Grant plays important role with BES initiative
As part of the Birmingham Energy Savers (BES) initiative, Grant Solar PV (photovoltaic) Systems have been installed to a number of Family Housing Association homes in Carlisle Street.
Birmingham Energy Savers (formerly the New Green Deal) has many objectives but primarily seeks to create local employment opportunities around the low carbon, energy efficient retrofitting of Birmingham households and small businesses. The installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar modules not only meets these objectives, but also plays an important role in reducing fuel poverty for vulnerable families and residents alike.
MCS accredited installers, New World Solar, fitted a Grant Solar PV (Photovoltaic) on-roof system comprising 12 x 180W modules to each property. This will provide approximately 1,870kWh of energy per annum, which for the average householder equates to a £150 bill reduction and a significant reduction in CO2 emissions per year. Used in conjunction with a Grant 2kW inverter (which converts the DC current into useable AC current) the PV modules rely on daylight, rather than radiation, to generate power.
The Grant Solar PV on-roof system has many unique features which include the flexibility to install the solar modules in a portrait or landscape arrangement. The system is also arbitrarily expandable should energy requirements increase. The Grant 2kW inverter is equipped with independent MPPT channels (twin trackers) which enables PV module strings with different characteristics to maximise the systems yield whilst maintaining high conversion efficiency. Grant Inverters have a 10-year guarantee, are available in 4 sizes, and are suitable for both indoor and outdoor installations.
Birmingham Energy Savers is one of the Country’s first large scale projects to take advantage of the Government’s ‘Feed-in Tariff’ (FIT) Scheme for microgeneration. Through the ‘Feed-in Tariff’ scheme a payment of 41.3 pence per kWh for all electricity generated is guaranteed for 25 years, as well as a separate payment for the electricity exported to the National Grid. Birmingham Energy Savers aims to upgrade the energy efficiency of 15,000 homes in Birmingham; the first part of the scheme involves installing solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to over 2,000 council homes at a cost of £13 million. Launched initially as a pilot project in Aston, Lozells, Newtown and Northfield, the scheme is self-financing as the cost of installation will be met by income from the ‘Feed-in Tariff’.