco2solar.
See
www.wyreforestdc.gov.uk for more details
(That
is, no planning permission is required if
the property is not a listed building or is
not in a conservation area)
The microgeneration industry today welcomed new Government legislation which will slash planning red tape to make it easier for people to install microgeneration technology. From 6 April 2008 microgeneration technologies will become permitted development which means householders will be able to take up microgeneration, within sensible limits, without having to apply for planning permission.
Dave Sowden, Chief Executive of the Micropower Council said: “Today is a landmark in removing red tape for the microgeneration sector. From 6 April, most householders in England will be able to install microgeneration technologies without the constraints that have so far acted as a significant brake on the industry’s growth. The industry fully supports this important move by the Government, and welcomes its clear and unambiguous promise to Parliament to extending similar freedom to micro-wind and air source heat pumps as soon as a minor, routine, legal hurdle has been cleared”.
Source: Micropower Council
A new wave of local renewable energy supply and community power
schemes will get government backing today.
Changes to the planning system will mean all councils will be
expected to provide for on-site renewable energy and local community
energy schemes to help cut carbon emissions from new developments,
Yvette Cooper said today, as she published a new Planning Policy
Statement on Climate change.
Planners must now promote green growth. New planning rules on
economic growth (PPS4), also published for consultation today, will
expect councils to provide greater flexibility in their plans to
allow different businesses to succeed and create jobs. Councils will
be expected to give greater consideration to regeneration and
economic factors including by identifying more sites which can be
used flexibly if business needs change.
The Government is clear the planning system should do more to support
jobs but should also deliver higher environmental standards at the
same time. By publishing the climate change statement alongside the
draft one for economic development the government is making clear
that action on climate change must run alongside economic growth and
increased housing.
Click this link to find out more
eco2solar
were invited to participate in a workshop on "low
to zero carbon homes" at the NEC as part of
the 7th Delivering Low Carbon Cities &
Communities Conference, on 23rd November in
the Gallery Suite -
see
www.climate-change-solutions.co.uk
The
conference was a big affair with Minister Joan Ruddock speaking during the day about the “Meeting the Energy Challenge UK” White Paper promoting decentralised energy combining renewable
energy and resource efficiency with ESCo’s (energy partnerships) to deliver low carbon cities, towns, schools, housing, hospitals, business parks etc.
60,000 people attended the Autumn Show at the
Malvern Three Counties Showground at the end of September. eco2solar showed off their latest installations on a laptop presentation and attracted a huge amount of interest from people all over the country – even some from France and Germany. We have two installations near Malvern already – hopefully this will lead to some more!!
Daily Mail 21st August 2007
Green energy devices such as wind turbines and solar panels are to be made compulsory on millions of new homes and offices under government plans to boost green energy.
Housing minister Yvette Cooper is determined to push ahead with moves to force developers to cut their carbon emissions by using renewable sources of power.
New planning policy guidance will make clear that ministers stand by council planners who refuse permission for buildings which fail to generate their own energy.
The measures are part of Gordon Brown's aim to make all new homes "zero-carbon" by 2016 and to meet a target for Britain to obtain 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
According to The Evening Standard newspaper the guidance, to be published later this year, will impose an obligation on town halls to adopt targets for green energy.
In some cases, new developments will have to obtain all their electricity from renewable sources, with others having a 50 per cent target.
Contrary to fears expressed by some environmentalists, Ms Cooper will not be abolishing the Merton Rule, a policy that lets councils insist that all new commercial buildings must take at least 10 per cent of their energy from green sources.
The rule, named after the London borough that pioneered it, has been adopted by more than 150 local authorities. Last year, Ms Cooper gave it her full backing, even suggesting all councils should take it up.
The House Builders Federation, which fears the measure will be applied to housing, has been lobbying strongly to abolish it, claiming it imposes unnecessary costs on developers and is too heavy-handed.
The federation's chairman, Stewart Baseley, wants a national strategy phased in over 10 years and says action at local level will lead to confusion and higher costs.
Renewable energy companies say the rule is much more important to them than the Government's low carbon buildings programme, which provides grants but has run out of money repeatedly and had its rules changed.
But according to the Standard, ministers intend to "widen, not abolish" the rule. "In some instances, we want to see councils going way beyond 10 per cent," a Whitehall source said.
"The rule is not ours to abolish. We want a wider use of renewable energy, for housing as well as commercial buildings."
In areas such as Woking, where the council has pioneered combined heat and power generators, all new housing may have to be linked to such schemes.
A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government denied the planning guidance would ditch the Merton approach.
"Councils will be required to deliver more ambitious carbon-saving measures and set tougher targets for renewable energy for new developments," he said.
The Merton Rule was introduced in 2003. Merton council's cabinet member for the environment, Tariq Ahmad, said: "We would strongly urge the Government to continue letting councils implement renewable energy policy at a local level."
One development where the rule has had a big impact is the housing estate on Arsenal's former ground, Highbury. The scheme will obtain 10 per cent of its energy supplied from renewable sources on the site.
eco2solar has teamed up with the Oxford Environment Centre as the solar energy partner in their range of sustainable energy technologies that they provide including wind turbines and ground source geothermal heat pumps. OEC are proactive in their campaigns to bring microgeneration to Oxfordshire and have even recuited the Conservative leader of the opposition, David Cameron, as a supporter.
If you are in the Oxford area - pop in and see them in Witney or Charlbury.
The Kidderminster Shuttle & Times, the
Wyre Forest’s premier newspaper,
recently featured eco2solar in their
business section. They said “a
petrol-head turned eco-warrior is
encouraging more people to go green
after starting a business specialising
in renewable energy”. The article went
on to describe the business of
eco2solar, painting a picture of the
contrast between Director Paul Hutchens’
previous motor racing hobby and his new
commitment to renewable technology. As
Paul himself said “I am a convert to
green energy”.
Installing wind turbines and solar
panels on homes should not necessarily
require planning permission, the
government has suggested.
If there is little or no impact on
neighbouring properties then homeowners
should not have to apply to their
council, Ruth Kelly said.
The communities secretary said planning
laws should not be a barrier to tackling
climate change. Tory leader David
Cameron had to remove a wind turbine
from his home recently. It was removed
within days of being erected because
builders had attached it to a wall
rather than the chimney stack, as
specified in the planning permission. Ms
Kelly, in a speech to environmental
group the Green Alliance on Wednesday,
said such "microgeneration" items should
not be used as a "fashion accessory".
Set in the historic park Ragley Green Fair aims to promote environmental awareness by staging an exhibition that will showcase practical ideas and technologies for a more sustainable future. This will be a family event including children's activities and entertainment for all.
Attractions include "Greening the Home" Awareness, Local Food Marquee, Alternative energies Workshops and Talks, Green and Local Crafts, Entertainment Stage and Entertainers and Kids Green Zone.
Come for a great day out and enjoy all of Ragley's attractions on 5th, 6th and 7th May 2007, Ragley Hall web site.
Government announces in the budget that it will allocate a further £6 million – making a total investment of over £18 million – to Phase One of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme for households.
This is excellent news for householders, and further details can be found below.
From the budget report:
Microgeneration technologies, such as solar heating and micro-wind, have the potential to contribute to both improved energy security and lower carbon emissions.
To encourage their deployment the Government has reduced VAT on microgeneration installations and introduced grant support through the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP). Budget 2006 announced an additional £50 million to fund a second phase of the LCBP with the aim of stimulating the market for microgeneration technologies so that they can be commercially supplied to the market at a lower price than at present.
The Government announces that it will allocate a further £6 million – making a total investment of over £18 million – to Phase One of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme for households. DTI will discuss the future operation of the scheme with the industry. This final tranche of funding for Phase One will aid the transition to a more mature market for microgeneration which, from April 2008, will include support from Phase 3 of the Energy Efficiency Commitment.
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/73B/74/bud07_chapter7_273.pdf
Riomay has won Installer of the Year at the South East Renewables Energy Awards.
The award, given by GOSE (The Government Office for the South East), SEEDA and the Regional Assembly, was for an outstanding product and service, creative use of panel systems and expert handling of large scale projects.
Riomay has just been awarded the contract to install an array of 70 solar thermal panels at the prestigious new Haringey Sixth Form Centre. The new educational centre, being built by Willmott Dixon Construction on the Middlesex University campus in White Hart Lane, Haringey, is part of an £86m regeneration project in the London borough.
Covering an area of more than 200 square metres the solar thermal panels will cover a huge area of the roof of the college with state-of-the-art, low maintenance solar panels at a cost of £188,000 for the whole project
As part of the project, Riomay will install an electronic display in a communal area of the college, giving a visual read out of present and cumulative performance of the system. The solar installation will provide an educational resource for the sixth form centre and schools in the area as well as achieve the Government's target of 10% of energy for new buildings being renewable.
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