Article in Renewable Energy Installer, May/June edition
May 14, 2012
May 04, 2012
May 03, 2012
April 30, 2012
Wattson Solar Plus helps me to get the most out of my solar PV
YouGen review by Cathy Denman, 26th April 2012
Key to getting the best out of your solar PV system is knowing when you are producing more electricity than you are using. This is the time to do things that use the most electricity.
Of course, this isn't always possible. If you want to relax in front of the telly in the evening, the sun's probably gone down already. Similarly for boiling a kettle of water after your evening meal. But, if you're at home and flexible, there are things that you can do to maximise your return.
If your inverter is in the loft, or the garage it's not convenient to keep popping out for a look. This is why I've been testing an energy monitor that tells you what your panels are doing.
The Wattson Solar Plus* measures both the energy produced by your solar panels and the energy used in your home or business. It displays the results using colours and numbers, so you can use either or both according to your preference.
If you are generating more electricity than you are using - net export - you can see at a glance as the unit glows green (or the box displays a negative number). A blue light indicates that you're using less than average, purple equals average, and if you're using more than average it throws out a bright red glow.
I've found it fascinating. Whenever the usage goes up a notch I start wondering what's on - especially when it goes into the red. I've learned that our so-called Eco Kettle gobbles up a lot of kWs. But the biggest surprise was how much the oven uses, and how often we use it. Having always been rather suspicious of microwaves, I'm suddenly becoming a convert.
The washing machine isn't as greedy as I expected, and on a sunny day, there are only brief periods when it's using more electricity than we're generating, where I'd expected it to be a heavy user for the whole cycle.
Mostly my Wattson sits in the kitchen, as it's from there that I notice most of the big energy uses. However, you can pick it up and take it from room to room, so you can see the impact of turning lights or the TV on and off.
Once you've got it set up it's really simple to use, but I found it quite difficult to set up. There's a clear picture of which cables you put all the clips round, but my cables had all been neatly hidden away in some trunking by my installer. Luckily an electrician friend called round while I was busy scratching my head about it, otherwise I'd have been stuck (he clipped them around cables on the other side of the fuse box, but without his help I wouldn't have been able to tell them apart).
For those of you who are keen on spreadsheets and like lots of figures, you can upload data from the Wattson to your computer using special Holmes software. I'm still getting used to this and will review it in a separate blog in a few weeks time.
April 25, 2012
April 11, 2012
More power to the installer
Electrical Review, 5th April 2012
Once they’ve made the big decision to invest in renewable energy, the consumer will be looking for the right installer. But with the continuing twists and turns of the economic downturn, and the government’s spending cap on feed-in-tariffs, is the future still looking bright for renewable energy installers?
Earlier this year, the government estimated nearly four million homes across the UK will be powered by the sun within eight years. But the debacle over the policy on feed-in-tariffs has caused challenges across the UK energy market. For the consumer, it’s brought into question the affordability of renewable energy and the value of their investment. For the renewable energy installer, of which there are around 5,500 registered in the UK, it should have brought into sharper focus the real need to enhance their offering and apply the tools necessary to raise consumer confidence.
Giving customers confidence they can achieve a reasonable pay-back period is critical to the installers’ armoury.
Mark Elliott director of operations at Energeno explains: “Yes there is still uncertainty surrounding FITs which has put mounting pressures on contractors. This means offering added value may be now more critical than ever, providing a real opportunity for installers to reposition themselves as home energy advisors and differentiate their offering to the market.”
“By utilising innovative technology that already exists to assess the viability of a project and then accurately measure its performance, installers can give confidence back to consumers and show them that by taking certain steps, they can achieve a reasonable payback period on their investment.”
Energeno is home to the Wattson range of energy monitors which have been helping home and business owners worldwide understand in detail their energy consumption, cut their electricity bills and monitor their electrical carbon footprint by producing accurate date readings of energy consumption. Its advanced models include the Wattson Solar Plus which, at a glance, tells Solar PV users how much power is being generated from their installation, what is being saved on bills and more importantly, when excess energy is being produced so it can be sold to the Grid.
“I believe the launch of the Solar Plus last year gave a ray of hope to installers amid the eruption of FIT controversy. It provided an added justification for Solar PV investment without the need for over-generous FIT payments. Those who have used Solar Plus have seen energy savings averaging 20%.” Elliott commented.
Essex-based RGI Solar is one contractor already embracing such technology. Managing director Richard Smith explained. “Buying a PV system, or any other renewable installation, is like buying a house. It costs a lot and you expect it to last a long time. But what some installers don’t tell you is that, like a house, if you want it to work optimally you can’t forget about it. It will need attention; otherwise you won’t make the money you are expecting. For example, the inverter is likely to need replacing at least once.”
“With the reduced FIT, we expect our new customers to be much more concerned about the actual performance they get from their system, and we are convinced that utilising the right technology will underpin the long term relationships we need to build to guarantee this."
With its Solar Plus operation running smoothly - around 30,000 units have been sold since its launch, Energeno’s focus for 2012 is taking remote performance monitoring systems to the next level.
“Adding absolute value pre and post installation is the key to increasing consumers’ confidence to invest in renewable energy,” says Elliott. And one of the steps Energeno is taking to achieve this lies in its new partnership with energy specialist Better Generation – whose Power Predictor technology allows people considering a renewable energy installation to accurately predict costs and benefits.
The partners are working to make their technologies inter-operable to provide a complete service package. The proposed integrated web-based application will help installers and end-users source the energy generation and consumption solution that is right for them.
“The driving force behind this project is the same for all of our work – increasing buyers’ confidence to invest in renewable energy. This is about putting customers in the driving seat and giving them the accurate information to make strategic decisions, with guidance from an installer, on renewable energy. Whether that’s the viability of an installation or ensuring they obtain the best payback from their investment.” Elliott said.
Building customer confidence and satisfaction may seem like a simple way to guarantee repeat business, but can this be the case with renewable energy installations? For most customers they’re a once in a lifetime purchase.
Richard Smith at RGI Solar said: “In the past, many systems have been sold on a ‘fit and forget’ basis. But with lower FITs and more competition, installers will need to build long-term revenue streams by offering high quality maintenance packages.”
It would seem the development of installer commissioned systems could be key in moving the installer/consumer relationship from a one-system transaction to a long term collaboration. The Wattson Professional has been conceived as the communication channel which links together the parties’ common interests.
It uses sensors to monitor installations and sends text or email alerts to installers if there are any problems with an installation. It operates through ‘cloud computing’ and provides an online workspace for installers through which they can access details and efficiency readings across all of their installations.
“This technology secures the long term revenue streams installers need to guarantee future profitability. It’s about providing a support package which will give end-users real peace of mind.” adds Elliott.
In adopting such technology, it can be said the installer will be able to build valuable performance data and endorsements to help win new business down the line.
So with the continual development of innovative energy monitoring technology, it would appear that the sun is far from going down on the renewable energy installer.
Ten Great Gadgets To Save Money And Energy At Home
Huffington Post UK Edition, 19/03/12
With the incandescent light bulb now banned, and the south east of England heading towards drought, it's high time to get your hands on some stylish high tech gadgets to make your home more environmentally sound.
There are handsome gadgets just waiting to catch your eye and reduce your triple bottom line.
Plumen, above, is the first and only designer low emission light bulb, and looks gorgeous hanging bare, sans light shade.
The Wattson energy meter is one of the most attractive ways of watching your energy consumption. The slick white exterior displays energy prices and how much you're consuming, adding it up over the year. The amount you burn is also reflected in colours emitted. Red means your energy usage is high, while blue means it's low.
In 2009, the Energy Saving Trust said the largest amount of CO2 emissions from domestic water use in the future is likely to come from showering. With drought officially declared in the south east, it's high time we set to monitoring the amount we use in the shower. Both the Water Pebble and Eco Showerdrop are stylish ways to do just that.
Meter made
Installer Magazine March 2012
In the drive to use energy more efficiently, effective measuring and monitoring is becoming increasingly valuable. The latest innovation from Energeno has been designed to help both the installer and the homeowner.
Sunny delight
Sunny delight - Renewable Energy Installer Jan/Feb 2012
The halving of the Feed-in Tariff does not mean the sun going down on solar PV, argues Mark Elliott of Energeno.
Bright future: Mark Elliot, Energeno, says there are still lots of opportunities to be had from solar PV
It was Harold McMillan who coined the phrase: ‘You’ve never had it so good’ in relation to full employment during the 1960s. Putting aside the scare stories of the potential solar PV job losses as a result of the recent government announcement on Feed-in Tariff (FiTs) levels, you could have used the same adage for the very generous subsidies that have been on offer up until now.
After energy minister Gregg Barker brought forward the halving of the FiT from April to mid-December, many solar PV companies argued that the sun has gone down on their growth ambitions.
Although the CBI announced that the government had scored an ‘own goal’ on its renewable ambitions because of the cost of solar jobs, my argument is that householders can now see the true value of their investment and what returns can be realised because they are no longer seduced by over-generous FiT payments. In short, the future is still bright. Instead of a sense of over-reliance on the subsidy, householders putting in PV will now have to work for their money. There is still a FiT and because the price of capital equipment is greatly reduced, the power is now truly in the hands of the consumer and the installer.
Up until now the MCS-approved installer has not really had to sell the benefits or explain how the consumer can track the performance of his system in terms of cost and carbon savings and the harvesting of energy that is returnable to the grid. Indeed for those householders keen to learn, they had to regularly monitor inverters and meters with difficult to understand displays often installed in lofts and outbuildings.
But technology now enables the installer to get this all-important message across in a simple-to-read – and even colour-coded format – which reveals the savings and the surplus energy, all in one convenient portable display, with no calculation required. More importantly, it is portable and rather like an ergonomic ‘home hub’ for the internet, can look like a design feature anywhere in the home. It can offer a digital read out of energy being produced and glows green when the system is in optimum mode – harvesting more energy than is being used in order that it can be sold back to the grid. Most importantly, those who have so far used the technology have saved an average of 20 per cent on their electricity bills.
To installers, the technology can remotely monitor the performance of the solar PV and flag up failing technology as an early warning system allowing them to add value to the relationship they have with that consumer. This is a big impact on the current one-transactional arrangement recently highlighted in theWHICH? Report that has dogged this fledgling industry to date. In future there will be a meeting of minds between a more sophisticated and informed consumer and a more proactive and collaborative installer community eager to bring greater innovation to the renewable market.
The sun has far from set on the solar PV industry. Consumers no longer blinded by cash incentives will drive demand through the savings they derive through the regular checking their levels of energy use and carbon reduction. This is not just in the home, but soon to be delivered to their smartphones as they go about their daily business.
This creates a level playing field where the customer is king and has a route to redress. Any shortfall in projected estimates can be addressed with the installer early on, whether it is down to a fault or a miscalculation. Also, through the next generation of remote monitoring, installers will be able to flag up issues and therefore be able to continue the valuable dialogue with the customer. It is at that stage that we can truly say: You’ve never had it so good!
