Ethical Consumer

Ethical Consumer

Buyer's guide to Solar power for the home

   

This is a free buyer's guide from Ethical Consumer, the UK's leading alternative consumer organisation. We research the social and environmental records of companies.

 

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Best Buys as of July 2005

Best Buys logo

As our ratings are constantly updated, it is possible that ratings on the ethiscore website may have changed since this report was written.

Filsol: 01269 860229
Proven: 01560 485 570
Solar Twin Ltd: 0845 1300 137
Solar Century: 020 7803 0100


Brand
Rating
Filsol PV solar panels15.5
Filsol solar water heating15.5
Proven photovoltaics14.5
Solar Twin solar heating system14.5
Solarcentury photovoltaics14.5
Thermomax solar heating systems13
BP Solar PV panels4.5

The ratings on this scorecard were last updated from our database at www.ethiscore.org on 22 May 2008. The higher the rating, the more ethical the brand.

Power from the sun

Marie Payne braves the elements to examine how to turn your pad into a green powered paradise.

If the number of companies offering sustainable home energy systems is anything to go by, ethical consumers have never had it so good. The UK renewables market is now worth a meter worrying £650m(10) and companies are lining up to get their piece of the pie. This report will focus on leading UK manufacturers of solar products and a selection of smaller companies with strong ethical values and widely available products.

Starting to shine
The first step for solar shoppers is to choose between Solar Water Heating/Solar Thermal and Photovoltaics.

Solar water heating/Solar thermal
Over 40,000 panels have been installed in the UK to date.(1) Working in conjunction with conventional water heating systems including combi boilers; the panels contain water, which is heated by the sun and then flows through to the boiler transferring heat to the water inside. It is fairly low-tech compared with photovoltaics, consequently such products are available from a raft of small scale concerns.
There are two types of solar water heating: flat plate and evacuated tubes. A flat plate installation will cost between £850 and £4000. Evacuated tubes are more efficient but cost between £2500 - £5500.

Photovoltaics (PV)
Photovoltaics generate electrical energy fuelled by light. Although start up costs are higher than solar water heating systems - as much as £20,000 to retile an urban roof - PVs offer a range of financial and environmental benefits. In addition to being easy to install and maintain, they can be used as cladding for roofs and walls, supplying clean, free power to all types of buildings from city apartments to isolated homesteads. An average PV tiled roof will prevent over 34 tonnes of greenhouse gases in its lifetime.(11)

Clubbing together
As the process of choosing a solar water heating system can be an expensive and a daunting prospect, non-profit making solar clubs have been set up across the country to ease you through the process and keep costs low.
For example, WYSC is run by the Hebden Bridge Alternative Technology Centre, a charity working with local people to improve the environment and support sustainable development.
This, and clubs like it, run information evenings where you can ask questions and meet the ‘experts’. The next step is a home visit (£25)*, when a contractor will check the suitability of your home and advise on the best equipment. This is followed by a training day (£75)* covering everything from plumbing to ordering the equipment. Installation is carried out by the home-owner, who often enlists the support of club members, or a club approved contractor. The final stage is a check by a contractor, included in your training fee.
A grant available from the Energy Savings Trust means that a professional installation, with a new twin coil cylinder, will cost about £1,100 (including VAT). Alternatively, a cost conserving DIY installation through the club is around £850.(2) *WYSC prices.

Solar, so good?
It is understandable to assume all companies producing sustainable technologies like wind and solar systems are ethical themselves. But, for complex photovoltaics, big players like Shell and BP with poor track records for doing the right thing, are active in the market.
It is hard to believe that BP Solar, now occupying 16% of the market with revenues of $300 million(3), is working for a better world when its oil-dealing parent company has and done so much to place it in jeopardy.
In 2003 BP UK were criticized by the environment agency who said the company was a repeat offender when it came to pollution and that regular fines were having little impact on its ethics or actions.(4) Little has changed. In May this year BP’s Texas City plant was fined $109,500 (£58,000) for poor safety standards after 15 employees died in a refinery explosion. An investigation found BP did not make employees wear face or eye protection, and hazardous chemicals were leaking within the refinery for more than nine months.(5)
Anther topical example of BP’s conduct is the 1,760 kilometre Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which has been ‘riddled with corrosion’ according to a report by the Guardian.(8) The controversial project has been criticized for its environmental impact and human right violations. People in Georgia have protested about its route through the Borjomi Valley, one of the country’s most scenic areas. The pipe will also lead to the eviction of large numbers of refugees who populate the regions.(6)
Although Marlec scored highly in our table it is worth noting it is a distributor for BP Solar(7).

Grants
Help is at hand for householders wishing to reap the benefits of renewables. Clear Skies, funded by DTI, provides grants between £400 - £5000 for domestic ventures, while not-for-profit organisations can receive up to £50,000 for wind turbines, solar thermal, small scale hydro turbines, ground source heat pumps and wood fuelled boiler systems.
The Energy Saving Trust also offers information on a range of grants

References
1 www.cat.org.uk
2 www.alternativetechnology.org.uk
3 www.bp.com
4 www.bbcnews.co.uk 30/07/2003
5 www.tal.telegraph.co.uk 15/04/2005
6 www.bbc.co.uk 5/5/05
7 www.marlec.co.uk
8www.guardian.co.uk
9 www.societyguardian.co.uk
10 www.renewablesnorthwest.co.uk
11 www.solarcentury.co.uk
12 Guardian 12/05/05
13 www.windsave.com

 



   

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4 comments so far...

Additions to the alternatives

Re: Sun and Wind (EC95). What about wood pellet boilers? We had oil central heating but were unhappy with the environmental implications or the fact that we as a country are going to war to secure a depleting resource. After careful consideration we chose a wood pellet boiler, a carbon neutral German import eligible for Clear Skies grants. You don't have to stoke it, and the pellets are so compressed the ash tray need only be emptied once a month! This method appears to be new to this country and there are limited numbers of installers but, having a solar panel and with the climate as it is, we will probably only have to use our boiler for 4-5-months a year. I would thoroughly recommend it. Karen Wilkes, Stafford, by e-mail

By EC Letters Editor on   07/05/2008 14:33

Wind Farm Protests

Your sneering aside on anti-wind farm campaigners ("Blowing away the myths", EC95) was - I was going to say "not worthy of you" - but then I realised that you use this tone quite often. I am still undecided about wind farms but I do know that the antis are not all hysterical, deluded or wicked. There is a real debate going on. If wind farms are to make any real difference we need huge numbers of them. If they are a necessary evil then I for one will grit my teeth and accept them, but they are an eyesore to many people. And until air traffic in particular is drastically reduced, they may be pointless.

Mark Lester, by e-mail, London

By EC Letters Editor on   07/05/2008 14:33

Terrible turbines

I will not buy a new subscription of your magazine anymore if I have to see again how you support with advertisements the hypocrisy of wind power. Windfarms are unethical, because they are inefficient, make the power companies rich, but destroy mostly precious countryside.

A Metzler-Trembath, Morayshire

Editor's Reply:

We support the increasingly important role for wind power in future energy generation around the world: better visual intrusion than ecosystem collapse. An increasing number of community-owned wind farms are springing up across the country. See www.yes2wind.com/community_owners_links for more information.

By EC Letters Editor on   07/05/2008 14:33

Cheap or green?

I must point out an inaccuracy in the Green electricity report in issue 85. On p20 it says “it is generally accepted that green electricity tariffs cost the consumer either about the same or just a few pounds per bill more than conventional tariffs”.

I've recently examined the costs of Unit(e), one of your best buys. At 7p per unit (6.5p if paying a full year's bill in advance) the cost was about 30% more than I am paying British Gas (5.17p). Fixed costs were similarly more expensive with Unit(e).

Therefore I reluctantly chose not to swap tariffs.

Jim Coakes, by e-mail

By EC Letters Editor on   07/05/2008 14:34

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