Discuss Number of PV systems installed in the Solar PV Forum | Solar Panels Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

T

TedM

DECC have just released the latest figures for number of PV systems registered with MCS over the past few weeks since the consultation announcement:

w/e 06/11/11 6,816
w/e 13/11/11 9,498
w/e 20/11/11 13,013
w/e 27/11/11 16,565
w/e 04/12/11 21,018

Total in 5 weeks 66,910

Total systems to date 192,845

As this data is from MCS it is only for PV systems up to 50kW.

Spreadsheet is here : Department of Energy and Climate Change
 
Thats that then time to look for a different industry, another 20K this week thats at least 650Mw probably more like 750Mw when you add the large scale 100-150Mw that went in Aug.

What was the total scheme funding 750Mw (cant remember off the top of my head)?

If thats the case I fear that will be it no more FiT's, suppose it was obvious it would happen hence the cuts in the first place!

Bugger my planned 5Mw scheme which Ive just got funding sorted on again bites the dust again...
 
Thats that then time to look for a different industry, another 20K this week thats at least 650Mw probably more like 750Mw when you add the large scale 100-150Mw that went in Aug.

What was the total scheme funding 750Mw (cant remember off the top of my head)?

If thats the case I fear that will be it no more FiT's, suppose it was obvious it would happen hence the cuts in the first place!

Bugger my planned 5Mw scheme which Ive just got funding sorted on again bites the dust again...

Those German's are insane, thank goodness with have sensible leaders....

Solar power in Germany - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Germany is one of the world's top photovoltaics (PV) installers, with a solar PV capacity as of May 2011 of more than 18,000 megawatts (MW). The German solar PV industry installed 7,400 MW from nearly one-quarter million individual systems in 2010, and solar PV provided 12 TWh (billion kilowatt-hours) of electricity in 2010.
 
I was amazed by yesterday's email from gem serve that the mcs database had been issuing 9000 certs a day! Instead of the normal 500 a day.
 
Amazing stuff. I can't wait to see this weeks figures.

They would be beyond stupid if they saw this as a good reason to cut the FITs further. The whole reason for this unprecedented yet wholly predictable boom is the entirely down to the speed and severity of the cut in the first place.

Something we will never know - I wonder what would have happened if they announced a cut to 31p on April 1st. Maybe this rush has actually cost more money?
 
Unfortunately, the level of installations may effect the level of tariff. FITs is now a capped budget. If the industry makes it work at 21p, this will also threaten the cap and the amount will be reduced. This is one of the reasons for the level C EPC, it is there to stem demand. remember the Government's own assessment impact states the changes will create a reduction of between 50% and 90%.

It is important to understand where all this comes from. It stems from the self abusers in DECC not understanding, not wantng to understand, having an unhealthy relationship with the big6, being promoted beyond their competence, all of the above, and then setting a pathetically small target of just 2.68GW for PV by 2020, or 330MW a year. Look at page 152-153 of the attached document. Please do not read the introduction if you wish to keep your food down.

Policy all stems from this. Unless this is changed we will be left in a cycle of decline. Due to the intellectual shortcomings of DECC staff I think they overlooked the fact PV could also be a scheme for the less well off, being used in social housing to help alleviate fuel poverty. It is the massive planned expansion here rather than solar farms in Cornwall that sent them running, hence the lower aggregated rate. Solar only if you are well off then.

Germany has already been mentioned. They have major digression on 1st January. They knew this would happen as part of their scheme in a mature market and have had full detail since July. Yes, their 4kw rate is the same as ours but for larger schemes it is far more generous.

Follow this link to download comparative information on 2020 targets for all EU Countries: http://www.ecn.nl/docs/library/report/2010/e10069.pdf
This is bang up to date. Look at the section on solar electricty starting page 115
 
The government will look at the figures for installs and say "we told you so" without taking any credit for the fact that they were the ones who created the 6 week feeding frenzy. My own roof now sports shiny new panels now. I would have waited until next year had it not been for Freddie Gruger Huhne.
 
Dead line fast approaching, and there are areas of Scotland without power.....feel sorry for the guys battling with the wind, snow and now no power....
 
Fergus Ewing our hugely capable minister for energy enterprise & tourism is aware of the plight of Scottish installers. If he can do anything I know he will. It will however depend on some sympathy and a positive response from DECC.
 
What email - I haven't seen anything?


To all MCS Installation Companies,
*
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. IF YOU NEED TO CONTACT US USE THE MCS HELPDESK, DETAILS BELOW
*
We’re writing with an update on the registering this week of MCS installations.
*
We’re well aware of the pressures installation companies will be coming under from customers who believe their certificate won’t arrive on time, and that their FIT application will be compromised. That’s why we’re working hard to minimise the chance of that happening.
*
Over the course of this week, several alterations have been made to the database, which has seen improvements in its performance. The database works, although it’s taking longer than it had in the past to actually email out the certificates once they are produced. During the day most certs are being received by installers between 2 to 4 hours after they’ve been submitted. While the delay is of course frustrating, nonetheless this means that most installers are receiving their certs at minimum the same day they apply for them.
*
For your information, the database has been successfully providing installers with between 6,000 – 9,000 certificates each day this week, compared to volumes in the recent past of about 500 per day.
*
There are some tips that you might wish to be aware of, to help with the process:
*
·******** Once you register an installation, it will appear under ‘Administration’ as pending, until the cert is sent to you. It will normally arrive at the email address you provided within two to four hours. If the status is ‘pending’, it is queued to be sent to you. We are not able to access the cert for you while it is pending.
*
·******** Once the pending status is lifted and if you still haven’t received the cert, double check the email address you supplied as errors there are often the cause. If that’s all correct and the cert is still missing, then contact us (details below). Remember we can only access the cert once it has left the ‘pending’ state.
*
·******** If you believe you have added credits to your account but they don’t appear, it may well be that your payment has been delayed for 24 hours by Paypal for review. You can contact Paypal to query this, on 08707 307 191. If you need the credits sooner, try putting through a lower value transaction. All the credits will appear eventually, and you can always request a refund if you end up with more than you need.
*
·******** If you receive an error message saying ‘Out of memory’, try clearing the cache on your internet browser, as that usually resolves that problem.
*
·******** Accessing the system outside the peak usage hours of 11am to 4pm should give you a much better user experience
*
·******** Remember also that if your customer’s FIT Licensee (electricity supplier) has said they are not accepting applications right up to the deadline, and that’s causing them a problem, you can advise the customer to try another FIT Licensee instead. They are not necessarily obliged to accept the application but it is a route the customer could at least attempt.
*
·******** We do not have a say in the PV FIT deadline, and have no information on the appropriateness of any of the rules around registering FIT installations by that date.
*
·******** As a reminder, MCS will have more help-lines than ever open from 9am to 5pm this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, to support you in any way we can. Contact details are below.
*
*
Kind regards
*
Gemserv Ltd | MCS Licensee**
*
Tel: +44 (0)20 7090 1082
Email: [email protected]
The Microgeneration Certification Scheme - Home |
*


Gemserv is an expert provider of consultancy and advisory services, predominantly in the energy, water, environmental and regulated sectors.

Gemserv Limited is a company registered in England and Wales, Company Registration Number 4419878.
Registered address: Gemserv Limited,*10 Fenchurch*Street, LONDON, EC3M 3BE.
This e-mail is intended only for the above named addressee/s. This e-mail may be confidential or legally privileged. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Gemserv Limited.*
If you have received this e-mail and you are not a named addressee, please contact the Gemserv Limited IT Administrator on 0207090 1000 or e-mail [email protected]*and
 
The government will look at the figures for installs and say "we told you so" without taking any credit for the fact that they were the ones who created the 6 week feeding frenzy. My own roof now sports shiny new panels now. I would have waited until next year had it not been for Freddie Gruger Huhne.

Indeed - if the government had done nothing rather than the knee-jerk reaction, based on the trend of the graphs the number of installs would have been about 15,000 by April 1 2012, rather than 20,000+ by December as is the case now. True there would have been a last minute rush in March, but I suspect the original April 1st deadline would have passed without the publicity the sudden cut produced, and a reduction of 20-25% would not have been such a strong incentive to get the panels in before the FIT reduction, so those sitting on the fence as regards solar would have stayed on the fence, whereas the 12 Dec cut would have pushed many of those into installing.

Like Yanman, I've now got solar but had been originally planning for a Jan/Feb install, so I am a little irritated that I didn't get as many quotes as I would have liked nor had the chance to investigate if 10 of the Sanyo N240SEs could have been squeezed on my roof (compared to the 8 sanyo 250s now installed).

The whole thing is just lunacy but par for the course of the current government "act first, ask questions later" attitude. That a sudden cut would cause a larger surge than doing nothing is predictable; setting the cut off before the end of the consultation opens the government up to legal challenge (which wastes time and money); setting the deadline to be midnight on a Sunday is impractical (in practice that means Thursday was the last day to post - although it appears some suppliers accept applications via e-mail or are staying open over the weekend especially).
 
'Scuse my ignorance - maybe dumb question: I keep hearing about govt. exceeding its solar budget, hence the FIT cut - but the FIT is paid by the energy company, what does the government pay to exceed its budget?
 
The Feed-in Tariff payments are notionally government spending as the rates are controlled by DECC and OFGEM administer the scheme. But who makes up these rules? Well, in this case it is down to the EU. Nuff said.

But prior to the coalition government's Comprehensive Spending Review of October 2010 there was no such thing as a FiTs Budget. It was dreamed up out of thin air in order to allow DECC to claim that they were going to save £40million, as their contribution towards the coalition's need to reduce 'spending' as part of the austerity plans.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
May I add a bit of clarification. It is not the EU but the Treasury. They have decided that FITs are taxation. This is perverse as they are funded by a levy on energy bills.

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It is unclear if the Feed In Tariffs should even be under the control of the Treasury at all. [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The European Court recently decreed money raised for the German Feed-in Tariff to be outside of Government public spending. It should also be noted that members of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is yet to give a ruling on whether money raised for the feed-in tariff is included in public spending. [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Although the Treasury has not received a ruling from the ONS, it regards the FiT scheme as public spending, is taking the money raised by the levy, and then capping its use.

Don't expect a ruling from the ONS any time soon. If they do, and they decide in the Treasury's favour, this could then be open to legal challenge because of the European Court ruling.
[/FONT]

 
May I add a bit of clarification. It is not the EU but the Treasury. They have decided that FITs are taxation. This is perverse as they are funded by a levy on energy bills.

It is unclear if the Feed In Tariffs should even be under the control of the Treasury at all. The European Court recently decreed money raised for the German Feed-in Tariff to be outside of Government public spending. It should also be noted that members of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is yet to give a ruling on whether money raised for the feed-in tariff is included in public spending. Although the Treasury has not received a ruling from the ONS, it regards the FiT scheme as public spending, is taking the money raised by the levy, and then capping its use.

Don't expect a ruling from the ONS any time soon. If they do, and they decide in the Treasury's favour, this could then be open to legal challenge because of the European Court ruling.



I had a meeting with Greg Barker and brought up this exact point- He quite clearly stated that the Government had done this not the EU.

Go Figure?
 
Well that answers my question - NOT! Another government regulation as clear as mud?
"...Regards the FIT scheme as public spending, is taking the money and capping it..."
I still undertand that the energy companies pay FITs - What is happening here?
 
Let me give you a little more information from a commentary I am circulating to all MSPs with results of a survey on the impact of the changes to FIts on involved Scottish Businesses:

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]"The assertion by Chris Huhne that the PV sector will "do little to tackle climate change" is both shocking and downright wrong. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Huhne is unconvinced of the case for support of Solar. There is evidence for this in his admission to a parliamentary committee that he did not bother to contact the Treasury to ask if extra money could be found to lift the feed-in tariff spending cap, despite the huge impact on jobs and investment the proposed cuts are already having.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Current budget cap was created by Messrs Barker and Huhne. They and their officials submitted a set of figures to the Treasury for the budget process that were not seen by anyone outside their department, and now this has become the cap.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The scale of the cuts, and the pace at which they are being imposed, can only be explained if seen in the context of the Westminster government's growing support for the Big Six energy Company-endorsed plan for a low carbon energy mix that is primarily reliant on large scale centralised energy projects, despite the fact the government claims to be in favour of a balanced mix of centralised and decentralised energy generation and statements to this effect are in the Coalition Pact."

You will understand that if you could turn my anger into energy I could power Scotland for six Months.

[/FONT]




 

Reply to Number of PV systems installed in the Solar PV Forum | Solar Panels Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock