ARTICLES

Solar Batteries: How to become Energy Independent.

Thu, 05 May 2022 14:38:01 GMT

Combining renewable technology for maximum gain.

How to Become Energy Independent: Solar Batteries

Combining renewable technology such as Solar Panels and Solar Batteries is a highly efficient way to save energy, and money.

Installing solar panels is one of the most common ways for homeowners to lessen their dependence on the grid. Guaranteed to last at least twenty-five years, they can carry on producing energy (at a slightly decreased output) after this period.

Most solar systems produce more energy than the average house uses. Yet, the energy produced tends to be when homeowners are out during the day.

This means that excess energy generated from your home is fed back into the grid. There are some benefits to this. If you are signed up to government incentives, such as The Smart Export Guarantee , you will be paid for each Watt that is supplied from your system back into the grid. On average, a homeowner can earn up to £112 per year from this scheme.

While capitalising on producing your own clean energy sounds great, it’s not utilising your system to its full potential. When your solar panels aren’t creating electricity (at night, during storms etc), you’re still reliant on the grid to supply your power (and I can assume you’ve acquired solar panels to be less-reliant on the grid).

So, what’s the answer?

The ability to store excess energy produced by your solar system would take you a step toward true energy independence. Solar batteries can store the electricity generated during the day and redistribute it for use during the evenings when electricity tariffs are highest .

Solar batteries work by converting unused DC electricity produced by the solar panels, into AC power which is then stored. Your system will then draw this stored power, creating an island of energy during the evenings, allowing you to be more independent from the National Grid.

To put this in terms of cash savings, a solar and battery system would save the average household £928 a year!

Whilst electricity generation will always differ depending on the seasons, (Winter, being the obvious season), for a good portion of the year, you can rely solely on solar power to keep your house powered throughout the day, and a battery to supply the rest for your evenings, providing you have the right system in place. Ask us about what system we think would be best for your home here .

The added benefit is that whilst others may be at the mercy of fluctuating energy prices, yours will remain lower and more consistent, helping you to take a step towards living a more sustainable and self-sufficient lifestyle.

For more articles about our other products that can help you to save and live more sustainably, click here .

15 facts about renewable energy

Thu, 28 Apr 2022 09:22:17 GMT

15 interesting facts about renewable energy

The way we think about energy is changing, and with renewables in pole position in the drive to make the UK Carbon neutral by 2050, its popularity is growing around the world.

Clean, sustainable energy like Solar, Hydro, Wind and Geothermal Power, is helping to tackle the current World energy crisis, reducing the impact on our climate and our carbon footprint in the search to keep the lights on.

To highlight the immense potential of renewable energy, we’ve come up with 15 facts about the development and the rise of a more sustainable energy future.

1. Switching to wind, water and solar could eliminate 4 to 7 million deaths from air pollution every year.

A shocking statistic; studies estimate that around 7 million have died prematurely through indoor and outdoor pollution. The WHO class have estimated the direct result of air pollution as lower, yet it doesn’t take into account those with multiple risk factors, such as those suffering from Lung Cancer.

2. A world record was set in 1990 when a solar-powered aeroplane flew across the United States in stages, using no fuel at all.

Aptly named “The Sunseeker”, this plane flew across America in 21 stages, totalling 121 hours in the air.

3. Renewable energy creates more jobs for women .

A recent report shows that women hold 32% of renewables jobs, compared to just 21% in fossil fuel roles. The Irena report states; “ gender equality…is also essential to shaping positive social and economic development outcomes. Women provide valuable perspectives on key decisions, from investment priorities to project design,”

4. Costa Rica is a world leader in renewable energy

In 2017, this small Central American nation lasted 300 consecutive days on renewable energy alone. The previous record was in 2015, when Costa Rica lasted 299 consecutive days . With an estimated population of 5.05 million, 100% of homes have access to renewable electricity.

5. China built 100GW-worth of wind farms in 2020

More than the rest of the world combined in 2019, this massive scale wind farm could generate enough power for almost 3 times the number of homes in the UK; to put it in perspective, the average household uses 8/10kwh a day . This wind farm produces 100 million kw.

6. One hour of the sun's energy could supply enough electricity for a year

Taken from the Columbia Climate School, the immense potential for energy to be harvested from a completely natural resource, is ripe for development to meet our future energy needs.

7. Solar energy users save up to 35 tons of C02 and 75 million barrels of oil each year.

Solar energy is one of the cleanest and most sustainable sources of renewable energy, with enough versatility to be used for a variety of buildings, vehicles or machines

8. Homeowners experience “break-even” on their solar panel installation in under a decade .

Whilst this figure differs depending on where you live, the average break even point is roughly a decade. And with solar panels guaranteed for at least 25 years with 80% output, you could be looking at long term savings for many years to come.

9. Coal only generates 29% of its original value in energy. But wind power generates 1,164% of its original value .

As there is no need to constantly drill, or mine to source the energy, it is a much more efficient way of producing energy. Once a renewable energy plant or farm is established, it can efficiently generate energy for decades with only minimal maintenance.

10. Wind energy is the largest source of renewable power in the UK

With almost 11,000 turbines on and offshore, they generate nearly 66 million MWh of electricity a year, to the equivalent of 18 million homes.

11. Renewable energy currently creates 5 times more jobs than fossil fuels.

From 2004, the number of renewable energy jobs grew from 1.7 million to 11.5 million in 2019. Solar Pv accounted for 33% of the world’s renewable energy workforce in 2019. Asia accounted for 63% of total jobs in renewables.

12. Iceland is the only country in the world where renewable sources generate 100% of both its electricity and heat .

A volcanic country, Iceland uses its natural resources well. 13% of its electricity comes from Geothermal power. 87% of its power is generated by hydro-power. And a whopping 100% of its heating and water is obtained by Geothermal sources.

13. Renewable energy is nothing new

The use of renewable energy in Europe can be traced back almost 2000 years with the invention of the waterwheel. Its basic design would eventually evolve into the Hydro plants we know today. Solar power is much younger, having been invented in 1839; Queen Victoria was twenty.

14. Let’s not get political!

We don’t like to get political, but…currently fossil fuels receive the biggest subsidies from Governments compared to renewable energy resources. The US is the largest contributor to the tune of $5.9 trillion in 2020 ; that’s roughly $11million a minute.

15. Over 100 cities rely on renewable energy

Out of 620 cities, over 100 rely on renewable energy to generate 70% of their power . More are expected to follow in the coming years, as the detrimental impacts of fossil fuels on our planet has become ever more apparent.

Better for our health, economy, and most importantly our planet, renewable energy really is a no-brainer as we move further into the 21st Century. Fossil fuels may have once been an easy, cheap source of energy, yet their slow depletion and the impact on our climate has demonstrated they are no longer fit for purpose, meaning the time has come to switch to green energy for a cleaner, brighter future.

Top Tips for businesses to save money on their energy

Thu, 28 Apr 2022 08:30:13 GMT

Saving money for your business: Five top-tips for energy saving

Five Top Tips for businesses on how to save Energy.

How we ultimately view energy as a nation is changing. From tighter guidelines to challenging our perceptions of fossil fuels, there can be no doubt that the economy’s focus is shifting toward greener and cleaner sources of energy.

With a plethora of energy-saving measures your business could undertake, we’ve hand-selected five top-tips on how your business could save money, and potentially earn too:

1)Monitor your energy consumption

At around 31% of global greenhouse gas emissions traceable to heating, almost half of that is used by industrial and commercial properties. Monitoring your output and finding ways to reduce your output, is arguably one of the best methods to reduce Scope 2 emissions .

Installing an energy monitor or smart meter can be a very efficient way of tracking energy usage. Usually installed for free, such devices can help highlight if there are periods of high and perhaps unnecessary energy consumption.

There is also a range of energy monitoring software that track the data of energy consumption and can optimise and regulate the temperature in different rooms. For example, rather than turn a boiler on to heat an entire building, a smart monitoring meter could optimise individual rooms for when they are in and out of use, creating greater energy efficiency; after all, who wants to waste their money heating an empty room? For more on smart meters click here

2)Use Smart Plugs

Smart plugs are devices that help optimise power usage during periods of inactivity; we’ve all been guilty of leaving the television on standby or just putting our laptop to sleep rather than turning it off and unplugging it. This is known as The Vampire Draw .

Investing in a smart plug is a simple but very effective way of saving energy. With a smart plug, you can activate and deactivate devices such as computers and printers with the press of a button or via an app.

The plugs themselves only use 1-2 Watts of energy and can save you up to 8.76KWh of electricity over one year. For a business, this translates to a significant saving for a small, cheap piece of tech.

3) Solar panel installation

Whether your business is big or small, there are many practical benefits for installing solar panels. Commercial roof spaces tend to be ideal for solar installation which makes them a sensible investment. As most businesses operate during the day, utilising the potential of green energy within your business can make a significant impact.

And whether looking to reduce your carbon footprint, secure your energy supply, or just save money, solar panels are one of the cleanest and most efficient ways of producing energy for your company.

4)Solar Battery installation

Want to get the most out of your solar panels? If you already have solar panels installed, or just looking for the potential ways to maximise the full potential of solar panels, you could install a solar battery. Solar batteries store excess electricity produced by the solar panels and can be used either in the evening or at a later date.

Storing energy is ideal in a number of situations. For example, if your company is open during the evenings, stored energy can be used whilst the photovoltaic panels are not operating. Using your stored energy during the evening results in a much cheaper method of electricity. Conversely, if you operate a business that only operates 9-5, you could take advantage of the long summer days by selling your electricity back to the grid; you see, there is a way to make money too.

5)Setting up a corporate power purchase agreement

Entering an era where we’re all becoming much more aware of how we use energy, where it is coming from and the impact our businesses are having on the environment, a corporate power purchase agreement may be the way to go.

A corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) allows a business to know the exact source of its green energy, or even the potential to produce its own. Whilst being tied into a long contract may not be ideal for some SMEs, a CPPA is a sure-fire way of offsetting your carbon footprint and saving you money against future energy rises.

For more information or support about how to save money and cut down on your carbon footprint, don’t hesitate, just click here .

Will the government achieve Carbon Net-Zero strategy by 2050?

Sun, 17 Oct 2021 12:08:09 GMT

As many of you may know, the government has revealed their strategy to achieve Carbon Net Zero by 2050.

Over the last three decades, the government have reduced emissions by 44 per cent – while growing our economy by over 75 per cent. This goal of the strategy is to make the historic transition to remove carbon from power, retire the internal combustion engine from vehicles, and phase out gas boilers from homes.

Based on the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan, Net Zero Strategy sets out how the UK will deliver on its commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050; while the Heat and Building strategy highlights how households will benefit from £5,000 government grants through £450 million Boiler Upgrade Scheme to help install low-carbon heating systems such as Air Sourced Heat Pumps.

The strategy outlines measures to transition to a green and sustainable future, helping businesses and consumers to move to clean power, supporting hundreds of thousands of well-paid jobs and leveraging up to £90 billion of private investment by 2030. Reducing Britain’s reliance on imported fossil fuels will protect consumers from global price spikes by boosting clean energy alternatives and accessibility.

The heat and buildings strategy sets out the government’s plan to significantly cut carbon emissions from the UK’s 30 million homes and workplaces in a simple, low-cost and greenway whilst ensuring this remains affordable and fair for households across the country. Like the transition to electric vehicles, this will be a gradual transition that will start by incentivizing consumers and driving down costs.

There are about 30 million buildings in the UK. Heating these buildings contributes to almost a quarter of all UK emissions. Addressing the carbon emissions produced in heating and powering homes, workplaces and public facilities can not only save money on energy bills and improve lives but can support up to 240,000 skilled green jobs by 2035, boosting economic growth.

We look forward to seeing what the future holds for us.