Opportunities In Renewable Energy

A study published in 2008 by Dr. Mike Hammond*, Head of Research at SummitSkills (Sector Skills Council for Building Services Engineering) found that in excess of 200,000 installers across the electrical, plumbing, heating & ventilation and air conditioning & refrigeration sectors would require formalised training on renewable energy technologies should the Government stimulate the market.

On April 1st 2010, that is exactly what happened. Backed by the Energy Act 2008, the UK introduced an attractive Feed in Tariff programme that pays generators of electricity from renewable sources a tidy premium for every single unit they generate even if they consume themselves. This gives generators a hard cash return on investment (plus energy savings) of anywhere from 5-12% depending on what they install.

With a similar tariff system - the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) - expected to come into play in April 2011, the surge in demand for heat generating technologies will soar once more.

Installers are motivated to enter the industry early due to a number of drivers. The two big ones are:

• Less competition means plenty of work, unlike much of the BSE sector at present.
• The shortage of qualified installers means that at the moment there are - what economists would call - "abnormal profits" to be made.

*Details on page 122 of Engineering UK 2008,
www.engineeringuk.com

Why Choose EcoSkies for Training?

When you choose to train with EcoSkies, you can rest assured that you are learning with the UK's longest established independent training provider totally dedicated to renewable energy installer training.

Whether you are an electrician, plumber, roofer, developer, sales professional or architect, you can select the perfect training courses for you and your team on a wide range of renewable energy technologies including:

Solar hot water, solar PV (photovoltaic), wind turbines, rainwater harvesting, ground-source and air-source heat pumps and heat recovery.

You can choose from training centres in Chesterfield & Surrey for several courses which means we are less than 1 1/2 hours away from most parts of the UK. We can also offer on-site courses anywhere in the country if you have a group of people you wish to train.

Your courses will be as practical as possible and are taught by experienced installers and renewable energy professionals, not by someone who has only read a book on the subject as in some other training companies.
And don't forget the guarantee of free lifetime technical support via phone or email for whatever technologies you train for. I bet you can’t get that from the competition!

The Clean Energy Cash Back Scheme

The idea is to pay generators an attractive rate , linked to inflation, for every unit/kWh of electricity or heat that they generate. The rate that is set depends on the technology and the size of the installation. They will get paid an extra smaller amount for any (electricity) that is exported back on to the grid.

Feed in Tariffs (FITs) and Renewable Heat incentive (RHI) will transform the UK renewable energy industry beyond recognition so don’t miss the boat!

Where less attractive incentives have been established in other countries around the world, the increase in installations has been phenomenal and there is no reason to expect anything less from the UK.

The fact that the rates are so good means that more and more consumers, business, local authorities, churches, community groups and even “roof renting” investors are getting into renewable energy.

They all need to use Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) registered for almost any technology they get installed (except for large scale installations).

This is where EcoSkies comes in: we provide top-up courses to get installers to a standard where they confident and competent to install a wide range of systems so that they can then meet the requirements of MCS. Once you are approved, your customers can then get access to the FITs and RHI that make renewable energy such an attractive option for investment.

Feed in Tariffs in action

Annual figures assuming 12p per regular kWh and 41.3p per PV kWh:
A = Total PV Generation = 2400kWh x 41.3p = £991.20
B = Total Property Consumption (C + E)
C = PV Power Used On Site = Savings of 1400kWh x 12p = £168.00
D = PV Generation Exported = 1000kWh x 3p = £30.00
E = Standard Electricity Imported = -£372.00

At the end of year 1, the customer is already £817.20 better off even after they have paid for the electricity that they have imported.

Assuming this system cost £15,400 to a householder, based on these figures, if electricity never increased in price (which it will) and we never have inflation (which we will – increasing FITs), the system would pay for itself in less than 13 years. Remember, FITs are guaranteed to be paid for 25 years on PV installations and 20 years on other technologies.