Sun power
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Man’s pretty clever really: we’ve created ingenious devices to trap the sun’s energy here and now, rather than waiting 100’s of millions of years for plants to do it for us, through the slow processes of fossil fuel formation.
Power up with solar panels and step into the future, rather than depending on the dinosaurs for home electricity use. No sponsorship could be more generous: by installing solar PV panels you could donate a whopping 3,400Kg CO2 savings to your friend, whilst saving yourself a lot of money and gaining huge energy security.
Why?
Natural resources
Unlike the conventional forms of electricity generation, solar PV does not produce any pollution and doesn’t depend on extraction of oil, gas or coal. That leaves us with less pollution and more energy security, which has got to be a good thing.
Climate change
Electricity generation accounts for a whopping 1/3 of the UKs carbon emissions, and we’re lagging shamefully behind our European friends in the renewable generation game. The sun is out for about half the day, and despite the cloudy days we see here in the UK, solar PV is a pretty powerful source of electricity.
Money
By installing domestic solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, not only will you drastically cut your electricity bill, but you could also earn yourself almost
£1000
a year can be earned by selling the power you generate into the grid.
The Feed in Tariff (FIT) guarantees healthy cash back payments for 25 years, making domestic renewables like this a fantastically safe investment. You can calculate how much you could save on the Energy Saving Trust’s interactive Cashback Calculator. The government is reviewing the FIT for domestic installations in April 2012, so don’t dilly-dally!
How?
- Check that your house is suitable for solar PV (i.e. do you have a sun-bathed spot to place the panels).
- Find yourself a good MCS accredited installer.
- Sit back and let them do all the hard work.
Make My Home Green offer a great reporting service that can help see if your house is suitable. They are also giving DoNation users a 15% discount on this service so mention discount code 'Do Make My Home Green' when you give them a call!
Both Yougen and Save and Generate are great sources of independent advice. Check them out.
Got other tips or great resources to share? Please email them over to us at info@thedonation.org.uk
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