Green Deal and PV Surveying

[Chris Nunn]

Part the government’s proposed Green Deal is a new technical specification called PAS 2030. In here, the role of a surveyor is clearly defined which is distinct from the installer.

We think that surveying for PV will become an important skill and will require a site assessment to be more than just waving an i-phone around and hoping to impress the customer with your latest app. What do you think?

 

[solarcat]

Quite frankly I personally find it hard to understand what this Green Deal is really about. Information published by Decc so far is very confusing. As you have done some thorough research on the topic could you suggest where to find exhaustive info on what the green deal is and how does one become a Green Deal operator?

 

[JulianC]

Green Deal - government backed loan to pay for energy efficiency measures, with repayments paid for by savings from said energy efficiency measures. ie. get out of fuel poverty by getting into real poverty. It's an ill-conceived joke that is doomed to fail once the public realise they are better off either a) sorting it out themselves or b) doing nothing. I can think of several headaches and problems with the Green Deal, without even giving it much thought.

Details are all a little vague on the specifics at the moment as far as I can tell. Seems like to become a Green Deal installer there will be a quality standard that we'd need to adhere to and which will be laid out in PAS2030. Sound familiar? One would hope that MCS would be enough but knowing how bumholes and elbows in government often get mistaken for each other, expect more expensive hoop jumping for a fancy van sticker.

As for surveyors? I fully expect existing DEA's and EPC providers to take up this role en-masse. Should they do PV surveys? Certainly not. There's only one PV survey I would trust and that's my own. As we all know, measuring the size of the roof and the angle of the dangle is only a small part of a survey. Leave it to a monkey in a suit? No ta.

 

[SolarCity]

We think that surveying for PV will become an important skill and will require a site assessment to be more than just waving an i-phone around and hoping to impress the customer with your latest app. What do you think?

I strongly agree. Judging by some of the installs I have seen around our way, most firms seem to forgo the surveying aspect.

I'm also a little confused by the Green Deal - not helped by misleading info popping up here and there.

 

[Chris Nunn]

We agree the advance publicity is confusing but this is partly as DECC haven’t decided what to do yet ! We recommend looking at their consultation even if only to understand the issues better. Closes 18[SUP]th[/SUP] Jan 2012.


Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation consultation - Department of Energy and Climate Change

One thing that seems to be coming out is there would be Framework suppliers so possibly limited choices on equipment. Some people are saying the whole scheme will never take off as the finance package is unattractive.


There are many further resources indicated on this web page including about being an operator. Probably more than anyone would want to normally read but on this site you do get a bonus video of the darling of the PV industry Gregg Barker !


Some good things may come of this, and we like the concept of promoting solar site surveying as recognised skill. We know this is not normally part of a core electrician’s regular practice so we’re bringing out a new training course for this soon

 

[SolarCity]

Some good things may come of this, and we like the concept of promoting solar site surveying as recognised skill. We know this is not normally part of a core electrician’s regular practice so we’re bringing out a new training course for this soon

For your average tradesman, it isn't exactly rocket science to survey a site correctly, especially if a Leica Disto D8 is used. I just wonder if the inclination to do an accurate survey is there.

 

[solarsavings]

One thing that seems to be coming out is there would be Framework suppliers so possibly limited choices on equipment. Some people are saying the whole scheme will never take off as the finance package is unattractive.

What a surprise!!! The ayes to the right have trouser-ed many a brown envelope. ***ts