Renewable Energy Installer December/January 2016 | Page 17

Knowledge: Solar PV
Every cloud has a silver lining
With the end looking nigh for the Feed-in Tariff, it’s time to switch PV customers
on to self-consumption, argues 4eco co-founder, Jo Huggett
uch as we all might hate to admit
it, government subsidies could
never be the long-term solution
for the solar industry. Small
comfort to those now out of work
or facing up to an uncertain future, I know.
Trina’s UK sales manager, Richard Ruskin,
summed up the industry’s shock succinctly
when he told the Guardian: ”We want to wean
ourselves off subsides as soon as possible, but
you cannot just cut them by 87 per cent.”
M
The hidden benefit of the
FiT cut will be the way it
refocuses the industry to
promote self-sufficiency
Personally I see one positive to come out
of all this - the chance for the industry to put
self-sufficiency back on the agenda.
The FiT’s legacy will be the way it kick-
started a nation into making renewables both
affordable and ubiquitous.
But where does all that clean energy go?
Back to the grid in most cases, putting extra
strain on the network and leaving PV owners
in the maddening position of paying for their
energy twice - once for the panels and then
every time they buy back more expensive
dirty energy in the evenings.
Until now the FiT helped us explain
this paradox away - selling back to the Grid
made financial sense, after all - never mind
the environment. Not any longer; through
necessity the industry has to bring it back.
Energy generated and consumed on
site has always been the cleanest form of
energy - now it’s the cheapest too. It’s never
been more important for installers to remind
customers of this fact and help them to self-
consume as much as possible.
Homeowners may no longer earn as
much from PV, however they can spend less
by reducing their reliance on the Grid, simply
by self-consuming more. Depending on the PV
system, weather conditions and other aspects
of the property, a home or business owner can
generate and self-consume up to 100 percent
of their energy needs. Lest we forget, after
all, the fundamental, environmental benefit of
solar.
Once it takes hold, this idea of self-
consumption prompts customers to take
stock of their everyday energy behaviour and
cut out unnecessary energy use: does the
dishwasher really need to be used twice-a-
day; could clothes be dried on the washing
line rather than in the tumble dryer?
The hidden benefit of the FiT cut will be
the way it refocuses the industry to promote
self-sufficiency, both through lifestyle changes
and technology.
In this new renewable landscape,
eco-gadgets which help increase self-
consumption will step out of the shade of solar
subsidies and become a no-brainer for anyone
selling or buying PV.
Sophisticated devices can divert surplus
energy to heating or hot water systems during
daylight hours when panels are at their most
productive, and app technology means owners
can monitor and control their levels of self-
consumption through their mobile or tablet.
Positive thinking: Cuts to the Feed-in Tariff will
incentivise future PV owners to increase self-
consumption via power diverters as exporting
becomes less attractive, says 4eco’s Jo Huggett
When the export tariff is near-to-nothing,
every extra watt kept inside the home means
money saved for future owners of PV. And
while governments grapple with climate
targets in Paris, our industry can help those
hundreds of thousands of existing PV owners
to go even greener by offering retrofits of the
technology that will help them live cheaper,
cleaner lives.
When the export tariff is
near-to-nothing, every extra
watt kept inside the home
means money saved
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