British cyclists return from 13,500 mile cycle ride to new rewards for making solar electricity.

A pair of campaigning cyclists will tomorrow return to London having completed a 13,500 mile, nine month circumnavigation of the globe. British environmental campaigners Susie Wheeldon and Jamie Vining, otherwise known as the ‘Solar Cycle Diary’ team, are celebrating the success of their trip in helping to raise awareness of the important role of solar power as part of the world’s energy future. 

When the cyclists departed from Tower Bridge, London, in May 2009 they called for a decent price to be paid to those generating solar electricity in the UK. Together with ‘We Support Solar’ they claimed this strong ‘Feed-in tariff’ would create a more stable, cleaner energy mix and creating thousands of ‘green collar’ jobs. The team has also raised thousands of pounds for SolarAid, the London based non-profit solar energy organisation for the developing world.

Just over a fortnight ago, to the delight of the cyclists, solar power industry and homeowners across the country, the Government announced the price to be paid to those generating solar electricity in the UK, known as solar ‘Feed-in tariff’ rates. Heralded as ‘revolutionary for UK solar power’ by the UK’s leading solar energy company Solarcentury, the average home can now earn and save over £1,000 a year with a typical solar electric system, a return guaranteed for 25 years. Research has shown this will create thousands of new jobs over the next three years.

Cyclist Susie Wheeldon said: “It’s great to be home after such a huge journey. Even better to think that our campaigning might have made a difference. We are more determined than ever that solar power must play a very significant role in our energy future; we’ve seen some fantastic solar projects across the globe and know it can deliver on a larger scale. We’re so happy that the UK’s made so much headway since our departure - now solar power is a great investment for people. We will continue to campaign for this fantastic technology.”

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London said: ‘Welcome back and very well done to Susie and Jamie. Their epic round-the-world trip, fuelled by a potent combination of human pedal power and the renewable energy of the sun, has helped to successfully put the latest solar technology on the map.”

The gruelling journey took them through 14 countries, deserts and mountains to also raise money for

SolarAid; the London based solar energy charity for the developing world. They were equipped with thin-film photovoltaic (PV) panels, custom built into their panniers by G24 Innovations, to power the very latest in Nokia navigation, communications and sports technology; allowing their supporters to follow them second by second around the globe. For more information to go

www.thesolarcyclediaries.com

We Support Solar today welcomes the newly announced Clean Energy Cash Back scheme.

The Government’s new Clean Energy Cash Back scheme should drive forward a year on year expansion of the UK solar PV sector, albeit at lower levels than would have been delivered at the tariffs recommended by the campaign.   The tariff numbers confirmed today stop short of the campaign ask of another 10p, but do mean that the solar PV  industry can invest in new jobs and new products with confidence, after a period of policy uncertainty.  The Government is to be congratulated for recognising the important role that solar PV can play in engaging households to help deliver its 2020 renewable energy target and for improving it’s original July 2009 consultation proposals for the technology  It’s vital now that the scheme is implemented smoothly and without delay from April.

The cash payments that will be made to homes, businesses and communities for generating green electricity - announced today (Monday 1 February 2010) by climate secretary Ed Miliband - are lacking in ambition, says Friends of the Earth.

The environmental campaign group, which led the campaign for a feed-in tariff, said that the payment levels should have been set to produce a 10 per cent return on investment instead of the five to eight per cent return that has been agreed.

Although the Government announced some welcome improvements to its feed-in tariff proposals today (such as increasing tariff payments with inflation), the scheme is still predicted to contribute just two per cent of UK electricity by 2020, despite research which shows that the scheme could generate three times as much with increased tariff payments.

Friends of the Earth’s green homes campaigner Dave Timms said:

“The introduction of cash incentives to boost small scale green electricity generation is welcome - however, Ministers have been far too timid with a policy that could make a significant contribution to cutting emissions and boosting energy security.

“Installing renewable technologies will now be a good investment for many homes

- but farmers, businesses, communities and others will get little or no extra incentive to invest in clean electricity.

“There is huge public support for small-scale green energy schemes. The Government must do much more to tap into this enthusiasm and ensure that everyone plays their part in developing a safer, cleaner future.”

Last week a YouGov survey for Friends of the Earth, the Renewable Energy Association and the Co-operative Group revealed that two thirds of the population think that Government feed in tariff plans are not ambitious enough, and 71 per cent of homeowners said they would consider installing green energy systems if they were paid enough cash.

Households and communities who install generating technologies such as small wind turbines and solar panels will from April be entitled to claim payments for the low carbon electricity they produce.

The public overwhelmingly support a much more ambitious scheme to push renewable energy for homes and communities, a new poll shows today ahead of a key government announcement next week.

Government officials are putting the finishing touches to plans to boost the take-up of renewable energy in Britain - which is the lowest in Europe - through a system known as the “clean energy cashback”, or feed-in tariff.

In July last year the government unveiled the scheme which has been used successfully for years in other European countries and pays above-market rates for green electricity produced by consumers.

But the proposed tariff levels for power produced by small wind turbines, solar panels and micro hydro schemes were criticised by green campaigners as not being high enough to encourage businesses, households and communities to invest.

A YouGov survey of more than 2,000 people carried out for Friends of the Earth (FoE), the Renewable Energy Association (REA) and the Cooperative Group shows two-thirds of people think that the government’s plans are not ambitious enough, while 71% of homeowners said they would consider installing green energy systems if they were paid enough cash. The Department of Energy and Climate Change is expected to announce the tariff levels next week.

Read the full article.

The We Support Solar campaign has today welcomed the show of MP support for a more effective clean energy cash back scheme.

Over 150 MPs to date have signed Alan Simpson MPs motion (EDM 276). The motion expresses concern that the “tariffs proposed for the Government’s Clean Energy Cashback scheme will mean decentralised renewable electricity is anticipated to contribute just two per cent. of the UK’s electricity by 2020″ and calls for “a suitably ambitious tariff which delivers a higher return on investment.” The MPs are calling on the Government “to revise the proposed tariffs substantially to increase the level of ambition of the scheme.”

The Government’s proposed scheme published in July 2009 has been criticised by all renewable energy trade associations for being unnecessarily timid, while green NGOs such as Friends of the Earth have highlighted the minimal additional cost of a more effective scheme.

The Government has yet to publish the final details of the Clean Energy Cash Back scheme which is due to launch in April 2010. Pending that final decision, please do email your MP and ask them to sign EDM 276 via the Friends of the Earth website.

Alan Simpson - Guest Column:

In the dark days of the Thatcher government, one of Labour’s favourite slogans was that the tories knew the cost of everything but the value of nothing. Nearly 30 years later, our own Government is in serious danger of making the same mistake over its forthcoming Clean Energy Cash Back Scheme.

Despite the leadership shown by Ed Miliband on this issue, my great fear is that officials in the Department of Energy and Climate Change are literally sucking the lifeblood out of the scheme even before it’s begun.  A misguided obsession with the ”cost” of the proposed scheme risks neutering its employment, investment and wider economic value and impact

Take solar power. Ministers accept that it can make a significant contribution to our 2020 renewable energy target. But the current feed-in tariff proposals under the ‘clean energy cash back’ scheme would see the UK’s installed solar PV capacity still languishing behind those economic powerhouses of Belgium and the Czech Republic.

Today, there are fields in Germany with more solar PV in them than has been installed in the whole of the UK to date. There is nothing in the Government’s solar PV feed-in tariff proposals to suggest that we are serious about even beginning to catch up with our European neighbours.

Part of the problem is an inability in Whitehall to recognise the immense economic benefit to the UK of a serious solar PV programme. The ‘We Support Solar’ campaign (www.wesupportsolar.net) identified the potential for at least 30,000 new jobs in the solar power sector by 2014. The vast majority of these would be skilled jobs in the UK roofing and construction industry.

The same Whitehall timidity extends to the proposed treatment of other technologies under the clean energy cash back scheme. In setting a woefully low ambition for the new scheme, delivering no more than 2% of UK electricity by 2020, civil servants are strangling the life out of the scheme and unnecessarily so. The government’s own figures suggest that a really effective scheme, delivering over 6% of UK electricity demand from small scale renewable technologies, would add just over £1 per year to annual domestic electricity bills over the next four years.

That is a small price to pay for a world leading scheme. It would drive rapid uptake of solar power and other technologies, create hundreds of thousands of jobs by 2020, and contribute more energy to our 2020 target than the combined 2008 output of the five British Energy nuclear power stations due for closure by 2018.

The modest level of ambition set out in the DECC proposals could easily result in Labour being outflanked by both the Tories and the Lib Dems. The tactic would be to paint Labour as being strong on rhetoric but weak on real measures for change. All the work done by ministers would then be undermined by vested interests in the energy industry, and DECC itself, who want a scheme that only operates at the margins of energy transformation.

Energy policy is about choices. It is still not too late for Ministers to save the day. My fear is that a lack of courage will lead the government to make entirely the wrong choice on feed-in tariffs.

Friends of the Earth is demanding that the Government finally commit to supporting local renewable energy with a decent Feed-in tariff. FoE has been a huge supporter of our campaign and represented renewables for many years so we’re chuffed to see their hard work continue at this crucial time.

The legendary Alan Simpson MP has launched a new Early Day Motion, EDM 276, backed by FoE and We Support Solar. This will help get more visibility in Parliament and reinforce our own call to action for solar power.

The EDM says:

“That this House underlines the importance of demonstrating a strong commitment to policies to tackle climate change in the run-up to negotiations in Copenhagen; reiterates its welcome for the inclusion of feed-in tariff legislation in the Energy Act 2008; notes the strong support for this legislation from a wide variety of businesses, environmental, consumer and fuel poverty groups, trades unions, farmers and social landlords; further notes the huge technical potential for sub-5 megawatt decentralised renewable technologies to deliver up to one-third of the UK’s electricity; believes that decentralised energy could make a considerable contribution to cutting the UK’s carbon emissions, tackling fuel poverty, increasing energy security and generating green jobs; is concerned that tariffs proposed for the Government’s Clean Energy Cashback scheme will mean decentralised renewable electricity is anticipated to contribute just two per cent. of the UK’s electricity by 2020; considers this to be a wholly inadequate level of ambition; supports calls for a suitably ambitious tariff which delivers a higher return on investment; and calls on the Government to revise the proposed tariffs substantially to increase the level of ambition of the scheme and offer communities, households and businesses a significant role in driving UK renewable energy deployment. “

‘Help raise awareness. Write to your MP to demand a scheme that lives up to the UK’s renewable energy potential by visiting the Friends of the Earth site. You can also monitor the EDM’s progress on the EDM site.

Staff at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), in central London, today found two ten pence pieces on the pavement outside their main entrance. This was no ordinary loose change, but two giant 8ft coins. They were brought to the department by us, ‘We Support Solar’, a group of construction industry workers wanting urgent Government action on green jobs. As followers will know by now, an extra 10p on the proposed solar photovoltaic (PV) tariffs under the Government’s forthcoming Clean Energy Cash Back scheme is all that is needed to deliver rapid solar jobs growth in the mainstream roofing and wider construction sector from 2010.

Each of the 30 workers outside DECC donned a ‘green’ shirt collar to represent the 30,000 new UK solar PV construction jobs that could be created over the next four years under an effective Clean Energy Cash Backscheme. Under the Government’s current proposals however, the UK solar PV market will continue to lag behind that of Belgium with only 3,000 new solar jobs likely by 2013, just 10% of the realistic potential.

Our group included solar power supporters TV celebrity Oliver Heath, from ITV’s ‘Dream Homes’; Alan Simpson MP, Government advisor on the Clean Energy Cash Back scheme;  Colin Challen MP, Labour Chairman of the Commons All Party Climate Change Group and Ray Horwood, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) and Carol Wrench, Head of Public Affairs, Electrical Contractors Association. The event was also backed by the largest union in the UK, UNITE and the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) and Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA).  Between them, the NFRC, FMB and ECA represent almost 16,000 UK building companies.

Oliver Heath said: “Solar power can play a significant role in the greening of our buildings, while providing tens of thousands of new green jobs. The world is waking up to this, but the UK Government’s proposals fall far short of what’s needed to boost investment and jobs in solar PV. If the ‘Clean Energy Cash Back’ scheme aims to deliver just 0.5% of UK electricity from solar power by 2020, it’s hardly surprising. Lets change the situation and see to it that that more electricity is generated locally - the repercussions will be many and positive. I believe in solar energy - that’s why I’m planning it for my own home refurbishment.”

Ray Horwood CBE, Chief Executive, National Federation of Roofing Contractors said: “Over 100 NFRC member companies have been trained to date in installing solar PV, bringing new jobs and new opportunities to roofers up and down the country. But this is literally just scratching the surface of the massive jobs potential that could be unleashed very quickly by higher tariffs under the Clean Energy Cash Back scheme .”

Dougie Rooney, National Officer for Energy and Utilities, Unite the Union said: “The opportunity for 30,000 clean energy jobs by 2014 should not, under any circumstances, be turned down. We represent our 2 million members with this view and call for 10p to be added to the ‘Clean Energy Cash back’ scheme. Young men and women have been hit hard by unemployment over the past year and apprenticeships in the solar industry offer them much needed, well paid, long term skilled employment. This is a real solution; the Government must leap on this chance to enhance the Engineering Supply Chain and plug losses in the job market.”

Brian Berry, Director of External Affairs, Federation of Master Builders said: “By increasing the clean energy cash back level for solar PV by at least 10p, the government would be helping to kick start economic recovery in the British construction industry - allowing solar energy to play a significant role in the greening of our housing stock. The FMB wants to maximise solar jobs for our members.”

Paul Reeve, Head of Environment, Electrical Contractors Association added: “Feed-in tariffs need to be set sufficiently high to stimulate consumer demand and ultimately create jobs in the green sector. Providing credible incentives will have many positive benefits for industry, the economy and the climate change agenda.”

Alan Simpson MP, Government advisor on the Clean Energy Cash Back scheme said: “The clean energy cash back scheme can deliver massive benefits for UK jobs and the economy during the next Parliament. It can only do so if Ministers resist the siren calls of the schemes critics and are bold enough to put in place meaningful tariff levels for solar PV and other renewable electricity technologies.”

Colin Challen MP Labour Chairman of the Commons All Party Climate Change Group said: “The Clean Energy Cash Back scheme can deliver a massive and very rapid jobs boost to UK building companies. At a time when roofers and builders are literally crying out for concrete action on green jobs, we need effective solar PV tariffs from 2010 to drive new investment and new skilled jobs throughout the construction sector.”

Jonathan Porritt, Founder Director, Forum for the Future added: “The limited scope and ambition of the Government’s proposed “clean energy cash back” scheme is a huge disappointment.  If Ed Miliband leaves his department’s consultation proposals unchanged, we will be turning our backs on many tens of thousands of skilled green jobs during the next Parliament. The good news is that it’s not too late to put in place an effective scheme, one that can deliver rapid uptake of solar PV and other renewables, drive new investment, boost building sector employment and give us a fighting chance of actually delivering the 2020 renewable energy target.   I am very happy therefore to back the ‘We Support Solar campaign’s call for another 10p to be added to the proposed solar PV tariffs.”

The We Support Solar Campaign has today welcomed the huge show of support it has received from MPs.

To date, 290 MPs have endorsed the campaign, including former Labour Ministers, leading Labour backbenchers such as Colin Challen MP (chair of the All-Party Climate Change Group), Alan Simpson MP (Government adviser on the forthcoming “clean energy cash back” scheme), Nick Clegg MP and Conservative and Lib Dem Shadow Ministers.

Colin Challen’s Commons motion (EDM 689) on solar power ended the 2008/9 Parliamentary session last week with 285 MP signatories. This makes it the second highest supported motion overall out of nearly 2,300 tabled during the 2008/9 session.

The motion urged the Government to ensure that the potential of solar photovoltaics (PV) to “deliver significant carbon dioxide reductions in the built environment, to make a significant contribution to the 2020 target and to deliver many tens of thousands of new green UK jobs is supported…”

Please allow a few seconds for the video to load.

This video was made before the Feed-in Tariff, or ‘Clean Energy Cashback’ scheme was announced. With the new scheme in place you will be able to make more money from owning solar PV, in fact, over the liftime of the system and the scheme (25 years) you should more than double your money (if the rates stay as they are, or get better).

The video also does not mention solar tiles, which are much more aesthetic solar PV solution, since they replace the your actual roof tiles, rather than requiring to be bolted on top of your existing roof.