Comments on: Cheltenham Methodist Church installs solar roof

By: Mr Viv Evans

Mr Viv Evans — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:37:36 +0000

The feature about the excellent work at Cheltenham MC mentions that there are a dozen or so churches leading the way nationwide. Out of the thousands of churches of all denominations this is so poor. But one reason for this is the lack of information and guidance being circulated by by churches centrally and by district councils.

I have been attempting to secure solar panels at The Deepings Church in South Lincs since the start of 2010. I have gone through the phases of informing our congregation, gaining permission to proceed, finding out about installers, getting quotations, selecting the best, trying to secure funding, finding out and applying for grants, gaining planning permission (in a conservation area) and wading through inappropriate forms, informing neighbours, updating the congregation and constantly having to chase people who are less enthusiastic. Applying for a National Lottery Community grant and for planning permission are minefields in themselves.

I have taken action in response to a letter from the Central Methodist Church (Dec. 2009) which stated that, “Over the course of the following year we will be preparing recommendations for the Conference and coordinating work to enable local churches to take action”. So where is it? What has been happening for the past nine months? Why don’t they just speak to Cheltenham and the others? Even I could now save people a lot of time! Time is of the essence. People need guidance, some finance, and less bureaucracy NOW.

Come on, National Churches, Conferences and District Councils, let’s have some real action!!

By: D Cage

D Cage — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 18:04:25 +0000

Oh I forgot to add that if you read the small print the output is not guaranteed to be full for that period and after 10 years you are likely to get at best half yield.

By: D Cage

D Cage — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 17:59:53 +0000

Confused is quite right. Remember the subsidies were diverted from other far more deserving causes. Unlike wind farms we can expect better and cheaper PV panels to be developed. Till then our cloudy and rainy weather results in a huge reduction in output which is never admitted but can be seen if anyone disbelieves me on public display in the National Trust Heelis building where a working range of 10 to 1 is quite common.
The economics make more sense when the PV panels are built in as part of the original roof design.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:35:21 +0000

i have to get our roof replaced

By: Darryl Wenkrik

Darryl Wenkrik — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:35:42 +0000

Each post I have read is well written and to the point. I would also like to state, not only are the articles well written, but the lay-out of your site is excellent. I was able to navigate from article to article and find what I was looking for with ease. Keep up the great work you are doing, and I will be back many times in the future.

By: Coordinator

Coordinator — Sat, 01 May 2010 08:23:29 +0000

Dear confused, it does make sense when you have the real numbers for feed-in tarriffs: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/uk_supply/energy_mix/renewable/feedin_tariff/feedin_tariff.aspx

These are 30-40p rather than 10p.

By: confused

confused — Sat, 01 May 2010 07:59:50 +0000

This doesn’t make sense. 7000 kwh for 25years = 175000 kwh. If that is costed at 10p per kwh the electricity generated is worth only £17500. Thats a loss of £21500 against the installation cost of the panels. Even if prices double there will still be a loss.

Is it really right to encourage this kind of economic naivety for the sake of an environmental pat on the back. PVcells also contain nasties which will need to be disposed of and have so have an environmental cost at production and disposal.

By: Anna Gebo

Anna Gebo — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:19:40 +0000

I’m genuinely glad I found this post. I’ve been checking for information on solar energy for awhile.Looking forward to reading through more posts about energy.