We are writing this email to everyone who we have provided a Solar PV quotation to that has not yet placed a confirmed order for a system.

The list is many and varied and includes quotations that we sent out quite a long time ago who may have already chosen another installer, as well as others that we have only sent out in the last week or two. It includes a wide variety of potential projects, many of which we have spent a lot of time in considering different options and designs for, and all of which we would like to still install.

We thought we should let you know immediately about today’s dramatic and unexpected announcement from the government with regards to the Feed in Tariff rates for solar PV installations. You can read the full announcement on the Department for Energy and Climate Change, DECC website but, in summary, the announcement is as follows:

• The current rates for solar panel installations (eg 43.3p per unit for systems less than 4kW) will only be paid to installations that are installed and commissioned before 12^th December 2011
• Installations completed after 12^th December will only be eligible for new, much lower rates of 21p per unit for systems up to 4kW and even lower than this for larger systems.
• In order to be eligible for Feed in Tariffs after 1^st April 2012, new installations must be on a property which has an energy rating of C or better (usually either built after around 1998 or with full loft and cavity wall insulation and a new boiler)

Not only is the rate change a significant reduction on the previous rates, but it is also being introduced much more quickly than had been expected - in mid December, rather than 1^st April.

One thing that we do not yet know is the effect that this FIT rate change will have on panel prices. It is likely that many distributors will have large stocks that they will now be desperate to sell, so that prices may tumble in the New Year. However, it is also likely that many companies will fold and that the UK solar market will shrink dramatically, which may have the effect of pushing prices back up again.

As a rough guide, at current prices, the payback that would now be expected for a good south facing roof is likely to be around 16-18 years, compared to recent quotations where we have predicted around 8-10 years and the return on investment is likely to be around 4-6 %, compared to some of our recent predictions of 11-13%. Still, the changes are likely to have a big effect on some of your decisions about whether to go ahead with a solar panel installation. However, you should bear in mind that a 4-6% interest free and index linked return is still better than you are likely to get with bank interest. Also, for those of you considering a solar PV installation for environmental reasons, it will still provide an excellent way of reducing carbon emissions. So, a solar PV installation will still be a worthwhile, reliable investment.

Needless to say, we have had a rush of orders today from people trying to get systems installed before the 12^th December deadline. Being a popular company with a good local reputation, we already had a virtually full order book out to the end of November but have today been looking at ways of satisfying as many people as possible and squeezing in as many installations as we can. However, we have now made the decision that we have as many orders as we can cope with up to 12^th December. We do not want to give anyone false hopes or promise things that we do not believe we can deliver, so we have closed our order list and decided not to accept any more orders from customers that are relying on the 43.3p FIT rate.

It may be that, if our installers work particularly hard and the weather is kind to us, we might still be able to fit in a couple more installations before the deadline.

So, if you are interested in an installation by C Changes Ltd and would like to go onto our waiting list, please email me back as soon as you can.

We will not require a deposit for being on our waiting list and will contact you as soon as we know that there is a possibility of a vacant pre 12/12 installation slot to see if you still wish to proceed. We will work this on a strict first-come, first-served basis.

If you would still be interested in having a system installed, at the new 21p FIT rate, then also let us know and we will plan in your installation for the New Year. We will also provide you with a revised price and financial calculation, detailing the likely paybacks and ROI for you particular project, although we will allow a month or so to enable the panel prices to settle a little before sending the revised quotation.

We understand that many of you will now look for alternative installers who are able to guarantee an installation before 12^th December. We would just advise caution and make sure, if you place an order with another firm that:

1. They definitely will be installing before 12^th December and that they agree to return your deposit if they are not able to meet this deadline
2. You know exactly which panels, inverter, etc they will be fitting. There will be a lot of cheap kits being sold that may not all be of good long term quality
3. That you are 100% satisfied that the company is going to carry out the installation correctly – taking full account of any shading, carrying out structural calculations and roof strengthening where these deem it necessary, fitting the correct mounting system for your roof, doing all electrical work to the correct standards, etc.

We are sure you will be aware that a very wide range of different installers have entered the market recently. Good companies like ours have full order books whereas the more dubious ones will have more availability. Just because the good installers are full up, does not mean that this government announcement should open the door to the more disreputable companies over the next 6 weeks.

We fully intend to keep installing solar PV systems in the New Year, despite the FIT rate cut and hope that you will still choose C Changes Ltd for your installation.

I look forward to hearing any views you have about your individual projects and the decisions that you are likely to make in light of these changes.

Best regards

Jeremy Fisk

The Renewable Awards, the industry’s first awards ceremony, were held at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Thursday 8th September 2011 presented by Julia Bradbury with entertainment provided by Michael McIntyre.

C Changes were invited by NAPIT, our accreditation body, to attend the awards. NAPIT chose just four solar PV installers from different regions of the country to attend as their guests. We were both proud and honoured to be chosen to represent the Midlands.

It was a chance to meet other like-minded installers. Although most of the awards for the evening went to much larger national companies, they at least gave us something to aspire to next year. We are clearly doing something right already, having been chosen by NAPIT from the large number of firms that have MCS accreditation with them.

If you are outside the Midlands area, then the following other companies were also selected by NAPIT, so would be worth approaching to discuss PV projects:

• NGPS Ltd from Poole, represented by Nick Good
• ION Energy from Ipswich, represented by Michael Calver
• Renewable Electric from Manchester, represented by David Freeman

Jeremy was once again invited onto Radio Derby, this time for a live interview on the Aleena Naylor morning show. During the interview he again explained the benefits of installing a solar PV system and, most importantly, what sort of things to look for when choosing an installer.You can listen to the interview in two parts by clicking on the following links:

• Part 1 - How the FIT scheme works, the differences between Solar PV and Solar Thermal and how much you could earn
• Part 2 - What things to look out for when choosing a solar installer, which houses are most suitable

Following the interview with Jeremy, there was then a live outside broadcast at one of our installations in Repton. Mr Masson kindly agreed to be interviewed by the radio and gave his views on why he chose to install solar power, how he selected C Changes for his installation and what his experience has been of having the system.

• Outside broadcast with Mr Masson in Repton

This headline might seem a little strong but, in reality, the proposals released by DECC today to amend the Feed In Tariff rates for largescale solar PV installations (>50kW) from August 2011 have effectively put an end to largescale solar PV installations in the UK.

The existing rates are 32.9p / unit for systems in the 10-100kW range and 30.7 p/unit for anything greater than 100kW. The latest proposal slashes these rates significantly for any installation over 50kW, as follows:

These rates are much lower than they previously were and are likely to mean that most planned largescale installations will be scrapped, unless they can be installed before August. The likely returns will just not be high enough to encourage large investors or companies to consider investing in solar PV.

The rate for the largest systems is only 8.5p, which is similar to what was announced for solar hot water systems in the recent proposals for the Renewable Heat Incentive. It seems that the government is signalling a common theme with regards to incentives for renewables - namely "We will set the incentive level for all renewables so that the cost per unit of energy is about the same as largescale offshore wind installation". They believe that they can meet their renewables and carbon emissions targets by mass installation of offshore wind turbines, so there is little point in incentivising other schemes more than this.

This is a dramatic change to the original FIT policy set up by the previous government, which basically aimed to give the same level of return to an investor (around 5-8%), regardless of which renewable you installed. Although the previous policy might make cutting our emissions relatively expensive, it at least means that investment money is attracted to a wide range of different technologies in equal measure, giving us a chance to try out different technologies and for the industry to develop skills in a wide range of areas. By 2050, we will, as a country, need to have invested in all sorts of different technologies in order to meet the far more stringent plans for cutting emissions. It seems a very short term approach to just say, "We can manage with just wind for now, so let's stick with that".

C Changes Ltd has always planned to focus on delivering high quality installations to the domestic market, so these rates will not affect our plans that much. At present, the government are still stating that they will maintain support for small scale solar PV systems. However, our concern is that the comprehensive review over the next year will also recommend reductions in the rates for small PV systems as well. We would recommend that anyone hoping to install solar PV as a means of giving themselves a good financial return and to assist in reducing carbon emissions do so as soon as possible. If you can get your system installed before April 2012, you will then lock into a decent rate for the next 25 years and will not be affected by whatever the government does after that. We anticipate a mad rush of installations early next year as people try to get the current high rates so, the sooner you begin planning your project, the better.

Also, at the moment, solar panel prices are very low because many distributors have bought large stocks in anticipation of providing largescale installations. It is possible that this announcement will lead to an increase in prices again over the coming months, so there really is no time like the present to install a system.

OFGEM has now confirmed the new Feed In tariff rates that will apply to installations from April 2011. The rates will be increased in line with the Retail Price Index by a very healthy 4.8%.

All installations that have been registered before April 2011 will see their rates increase by this much. The new rates will also apply to new installations registered throughout the next year, right up to April 2012.

Linking the FIT rate to inflation is a key and often over-looked benefit of installing a solar PV system. Savers who have kept their money in the bank over the last year will have effectively seen the value of their money fall in real terms, because interest rates have been significantly below the RPI rate. In contrast, those who have invested in solar panels have effectively insulated themselves from the effects of inflation for the next 25 years. Their FIT rates will continue to be increased each year by the RPI figure.

From April, the rates that will be paid for solar PV systems will be as follows:

The rate for the Export payments will also increase from 3p to 3.1 p per unit.

Since these new rates will apply from April onwards, it is important that any existing generators take a generation meter reading on 31st March 2011, otherwise your FIT supplier will just estimate the reading, based on previous information. We all know how hopeless estimated readings are, so we would advise all our customers to take a reading, so as to begin earning the higher rate as soon as possible.

If you have a different renewable technology installed, you can download the full table of FIT rate increases or read more about it on the OFGEM website.

Today, the Department of Energy and Climate Change announced that they are starting an early review of the Feed In Tariff rates, which they expect to complete by the end of 2011. The review will look at what the rates will be set at from April 2012 onwards.

Previously, it was planned for FIT rates for solar PV to drop by 7% from April 2012 onwards and for the review to be carried out during 2012. By bringing forward the review by a year, it is possible that after April 2012, the FIT rates will drop even lower than planned, particularly for large scale solar farms.

C Changes is pleased that the government is at least keeping some stability in the market by stating that the current rates will be maintained until next April. We just hope that the review will not cut rates too much post April 2012, as this might damage the infant UK solar PV installation network.

We have mixed views about whether there should be such a backlash against solar farms and whether FIT rates for these plants should be cut. Largescale solar farms will certainly take up a lot of the FIT money, leaving less available for small scale domestic investors. We would also prefer to see natural countryside than solar fields. However, if we are really serious about moving to a sustainable and zero carbon energy mix in the UK, we will need vast areas of solar panels as part of the solution, together with wind farms and new nuclear power plants. It is only by encouraging PV production on a large scale, will the costs come down for smaller installations. Also, there are many factories with ideal roofs for solar that have the potential to install very large MW "farm size" systems. We think that FIT rates should remain generous to encourage businesses to do this as a way of generating most of their own electricity and reducing their carbon footprints.

We would encourage anyone with a view on these matters to submit comments to the governmnet review.

Read the full DECC FIT Review Press Release.

I would also encourage everyone to read David Mckay's excellent free online book "Sustainable Energy - without the Hot Air", which explains all of the options for how we could achieve a sustainable energy mix for the UK. I'm afraid the NIMBY's will have to agree to some combination of wind farms, solar farms, nuclear power stations, etc if we are to maintain the lifestyle we have grown accustomed to.

This morning Jeremy was invited into the Radio Derby studios to talk about the solar panels on his home, explain how they work and how, since installing solar PV in May, the panels have earnt almost £1100. You can listen to the full interview here.

Radio Derby contacted us because they wanted to follow up on their story on Friday 4th February about Derby Homes, who have just installed their first few solar PV systems in Bretton Avenue, Derby. This street is ideally suited to solar PV because the houses face south and have no mains gas, so that Derby Homes see solar PV as an ideal way of reducing their tenants' electricity bills. As the tenants in that street are often elderly, they spend a lot more time in the house during the day, so are able to make maximum use of the free solar electricity during the day. For example, they can run washing machines, switch on the immersion, etc when it is sunny and not when it is cloudy.

Derby Homes hope to install around 500 systems on other properties around Derby over the next few years.

We have had a couple of customers ask why they aren’t generating any solar power at the moment. Don’t worry, it is unlikely that your panels have been damaged by the recent snow.

Instead, you probably still have some snow on a part of your solar array. Just as shading can cause a problem with the output, snow is worse. Snow completely prevents light from getting to the area of solar panel that it is covering. Even if the rest of the solar array is clear of snow, a small covered area acts like a blockage in a pipe and prevents any current flowing through that section and therefore prevents the whole array from generating power.

If you are able to safely reach your panels from a ladder and brush the snow off the panels, you should find that they immediately start generating power again.

If the cold snap continues and the snow does not thaw, then you might be losing out, particularly as we are having some cold, sunny days at the moment, which are good for generating power.

Since we brushed the snow off our panels on Friday, we have generated around 15 kWh (worth just over £6 from the Feed In Tariff), but only about 0.5% of what we are expecting for the year. If you cannot safely get up to the roof yourself and would like us to come and brush your panels for you, we would have to charge around £20-25 to cover time and transport costs so it is probably not worthwhile at this time of year. However, if you would like us to do this for you, either now or in the future, please contact us. Alternatively, find a helpful neighbour with a long ladder and pay them with a nice mug of mulled wine !

With winter on its way, the nights drawing in and the heating going on around the country, it is once again time for the annual Energy Saving Week, run by the Energy Saving Trust. It's a chance to get everyone to focus on what they can do to save energy over the coming winter. This year, the EST are once again focussing on the standard things like fitting extra loft insulation, insulating cavity walls and fitting low energy lightbulbs, but are also highlighting ways of generating your energy, such as with solar panels.

Radio Derby seem to regard Jeremy as the local energy saving guru, so phoned him up again for an interview, which took the form of a quick tour round the house to demonstrate how people can save energy. Jeremy showed the reporter how all the appliances in the kitchen are switched off at the wall, how he has fitted low energy lights everywhere, including replacing the halogen lights with low energy GU10 bulbs.

Jeremy also explained how people can use an energy monitor to keep a track of what they are using and how they can reduce their electricity usage. We give one of these monitors out freely whenever anyone orders a solar system from us, to get them used to monitoring energy and to help them learn how to get the most out of their new solar panels by using as much of the free solar electricity as they can.

Finally, of course, Jeremy showed off his solar panels - both solar thermal and a 3.5 kW solar PV system.

If you want to hear the whole interview, click here

After some negative speculation in the lead up to the spending review, the government today announced that Feed-In tariffs will remain as planned until at least April 2013. They have also finally announced that they will proceed with a Renewable Heat Incentive, for solar thermal and ground source heat pumps, etc.

The Department of Energy and Climate change said:

• Feed-in tariffs will be refocused on the most cost-effective technologies saving £40m in 2014-15. The changes will be implemented at the first scheduled review of tariffs [in 2012, to kick in 2013] unless higher than expected deployment requires an early review
• £860 million funding for the Renewable Heat Incentive which will be introduced from 2011-12. This will drive a more-than-tenfold increase of renewable heat over the coming decade, shifting renewable heat from a fringe industry firmly into the mainstream. The Government will not be taking forward the previous administration’s plans of funding this scheme through an overly complex Renewable Heat levy.

In other words, the feed-in tariff scheme and current rate paid to owners of solar panels remains the same for now. But there are two points.

Firstly, in the 2012 review, changes will be made to the tariff that cut it by £40m, or 10%, in 2014 and 2015. Those changes won't be announced until 2012, but it could mean that the rates paid for technolgies such as solar PV could be significantly lower than they are now from 2013 onwards. This would not affect people who already have a FIT contract, only those that install systems from 2013 onwards. The government has always been clear that any tariff reviews would only affect new installations after that review date, not systems that are already installed - see the extract below from the FIT proposals:

• In order to ensure that existing investors may proceed with certainty, any changes to future levels of support will apply only to investments following the review; generation tariffs the installations existing at the time of the review will be maintained.

Secondly, the government is now saying it reserves the right to bring forward the 2012 review if there's a rush of people and companies installing microgeneration between now and then. They have still not defined what "higher than expected deployment" is, so in theory, the review could happen at any time.

When should I install?
As soon as possible. The rate of 41.3p per unit of electricity for solar panel owners was always only going to be guaranteed until 31 March 2012 and then reviewed so that it decreases in following years. However, today's announcement means that the review could be brought forward, so that the rates could be reduced before then. In order to guarantee higher rates for yourself, you should try to install as soon as you can, ahead of any review.

How does this affect people who have already installed since April?
It doesn't. Any householder who installed solar panels after 15 July 2009 will still be paid 41.3p per unit of electricity, tax free and linked to the inflation rate for 25 years.

What will C Changes be doing about the Renewable Heat Incentive?
We will continue to concentrate on being the best solar PV designerrs and installers in the area. We will await the final announcements of the tariff rates for the RHI before assessing how adding solar thermal to our range might benefit our customers.

[based on an article in the Guardian on 20th October 2010]

5 months and a week since Bregje and Jeremy fitted a 3.5 kW system to their own house, a perfect blue sky day saw the generation meter blast through the 2000 units mark. It really has been a good summer so far and, apart from a couple of really wet or grey days, we have usually produced more electricity than we would use. Even though we are in mid October, today's perfect cloudless day has meant that we produced 16 units, double our normal daily usage.

The initial predictions using our PVSOL software were that our system should produce 2762 units a year (786 units per kW) and, although we have the winter months to come, we feel confident that we will easily exceed that. We might even reach the SAP estimate of 2924 units (833 per kW). We will definitely produce more than our usual usage of 2400 units per year, which will mean that we will be net exporters of electricity.

At the same time, our electricity consumption has approximately halved because we have learnt to use as much of the free solar power as we can by, for example, running the dishwasher and washing machine only on sunny days. So, if things carry on like this, we will get our money back faster than we predicted and earn more per year, which is the opposite to some of the current scare stories in the press about people over-selling solar power.

With all our quotes, we always use PVSOL estimates and conservative estimates of how much of the solar electricity will be used so that, if anything, we undersell the system. We would prefer people to be pleasantly surprised at how much they earn than disappointed that the system is underperforming against predictions. PVSOL uses actual solar levels for Derby and is more realistic than the SAP figures used by the majority of installers, which use a UK average figure. Unfortunately, although this year has been a good one, Derby generally has less sun than the national average !

BBC Radio Derby visited Shirley on Wed 22nd Septemberto talk to some of the residents of Meadowside Close about the installation of their solar electric panels and their various energy efficiency initiatives.

C Changes have installed 5 different solar electric systems on this street. Each system has been designed specifically to meet the needs of each household. We have also provided other energy efficiency advice and awareness to make sure each of our customers get the best out of new their system. We are very proud to have been consistently chosen as the preferred supplier to these customers.

During the radio interview C Changes' Installation manager, Jeremy Fisk, explained the costs and benefits of solar electric panels. Two of our customers were also interviewed and explained how pleased they are with their new systems and with the service they received from C Changes.

You can hear the whole broadcast here - apologies for the quality of the recording, but we think you'll agree that our customers are happy !

As C Changes complete the 5th installation in the same street, Chris Jones of the Derby Evening Telegraph spoke to some of the reisdents to find out why they chose to invest in solar electric panels. Click here to read the full article.

After several months of research, training, documentation work and an inspection of our first solar PV installation, we today received our Microgeneration Certification Scheme accreditation certificate from NAPIT. This means that now any solar electric systems that we fit will qualify for the Feed In Tariff scheme. Also, our customers can be assured that we are always working to the highest standards, following industry recognised codes of practice.

We are proud to have achieved our accreditation so quickly after making the decision to diversify away from just energy advice and energy performance surveys and into solar panel installation. The NAPIT inspector told us that we were one of only three companies that they had assessed which passed the MCS accreditation without a single non-conformity.

Bregje and Jeremy today featured in the Derby Telegraph, as part of the launch of the newspaper's 10:10 campaign to try to encourage everyone to reduce their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010.

Several year's ago, before they started C Changes, Bregje and Jeremy began looking at ways of reducing their electricity and gas usage and saving on carbon emissions. They quickly made about a 50% cut in home electricity usage by making changes to their habits, turning everything off standby, switching all the lightbulbs to low energy ones, etc. Based on their experience, they decided to set up C Changes, to help advise others on how to do the same.

In the last few years, they have further reduced their electricity usage by, for example, replacing the old fridge freezer with an A++ rated model.

Now, by installing their own solar PV panels in May 2010, they expect to make further cuts to the amount of electricity they buy, resulting in a total of about 75% reduction since the previous "energy wasting" days. Overall, they now expect to be net exporters of electricity because, although they will still need to buy electricity at night and on cloudy days, they will be exporting more than this to the grid over the course of a year.

The newspaper article explains more about the changes that Bregje and Jeremy have made and why they are keen to do this. Read the full Derby Telegraph article here