The laudable aims of the Solar Trade Association’s “Strict Code of Ethical Practice” include “To maintain and enhance the reputation of the STA and its members.” High tone stuff indeed! So does the STA comply with its own code? Does it in fact enhance its reputation?

You decide.

On top of what seemed to be threats to Solar Twin Ltd for speaking the truth and on top of an incredible PR stunt, when the STA made claims to the national press that it conducted “extensive research and testing” into the bacteria Legionella, (claims, which we could not substantiate, despite our asking the STA for evidence and us offering a prize of a solar panel to anyone who could) comes this year’s super-stunt.

For propaganda – pure and simple – take a look at this years super-stunt. It is that of the STA making a generally incorrect claim that solar panels are a zero carbon technology, when, in fact, most of them are not. Not at all. This brazenly false claim is reproduced as part of an email below. (In order to uphold the dignity of the leaders of the traditional wing of the UK’s solar thermal industry and to maintain and enhance the reputation of the STA and its members in general, I have deleted from the correspondence below the name and position of the esteemed individual involved.)

Dear [STA leader], I read with some surprise your claim that solar thermal is zero carbon on the STA website which reports:

[STA leader] of the Solar Trade Association said: “It is extremely disappointing that despite numerous discussions with Ministers and civil servants during the last year they patently do not recognize the huge opportunities for solar thermal in the UK. It is the only zero carbon heat technology available and had yet again been underestimated by the policy makers. There are in  excess of 100,000 of these systems out there already, far more than any other renewable heat technology. We will be urgently seeking meetings with DECC to express the concerns or our members who have invested heavily in order to grow the market and are yet again not being recognized.”

Most solar thermal systems are not zero carbon. I would like to know how the solar trade association make this claim. It seems like unfair trading to pass off all products as zero carbon when most are not in their operation. In the interest of the STA complying with its own code of conduct, accuracy (and trading standards which are appropriate to a green and growing industry), might you be prepared to make a correction?

It seems that the STA are delivering lukewarm water into the wind when they say so categorically that solar thermal is a “zero carbon heat technology”. This zero carbon thing is a false claim because objective test results published by DTI in 2001 (called Side by side testing of eight solar water heating systems) showed that in fact only one out of the eight systems tested were zero carbon in their operation. The rest all had, what is now known as carbon clawbacks, which were typically 20%. This large negation of benefit happens because although the solar heaters were potentially saving emissions from less gas being burnt at home, the CO2 emissions at the power station to which their pumps and controllers were connected actually increased because more electricity was being used.

The Solar Trade Association’s “Strict Code of Ethical Practice” also says “members must not publish statements without reference to objective test results“. Presumably this part of the code is optional, a bit like another rule (which does not exist) which the STA invented from nowhere to blackball us from being members.

How on earth can the Solar Trade Association expect to be taken seriously and to maintain and enhance the reputation of the STA and its members when its lobbying campaigns for higher grants are founded on fiction? Talk about letting the side down!

Regards, Barry Johnston. MD of Solar Twin Ltd.

P.S. All of the pumps in Solartwin’s solar water heating installations are zero carbon in operation, without exception. They are all PV pumped. Indeed it might be more accurate for the STA to say that Solartwin is the leading zero carbon solar heat technology available in UK. But accuracy is not the STA’s strong point. Blocking innovations, and ripping off its competitor’s strong points to insert into in misleading press statements are what it excels at.

But given that the Solar Rogue Traders Association routinely seek to censor us and steadfastly refuse to let us join up BECAUSE WE ADDRESS THE TRUTH in accurate statements with reference to objective test results they probably recklessly decided to publish another porkie instead. Sad really.

Today Solar Twin Ltd announces that to make life easy for UK consumers it is offering fixed price solar electric (photovoltaic installations) from only £9,999. Here are some examples of our prices for fully commissioned Solartwin Solar Electric PV (Photovoltaic) installations:

* Illustrative figures only.

** Exact figures cannot be calculated because they depend on PV location, grants levels and other factors.

*** This will subsidise the installed price.

**** Assuming energy delivery as before and that you pay 12p per unit and that around half of what you generate will be used in your home.

The prices assume:

• You have one suitable sunny roof elevation and the roof does not need any structural changes.
• You live in a building with 1-2 storeys to the roof gutter, where scaffolding is easy and there are no obstructions such as bay windows.

• You live on the UK mainland with mains electricity already supplied and that you have a “grid-connected” installation.

We can quote for most homes. Just tell us your budget, or your unshaded roof areas and together we can do the rest in terms of price and performance. Even if your home does not quite satisfy all these standard price conditions, or if you do not live in the UK mainland, please call us anyway. We are able to install PV (photovoltaics) in Northern Ireland and in most UK Islands. We can do any size of domestic PV installation between 1-4 kW peak. Installations which are intermediate in size between the listed sizes are charged at £6 per extra Watt peak installed, the price being charged above the lower price break. For example a 1100 W peak system would cost £9,999 plus £600: which totals £10,599.

Besides being MCS (ie Grant Eligible) solar water heating suppliers and installers, we are also supply of MCS PV equipment. We expect to become certified installers of Solar Photovoltaic Installations in early March 2010. So please call us for your quotation NOW on 01244 403 407.

A – The VAT penalty – in UK, for example DIY solar kits face 17.5% VAT in UK when installed solar is charged at only 5%. So 12.5% more tax on an energy saving product than the tax on the fuel that it displaces. This is anomalous and needs fixing.

B – The Grants Exclusions. The double whammy is that across most of Europe, state aid for solar panels is only being paid to support solar heating installations which are professionally fitted. The official “industry argument” which I have uncovered in my research is that only professionals can install complex solar properly so all installations must be professionally installed. (Yes, it is a flawed argument.) In reality this position is about ripping the customer off and creating yet another expensive new guild within Europe’s construction industry.

At Solartwin, where we find that DIY solar heating installations perform just as well as professional solar installations, we would support grant aid for them, but only provided these twelve conditions are met:

• Small size installation (e.g. under 10 sqm of collector).
• Heat must be supplied to one individual domestic owner occupied home (ie: not supplying hot water to multiple, communal homes or social homes).
• Electrical safety. Technology to be thermosyphon or pumped low voltage (<50V).
• Pressure safety. Technology to be open vented and low pressure (not covered by the Pressure Equipment Directive).
• Fire safety. Plumbing fittings do not use open flames or any heated solders. (This means using other types of fittings.)
• Clear, illustrated installation instructions are supplied (in the declared first language of the DIY installer).
• A free telephone or SKYPE type video advice service from a qualified solar installer is available. (at least 35 hours a week.)
• An ISO 9000 or equivalent, robust installation quality management system is in place (where a qualified solar installer validates the installation, and requires correction of any noncompliances).
• At least 12 clearly specified photos and appropriate commissioning checklists are supplied by the DIY customer to the warranter.
• All photos received must be checked twice to be “present and correct”. (Present means the actual photo, eg of the panel fixing to the roof is supplied and not missing or out of focus. Correct means the supplied photos is seen, not assumed, to comply fully with the suppliers/ warranters instructions.)
• Compliance conditionality – the warranty document is not issued AND the commissioning checklist is not counter-signed by the in-house qualified installer until full compliance is gained. The system is sold with this conditionality explicitly stated in the contract.
• Responsibility for system performance under the warranty resides with the qualified solar installer who has inspected and validated the installation.

When all of these conditions are satisfied, then any third party solar certification (such as the Irish scheme or UK MCS scheme) or state solar panels subsidy (such as LCBP) apply.

This is our experience. Based on a freeze tolerant collector with a PV powered pump and controller, we have made DIY solar into a successful product with low maintenance issues. This approach is labour intensive at our end, but it works well.  Currently the exclusion of  DIY solar installations from state aid is a real concern, given that DIY solar is potentially the most cost effective way to go solar.

I hope this is interesting. Do please lobby your MP or MEP – http://www.writetothem.com/

The Code for Sustainable Homes (download it here) is a UK Government-led step-change in sustainable home building practice and standards for new homes.

The Code is a national sustainability standard for the design and construction of sustainable homes which measures the sustainability of a home against nine design categories and rating the ‘whole home’ as a complete package of 1-6 stars.

The nine design categories examined within the Code for Sustainable Homes are:

• Energy/CO2
• Water
• Materials
• Surface water run-off
• Waste
• Pollution
• Health and well-being
• Management
• Ecology.

One star (★) is the entry level – this is already above the level of the Building Regulations.

Six stars (★★★★★★) is the highest – reflecting exemplar development in sustainability terms.

If we build the homes we need, then by 2050, as much as one-third of the total housing stock will have been built between now and then. Current house building plans therefore offer an important opportunity to build high standards of sustainability into the homes we will use in the future.

Only a minority of new social homes are being built to level 3 or above. Interestingly, choosing zero carbon solar thermal can help to add an extra star, compared to conventional solar. This extra sustainability is delivered because only zero carbon solar thermal (ie PV pumped or thermosyphon solar) does not have any components at all which are run on mains electricity. Solartwin is the UK’s and Ireland’s leading zero carbon solar thermal panel system, providing solar heated domestic hot water for washing and bathing. That fact (plus Legionella safety issues) is why more and more leading housing associations are specifying Solartwin solar panels for both new build and retrofit solar water heating installations.

For further information on integrating solar water heating into new AND existing social housing, plus how to apply for the remaining the 50% solar installation grants which are available, please call Dave Houston or Graham Johnston now on 01244 403 407.

“The developed world, which has done most to create this crisis, must face up to its global responsibilites.”

What a ******* shambles.

“Disruptive technology” solar water heating innovation gains UK grants recognition.

An innovative solar water heating system which delivers three improvements on traditional solar heating technology (the improvements are financial, environmental and safety) has this week been accepted as valid for solar panel grants in UK. The company behind the innovation, Solar Twin Ltd, is delighted but critical of “opaque” regulatory processes operating within the solar thermal and construction industries.

Today’s announcement marks the technology’s official acceptance by the UK solar accreditation scheme called the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). MCS is owned by the UK Government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). DECC give grants for solar water heating under their Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP).

Because the financial and environmental costs-benefits of solar water heating will now improve, substantial solar heating market growth is predicted. This is because existing homeowners have been reluctant to install conventional solar water heating for reasons such as costs and the hassle connected with installation and maintenance will be more likely to adopt this innovative technology.

This Scottish-invented “disruptive technology” solar heating innovation, had been opposed for ten years on commercial grounds by the self-regulating solar heating industry in UK. The particular regulations which have been amended are definitions of acceptable ways of how to install solar water heating for grants purposes in the context of Legionella risk management. This new accommodation of innovation has happened despite opposition from the the main solar industry trade body, the Solar Trade Association, which represents traditional solar heating technologies, some of which have hardly changed since the 1970’s.

Barry Johnston said today: “I take my hat off to my colleagues, to our customers, to our installers, to those more forward looking trade bodies which had the guts to support innovations, and and to the scores of enthusiasts who have patiently made the case that Solartwin’s technology is not just grant-deserving but in fact that it is actually significantly better than conventional solar. The Solartwin solar heating technology should have been accepted into the mainstream a decade ago but the very fact that it is the only major technical advance is solar water heating to emerge from UK has also been its weakness.

“The fact that this solar heating technology it is substantially different from conventional solar installations in several technical ways has been systematically exploited by its competitors who have picked on these differences in order to create spurious technical criteria which have disadvantaged the technology in areas such as building regulations and eligibility for grants. As a result, for much of the past decade, Solartwin solar heating systems have been unable to compete on a level playing field. However I now expect that consumers will start to catch up fast.”

Kerr MacGregor, the inventor of the key patent behind the technology commented: “I am absolutely delighted that Solar Twin Ltd have finally achieved this breakthrough. The fact that the Solartwin technology is the most significant solar heating innovation ever to emerge from UK is at last being celebrated.”

Barry Johnston added: ” The financial and environmental costs-benefits of UK solar water heating  will improve because the changes in the solar grants rules. I estimate that the UK solar thermal market is likely to be boosted by about a third by the introduction of these changes. The change took place partly thanks to government agencies having taken notice. For example the influential Water Regulations Advisory Service (WRAS) recently published expert evidence in favour of the innovative and safer installations, such as ours. It became inevitable that the grants eligibility regulations, called the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) had to be radically rewritten to allow several previously excluded innovations, such as ours to gain grants. One question still remains and it is this: why is compliance with safety guidance from the Health and Safety Executive, with which which conventional solar heating plumbing still does not comply, but with which our installations do comply, [HSE Legionella guidance document L8 para 158] still being ignored by all of UK’s state grant awarding agencies?”

Technically speaking, the changes allow solar installers to adopt safer approaches than previously to Legionella risks and they will now permit existing hot water cylinders to be re-used, instead of requiring them to be replaced with new redesigned “solar cylinders” which are inherently less safe. Industry pressure to cover up this Legionella issue has been immense. Said Barry Johnston, Managing Director of Solar Twin Ltd. “Legionella experts were telling us that there is a “serious flaw” in the design of conventional solar thermal and we have been vindicated in our refusal to install these.

“One leading independent expert said that conventional solar was “highly likely to creating a risk.” This change to allowing existing hot water cylinders to be re, can reduce installation costs because not replacing them save considerable expense. It also prevents the installation incurring negative environmental impacts from recycling or disposal. In addition, unlike most conventional solar water heating the Solartwin solar water heating technology does not need to be plugged into the mains electricity supply in order to operate. Instead it is completely self-sufficient, powering its pump using solar electricity which is generated onsite. this saving money and carbon emissions which would otherwise happen at a power station somewhere down the wire.

The name Solartwin derives from this twin energy supply feature. Technically, in full summer sunlight, it collects 1600 Watts of solar heat energy in the form of hot water, while 5 watts of solar electric energy is generated using a photovoltaic panel which is used to collect and deliver that heat to the customer’s hot water store. Research by Bath University on how long the energy invested in both making and running a solar hot water system to actually pay back, shows that thanks to not replacing hot water cylinders plus, the savings from using solar electric pumping, the actual energy payback of Solartwin is about two years – while for conventional solar the payback time is 4.5 years – more than double his figure. (references to all above claims and documents available on request).

Commenting on the huge costs of gaining this breakthrough, Barry Johnston said today: “My frank advice is: don’t ever try to innovate in the construction sector – because: “he who writes the regulations who also controls the market”. The old technology incumbents squarely hold sway. It is my experience that too much regulatory red tape exists for opaque purposes of market protection rather than for anything useful such as consumer protection or environmental protection. The process of changing regulations is ponderous, profoundly self-serving and can be devoid of evidence-based decision-making. Eloquent marketing people with commercial and political axes to grind but who have no technical expertise sit on and vote at supposedly independent technical regulatory committees, even though some of them candidly declare that they have little or no real understanding of the technical issues at stake.

“Crucial technical meetings are held virtually in secret and I have been refused information on who attended, who they represent, what they said or how they voted. Even at meetings where I have had a chance to attend, I have been appalled to find that declarations of interest which should be routinely be made are rarely offered, with disastrous technical outcomes for the consumer, and for innovators. I personally investigated the supposedly “independent” authorship of several solar technical regulatory documents. I was disappointed, but not surprised to discover that some authors are potentially being paid twice. Once by the agency who commissions the document and potentially a second time by companies which are closely linked with technologies which stand to benefit from these documents being written in their favour. When I have expressed concerns to Government about this common practice, my concerns have been swept aside. It seems to me that Government permits, and indeed licenses this approach, except where it is brought to the widest public attention, such as in the case of the past Energy Minister Lord Truscott. Anyone who seeks to openly challenge or substantially improve this cosy regulatory system risks being threatened and blackballed by industry incumbents.

“For example the Solar Trade Association in UK warned us that “Any mention of potentially negative perceptions that are unjustified such as… legionella that is just not happening and I will take action… Any mention of legionella and solar brings customer concerns out that are unjustified. Any mention of legionella will reduce total sales… The legionella issue is best left alone (for all members)… There has never been a case of legionella anywhere in EU on a system with storage as low as 50C”. In fact, close to, but outside the EU: evidence of infection from solar exists – from Turkey. I do not want it to happen in Europe. The company had been the target of repeated exclusionary actions linked to the Solar Trade Association or its members. As just one example, we were incorrectly instructed by an STA Ex-Chairman (who was then working as a consultant to the Building Research Establishment (BRE) carrying out a BRE/DTI/Clear-Skies Grants inspection) to rip out and replace a fully working Solartwin installation which we had fitted with a traditional solar water heating system made of conventional materials instead. (evidence available)

Barry Johnston concluded: “I am delighted that we have finally removed the barriers to trade. We have made both strong enemies and strong allies in the process, I am most grateful to our allies.”

BACKGROUND

1 – What is a disruptive technology?

An innovation creating a new (and sometimes unexpected) market by applying a different set of values. (E.g., the lower priced Ford Model T. ) Firearms replaced bows. Refrigerators replaced ice houses. Digital photography has replaced films.

The values which old solar heating applies are: Sell lots of heavy technology, focus on energy efficiency at a narrow component level. Ignore wider environmental aspects.

The values which Solartwin applies are: Technology is secondary. Look wide: at sustainability and energy efficiency at a “whole of life” level. Sustainability, reliability and getting rid of bought in energy are what really matters to consumers.

Disruptive technologies may face commercial regulatory exclusion by dominant market incumbents.

2 – What is solar water heating?

It is a way of using the sun to heat water. (Solar heating is occasionally confused with the other main type of solar energy is solar electricity, also known as photovoltaics or PV. PV delivers energy in wires, while solar water heating delivers it in hot pipes instead). Solar water heating usually involves fitting a solar heating panel to a sunny roof for wall. This solar panel delivers hot water roughly at the speed that the sun dictates. The hot water is then stored in a hot water store until you need to use it. The UK climate is suitable for solar but just as you would get wetter faster, standing in a downpour than in the drizzle, so a sunny summer day delivers the hottest water, and more of it than on a dull winter day. Meteorologists say that there is about six times more solar energy available to collect in June than in December. Naturally, solar collectors respond to this fact accordingly and so delivering central heating (rather that hot baths) using solar water heating is a challenge of demand being inherently highest when supply is least (on dull days, in winter and at night). Consequently, solar water heating is best for heating hot water for washing and bathing, most in the summer. Depending on its size and design, a solar water heating system can deliver 30-70% of a home’s hot water over a year with water temperatures typically reaching 80-90C in summer. For comparison, a hot bath is about 40C.

3 – What about Legionella and solar?

Technically speaking, the changes allow solar installers to adopt safer approaches than previously to Legionella risks and they will now permit existing hot water cylinders to be re-used, instead of requiring them to be replaced with new redesigned “solar cylinders” which are less safe. Industry pressure to cover up the Legionella issue has been immense. Said Barry Johnston, Managing Director of Solar Twin Ltd. “Legionella experts were telling us that there is a “serious flaw” in the design of conventional solar thermal and we have been vindicated in our refusal to install these. One leading independent expert said that conventional solar was “highly likely to creating a risk.”

4 – Are there grants available for solar heating?

Yes. The subsidy available varies from 10% to 50% under the main scheme which is called the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP). LCBP is funded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The eligibility rules for LCBP funding are collectively called the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). It is a recent change in the MCS rules which have allowed Solartwin to access DECC’s LCBP funding.

Further details of UK solar grants and funding schemes are here.

5 – Who are Solar Twin Ltd?

Solar Twin Ltd is a UK renewable energy company who have installed thousands of Solartwin solar water heating in the past decade. Winners of DTI-SMART awards for innovation from the UK government and a best buy from Ethical Consumer Magazine, from the outset the company specified sustainability as the essence of their business. For example they pioneered a reliable low carbon solar sales technique which did not involve surveying on site (and all the mileage and emissions which his brings) by initially using satellite photographs of a customers a home to determine if roofs were suitable locations for well-performing solar panels.

6 – What is the Solartwin technology?

The Solartwin technology is a disruptive solar heating systems because it installs in half the time of conventional solar heating and which also has half the energy payback time. Halving the installation time means that the installation takes less than a day, instead of two days, so that there is much less disruption to their home’s water supply and they can take baths the same night. Halving the energy payback time means that people who seek green, sustainable, technologies tend to choose it.

To ensure low carbon operation, every single solar water heating installation is pumped using onsite solar electricity, thus improving the carbon footprint of a typical installation by 20%.  Getting rid of the regular chemical wastes associated with the fact that every conventional solar contains several kilos of antifreeze chemical, a chemicals which needs replacement every five years, the Solartwin panels contain pure water instead. This happens because their patented solar panels can actually freeze without cracking. Getting rid of antifreeze (and the driving about needed to replace it) reduces the environmental impact of this innovation even further. (references available)

7 – Is there any independent technical evidence for the Solartwin technology claim of being superior?

Plenty. According to independent statistics of UK state aided solar installations, Solartwin installers scored higher than most in satisfaction ratings, also other brands of solar thermal experienced significantly more problems after installation. Thus Solartwin seems to be an inherently more technically elegant and less fault-prone concept. This evidence derived from an extensive, statistically significant, government-funded, third party dataset: the DTI Clear Skies database of solar thermal installations. In addition to reliability evidence, there is abundant other evidence of inherent superiority in areas such as safety and sustainability. In the safety arena, for example it is pumped using ultra low voltages (22V instead of 230V) and it operated at very low pressure (0.5 Bar instead of 2-5 Bar), thus minimising significant risks from both high voltage and high pressures.

The very real risks from large areas of smashable glass falling off roofs is nil since the collector is glazed with polymers. There was a recent Europe-wide product withdrawal and delisting of an MCS phase 2 (community grants) product (Schott) because of unpredictable self-destructive glass glazing smashing spontaneously and landing on people in their gardens below. Smashing glass cannot happen with polymer-glazed systems such as Solartwin. Regarding Legionella safety, conventional solar is regarded as being a “serious fault in design” (Legionella Control International) which is “highly likely” to be creating a risk (Dr Tom Makin report for WRAS).

Regarding sustainability, research from other independent studies such as Bath University (SR Allen et al) show that the energy payback time over the lifetime of a Solartwin system is around half that of conventional systems. This is a phenomenal achievement which is attributable partly to its light weight, its ability to retrofit at low cost to existing hot water stores and also to the fact that every single Solartwins uses PV pumping – never mains electricity. Regarding the touchstone of performance, in the DTI funded “Side by side tests of eight solar water heating systems” it came better than average on the critical annual carbon savings criterion, despite it being undersized for its collector class because we were asked to supply an existing size of collector from stock at very short notice or miss any chance of being tested.

Thus, this technology is more reliable, greener, safer and simpler to install.

8 – What are the benefits of the regulatory change?

The solar heating regulatory change to allowing existing hot water cylinders to be used can reduce installation costs, because not replacing them save considerable expense. It also prevents the installation incurring negative environmental impacts from recycling or disposal. In addition, unlike most conventional solar water heating the Solartwin solar water heating technology which uses this approach does not need to be plugged into the mains electricity supply in order to operate. Instead it is completely self-sufficient, powering its pump using solar electricity which is generated onsite. this saving money and carbon emissions which would otherwise happen at a power station somewhere down the wire. The name Solartwin derives from this twin energy supply feature: in full summer sunlight, it collects 1600 Watts of solar heat in the form of hot water, while 5 watts of solar electricity is generated using a photovoltaic panel which is used to collect and deliver that heat to the customer’s hot water store. Research by Bath University on how long the energy invested in both making and running a solar hot water system to actually pay back, shows that thanks to not replacing hot water cylinders plus, the savings from using solar electric pumping, the actual energy payback of Solartwin is about two years – while for conventional solar the payback time is 4.5 years – more than double his figure. (references to all above claims and documents available on request).

So faster and less environmentally wasteful solar installations are now available at lower cost.

9 – Any other sources of solar information?

• The Solartwin retail website:   http://www.solartwin.com
• The Solartwin trade website:   http://www.solartwinprojects.com

Youtube videos on Solartwin.   http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=solartwin+solaryes&search_type=&aq=f

• DECC website.   http://www.decc.gov.uk/
• MCS website.   http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/
• LCBP website.   http://www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk/home/

Interviews and photos available on request.

Barry Johnston

Managing Director
Solar Twin Ltd
50 Watergate Street, Chester CH1 2LA

Details and useful links on how to apply for grants for solar heating.

Call us for your grant quote on 01244 403 407 now!

On the first day of the Copenhagen conference on climate change, Solar Twin Ltd received official notification that Solartwin zero carbon solar water heating installations are now eligible for solar water heating grants in UK.

This is great news! Solartwin solar water heating systems are now fully available for solar grants under the UK’s Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP). Previously solar grants were only available via third party installers. Now they are available for Solartwin installations.

Solar water heating grants for Solartwin solar water heating installations are available nationally, at the following levels:

• £400 Homeowners in England and Wales. LCBP Rules here. LCBP Apply here.
• £800 Homeowners in Northern Ireland (this may fall to £400). £400 LCBP rules here. £400 LCBP Apply here. NIE top up grant of £400 is here.
• 30% (max £1200 Homeowners in Scotland. SHCRI Rules and application form here.
• 50% schools, social homes and other community projects (under LCB phase 2) LCBP 2 Rules here. LCBP 2 Apply here.
• 50% to 100% community projects (But for a few selected lottery funds only.) Lottery Funds Selector here.

(Solartwin is already eligible for grants in Ireland via Sustainable Energy Ireland. Ask us for details.)

In UK there are sometimes also some local top-up funds as well. Ask your council or visit the Energy Saving Trust grants and offers website and type in your postcode.

Solartwin collectors do not need planning permission, but they may need consent on listed buildings, in Scottish conservation areas, or in national parks. Four prerequisites of the homeowner grants are that you must:

• Insulate your loft to current building regulations e.g. 270mm of mineral wool.
• Fit cavity wall insulation (if you have cavity walls).
• Fit low energy light bulbs in all appropriate light fittings.
• Fit controls for your heating including a room thermostat and a programmer or timer.

Free money to go green! Use it now – before it vanishes. (A UK state funded solar electric fund suddenly vanished without notice last week!)

Our MCS certificate number is NIC 1019 which registers Solar Twin Ltd on the NICEIC MCS Installer Scheme under Solar Thermal Hot Water. The main state grants websites will be officially updated with the Solartwin details by Friday 11 Dec 09.

Call us for your grant quote on 01244 403 407 now!

Lobby for equity for DIY! – DIY Solar thermal installations grant level of £0 / 0%. Due to installer lobbying DIY solar is still not eligible for MCS and therefore DIY solar cannot get LCBP grants. We think that if Solartwin systems end up being installed just as well as a professional can do (and in our experience this IS IN FACT the case)  then they should also be acceptable for MCS, LCBP grants AND for 5% VAT instead of the standard rate of 15-17.5%. If  you think this state of affairs should be changed please tell your MP. If you are willing to send a copy of your letter to us as well, this would be great.

News summary: Government grants available for Solartwin solar water heating panels. Domestic home / community / low carbon buildings programme of grants / alternative renewable energy subsidy / MCS / EST / LCBP / SCHRI / LCBP phase 1 and 2 Clear Skies replacement scheme. Time is running out! Apply now!

Call us for your grant quote on 01244 403 407 now!

Barry Johnston, Managing Director of Solar Twin Ltd, said today: “It’s still a project with some commercial and technical challenges. Right now we have a 30-40% chance of succeeding in profitably producing a commercially viable “thermal step change” solar thermal collector. But recent successful trials have boosted this chance of success from my original estimate of merely a 10% chance. This is why we are today going public with the story, one which we had previously shared mainly with with the International Energy Agency.

Past innovations

“A decade ago, Kerr MacGregor and Solartwin pioneered a simple solution to two big problems which were being faced by solar heating installers. A gloopy and bothersome chemical which we eliminated was antifreeze. This needs replacement every few years and it is six times more sticky than water. Replacing antifreeze is inherently not very green – and it needs six times more energy to pump than plain old water needs. By developing freeze-tolerant solar collectors, we were able to switch over to using 100% water as a heat transfer medium instead. The next problem we solved was that many old solar heating systems needed to be plugged into a mains electric socket in order to work at all. We simply deleted this problem and its associated 20% carbon clawback – which is attributable to this mains parasitics – by  making sure that all Solartwin’s zero carbon solar water heating systems use a solar electric (photovoltaic) pump to circulate the water which they contain.

The new challenge

“But here’s the new challenge – the solar water heating industry has a third big technical problem. It is this – that you simply can’t attach too many solar panels onto any hot water cylinder before something, somewhere, boils in summer, for example when you go away on holiday.

Boiling problems in old solar

“Boiling where collectors are oversized is a big problem, with nasty blow-offs in pressurised solar, and overheated antifreeze even coagulating and blocking some collectors. I hear anecdotally that oversizing is most acute in Ireland. The Irish solar boiling problem originates in its rather ill-thought out solar subsidy scheme. This appallingly wasteful scheme incentivises the installation of gigantic solar collectors because the subsidy is dished out only on the basis of  “per square metre of collector installed” – rather than on anything more sensible and performance-based such as (a) net energy gained or, better still, (b) net carbon saved. One hopes that the current retrenchment in my home country’s finances will result in this subsidy being better targeted in future.

How to stop boiling

“Solving boiling forever is where Solartwin’s new prototype “thermal step change” solar collectors come in. Having started off successfully with small scale “thermochromic thermal step change” collectors, we are now prototyping full size Solartwin collectors which, when they get hotter than you would want a hot water cylinder to be (ie 70-90C) they simply stop delivering any energy to it at all – by turning white.

Collector to reflector switch (and back again)

“By turning from black to white they reflect rather than absorb sunlight at high temperatures. We achieve this change by using a specially formulated, and currently rather expensive, “thermochromic” paint. Up to 70C this paint is black, and looks just like any normal solar collector’s black paint. But when it gets hotter than 70C its colour gradually starts for fade, so that when it reaches 80C the solar collector has become a solar reflector instead. This clever thermochromic effect is completely reversible. so if, after someone in the house uses some hot water, the collector finds it once again has to heat up water which is say at 20C. So it imediately turns black once more in order to heat it up.

R&D team

“We are working across Europe with a team of specialist chemists, high temperature coating developers, testing labs and a leading university in order to try to make this innovation happen. Above is a picture of two Solartwin collectors. The thermochromic one at the front is paler than the one at the back, which is a normal black Solartwin panel. This is because it is just starting to turn white at over 70C.

Loadaspanels

“This innovation, if we can get it to become commercially viable, will change the face of solar heating forever because no longer will you be limited to putting say 3 sq metres of solar panel on a normal 120 litre hot water cylinder. Instead you will be able to put up 30 sq metres instead – because nothing will ever boil. It is inherently safe. Plus some people will be able to reposition these larger collectors so that they are fixed to south facing walls in order to catch the scarce winter sunshine.

Trial volunteers needed

Besides doing lab tests, we are wanting to do actual customer field tests and so Solartwin are currently looking for an existing DIY Solartwin customer who has one Solartwin fitted to an existing hot water cylinder who is prepared to swap out their existing collector for two prototype thermochomic ones and who will give us regular performance reports. If, within five years they are not entirely satisfied, we will replace them with one normal collector. All for free – the catch is that the DIY customer supplies all the labour! Volunteers welcome…

The future

“My vision is that the south side of many buildings, new and old will be clad with afordable, freeze tolerant, non boiling thermochromic collectors – so that whenever the heat in them is needed it can simply be used.” says Barry Johnston.

Today the UK’s regulatory gateway to solar thermal grants, the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, published historic changes which permit solar hot water heating installations to be retrofitted to existing hot water cylinders. Such installations were previously excluded from grant aid. The Solartwin presentation to MCS which helped to deliver this change is here.

This wider scope is a breakthough in consumer access to solar water heating and the change will instantly improve solar heating costs-benefits by 10-20%.

This levelling off of the solar market which was previously geared towards subsidising equipment rather than energy, is a consequence of bold changes made by the MCS Steering Group on the 27th October 2009 to section 4.4.3 of MIS 3001 (the MCS Solar Heating Microgeneration Installer Standard MIS 3001 Issue 1.6 Solar Heating 29 Oct 09). This revised solar installations standard document is now available here .

It makes pretty turgid reading (!) but in summary, the blood-soaked new clause 4.4.3 in MIS 3001 roughly translates as:

Solartwin’s safer than normal retrofit installations using existing cylinders are theoretically OK for MCS and thereby for LCBP etc grants – provided that the existing hot water cylinders are properly insulated (for example with an extra jacket) and in good condition. Under a pre-existing clause all installations also need to have thermostatic blender valves.

Solartwin are still at a market disadvantage and are now playing catch-up because existing solar installer-resellers who are MCS to MIS 3001 can install our kits with grants for their customers as from tonight! (OK – imagine the nightmare of installing solar panels on a roof in the dark in the drizzle tonight on the Friday night after Guy Fawkes night with fireworks all over the place…)

But to get real, and assuming that there are no further competition further tripwires (and that we can overcome our past experience on such matters which is that more will be in the process of being laid) then all Solartwin need to do now is to get ourselves as installers accredited to MIS 3001. This process may yet take  months so for our customers it is just business as usual at Solartwin – with us continuing to discount UK installations by £400 of in lieu of grant.

To date, we have already given away several hundred thousand pounds in lieu of grants already and these £400 discounts will simply be continuing until we finally get a level playing field with our competitors.

My sincere thanks go to to all our customers, suppliers, consultants and to everyone working at Solartwin for their lobbying, patience and trust in the future! – Barry Johnston of Solartwin.

“We anticipate a massive increase in trade orders for solar heating systems over the next 12 months, thanks to UK’s national solar heating regulators taking a brave decision to widen the solar market at a key meeting last month” commented Barry Johnston, Managing Director of Solar Twin Ltd, today. “Much of this growth will be in community sectors such as social housing, where we already have a £700k contract with a major social homes provider in the Midlands” he added.

“50% grants, sometimes even more than 50%, are now immediately available to trade customers of Solartwin solar water heating systems, provided that they are installed by MCS solar thermal installers.” he said.

For information, UK’s two main solar grant pots for community and social projects are:

• The Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) Phase 2. CARES in Scotland.
• The Big Lottery Fund which can offer grants of over 50% in some cases.

Apply now – before the pots run dry! Technically speaking, all Solartwin installations are now grant eligible. These include (a) thermal stores as well as (b) retrofits to existing hot water cylinders. This second group has just been added to the eligibility list.

Who are “MCS solar thermal installers”?  They are certified solar installers – who must be used, if customers are to be eligible for a grant. Names of those solar installers who have already been certified to the MCS standard are available here.

Barry Johnston, Managing Director of Solar Twin Ltd said today “My colleagues and I are delighted that Solartwin’s way of installing simple, safe, zero carbon solar water heating systems is now open for state aid in UK. As a business, we are hoping to be added to the MCS solar installers list in 2010 following an internal re-audit process by one of UK’s leading solar thermal experts and certifiers. Then we at Solar Twin Ltd will also be able to offer subsidies directly to our customers for installing solar installations which, because ours were safer than the industry norm on Legionella, had previously been excluded from grants by industry majority interests. Meanwhile we will be delighted to supply kits and dedicated Solartwin training packages to MCS installers right now. So if you already have a generic solar quote for solar heating from your local solar installer – please ask specifically for a Solartwin quote as well. Of course we will continue to discount all retail installations by £400 in lieu of grant until we achieve MCS installer certification.”

Summary of national trade grants:

Although some local grants exist (ask our local council or regional development agency), there are two main grant streams available for public sector organisations. On some projects you may be able to pair them up to provide 100% funding for your solar water heating heating project.

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT GRANTS FOR SOLAR

(Retail – the Low Carbon Buildings Programme funds domestic solar thermal hot water at £400 per system. You MUST have a quote from us before you apply. The grant is valid for 3 months only, so please ensure you will have the installation finished within this timeframe before you apply. This is paid directly to you after installation is complete.
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LCBP PHASE 2 SOLAR GRANT ELIGIBILITY

The LCBP Phase 2 scheme provides £50 million of capital grant funding for the installation of various microgeneration technologies – including solar water heating by organisations in the UK public and not-for-profit sectors, including local authorities, housing associations, schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, public service organisations and registered charities.

We will always assist you with the grant application process. The process of obtaining grants is usually straightforward with funds being awarded on a first come first served basis.

In most cases, applicants are notified of decisions within 7 working days of submitting an application.

COMMUNITY SUSTAINABLE ENERGY PROGRAMME

The Community Sustainable Energy Programme (CSEP) provides £8 million to community-based organisations for the installation of microgeneration technologies, such as solar panels. CSEP is an open grants programme run by BRE as an award partner of the Big Lottery Fund (BIG).

CSEP SOLAR GRANT ELIGIBILITY

Grants are accessible for those who purchase and install solar hot water systems as well as a range of other technologies.

Organisations can apply for up to £50,000 or 50% of the project fees, depending on which is lower. The scheme is open to not-for-profit community based organisations that come under one of the following categories:

• Community groups with a governing document.
• Registered charities and trusts.
• Parish councils; schools and colleges.
• Companies that have a charitable purpose and a strong community focus (e.g. companies limited by guarantee, social enterprises, community interest companies, where any surpluses are mainly reinvested for community benefit).
• Mutual societies.
• Church and faith based organisations.

CSEP APPLICATION ASSISTANCE

The scheme is competitive and has quarterly application deadlines. Applications are judged by a panel who asses whether the project displays the relevant objectives of the scheme.

SCHEME CLOSING DATE

The CSEP scheme will to close to new applications in 2010. Successful applicants will have twelve months from receiving a grant offer to complete their installation, so it’s essential that projects are completed by 2011.