Structural Reports

What rate can be expected in the July feed-in tariff cuts?

sharon — Fri, 04 May 2012 07:45:27 +0000

The UK solar industry is today anticipating the future feed-in tariff rates as we move from the month of April into May. After Government announced it’s intention to base the new rates on installation figures seen between March 3 and the end of April 2012, all eyes have been on the FiT database.

read more on this article at the Solar Power Portal

Trees & subsidence

sharon — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:03:49 +0000

Despite the severe weather conditions and flood warnings, the current position remains of extreme concern relating to water resources across wide areas of the English Lowlands.

Drought situations are undoubtedly a contributing factor in tree related subsidence of low rise buildings, especially in areas of clay soil.

Changes in weather patterns coupled with long periods of dry weather can cause tree roots to extract moisture from deep within the soil leading to shrinkage which results in a downward shift of a building’s foundations.

Tree roots can also find their way into underground drainage systems causing damage resulting in defective / leaking drains which in turn causes soil erosion beneath a building’s foundations.

If you’re thinking of planting any new trees you need to think carefully before selecting species. The broad leaf types tend to cause more damage than evergreens because of the amount of moisture they require.

Here’s a helpful guide with planting distances, if unsure, as a general rule, plant any new trees the same distance away from your house as their expected mature height.

Tree Species	Mature Height (m)	Safe Distance (m)
Apple	12	10
Ash	23	21
Beech	20	15
Birch	14	10
Cherry	17	11
Cypress	25	20
Elm	25	30
Hawthorn	10	12
Horse Chestnut	20	23
Laurel	8	6
Lime	24	20
Magnolia	9	5
Maple	21	20
Oak	24	30
Pine	29	8
Poplar	28	35
Sycamore	24	17
Spruce	18	7
Willow	24	40
Yew	12	5

If you think your property may be suffering from subsidence as a result of overgrown vegetation, call us now on 0800 027 5130 for free, friendly advice!

Negative equity map of the UK shows clear North-South divide

sharon — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:43:20 +0000

Plunging house prices have triggered a new negative equity crisis, with the North bearing a far greater burden than the South.

12% of homeowners in the North have negative equity, 6% higher than national average

Hundreds of thousands more families have become trapped in the nightmare of having a mortgage bigger than the value of their home over the last 18 months.

The report, from the ratings agency Standard and Poor’s, said 3.6 per cent of mortgage-holders were in ‘negative equity’ during the spring of 2010. By the end of last year, the number had risen to 5.6 per cent.

Warnings on future saleability of solar ‘rent a roof’ homes

sharon — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:53:20 +0000

Thousands of households that agreed to rent their roofs to solar panel companies, in return for free electricity, could find their properties are unsaleable. It has emerged that lenders have begun to turn down mortgage applications from homeowners who are signed up to such schemes.

According to a story in Guardian Money, owners of such properties are being turned down for remortgages, which suggests that prospective purchasers of such properties are also likely to be rejected.

Guardian Money was contacted by a Southampton couple who were refused by several companies when they tried to remortgage, even though their existing mortgage provider, RBS, apparently agreed to the scheme.

Applications for a remortgage have been apparently turned down by Skipton and Nationwide, although RBS has offered them a mortgage on the basis that it approved the solar installation.

The couple are now worried they won’t be able to sell if potential buyers also struggle to find a loan.

New legislation, planning permission no longer required for commercial solar pv installations

sharon — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:31:03 +0000

From April 6 this year planning permission will no-longer be required to install solar PV or solar thermal on non-domestic buildings. The new rules will also mean that ground-mounted systems up to 9m2 will be able to go ahead without a planning application.

The new regulations, which are coming into affect by an amendment to Permitted Development Rights (PDRs), will have a great impact on the requirements for planning for retrofits on commercial and agricultural buildings. Those who were held back, or forced to cancel projects due to the delays planning caused when the feed-in tariff changes were going through, will no longer face such restrictions.

read more on this at the solarpowerportal

VAT savings to be withdrawn from Listed Buildings works

sharon — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:46:36 +0000

Yesterday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer made an astonishing, and unexpected, announcement that will affect a significant number of owners of listed properties in the UK.

In short, the VAT relief that currently applies to alterations to listed buildings is being withdrawn with effect from 1 October 2012. The Chancellor described the existing relief as an ‘anomaly’, which “gives a perverse incentive for change as opposed to repair”. He also considers that the majority of the work covered by the relief consists of “extension work which is not necessary for heritage”. Admittedly, extensions currently qualify for VAT relief at present, but it does not give a true picture of the type of work that owners carry out, and which frequently qualify for relief.

Dave Brown, the LPOC’s VAT adviser commented “The majority of projects that I get involved with are simply restoration jobs – and with VAT at 20% being payable on these works in future, home owners are likely to ‘make do and mend’ – or else purchase non-listed buildings next time. The end result, unfortunately, is that many historic buildings will simply fall into a state of disrepair.

Are you pestered by seagulls messing up your solar panels?

sharon — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:22:12 +0000

Solar powered electronics and solar panels mounted near the sea attract seagulls. Their droppings interfere with solar panel operation, creating a shadow which blocks the cell and stops the sunlight getting through, thus reducing efficiency and results in expensive maintenance. If cells are left blocked for a long period of time this can ultimately kill the cell and cause permanent damage to the panel.

For those of you with solar panels who live by the sea and get a lot of seagulls on your roof, other than expensive seagull deterrent systems, here are some ideas for solar panel array protection:-

Stop seagulls landing / resting by installing very fine netting
Install sonic bird scarers
Train a hawk !
Get a cat

At-Bristol have enlisted the help of a robotic peregrine falcon called ‘Brian’ to keep the seagulls off their roof and protect their brand new solar panel array.

You can follow Brian’s progress including his daily ‘tweets’ at :-

http://www.at-bristol.org.uk/solarwebcam

If you too are pestered by seagulls messing up your solar panels and have any suggestions for seagull control, get in touch, admin@structuralreportsonline.co.uk

‘Energy Performance Certificates’ required to qualify for full feed-in tariff for solar pv

sharon — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:10:07 +0000

It has been announced that as of April 1, 2012 all new solar PV systems wishing to receive the full feed-in tariff rate available will have to be accompanied with a valid EPC level D. Following mounting confusion, DECC has confirmed that a solar installation will contribute to bringing the property up to EPC level D.

Brewsters go green!

sharon — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:13:10 +0000

Brewster’s head office boosts green credentials with installation of solar array

The scaffolding is up at ‘Brewster Towers’ this week and we are having our very own 3.67kw solar array fitted by local company ‘Natural Energy Sources’ in time for the March deadline.

Yes, we carried out our own full structural appraisal and luckily no additional strengthening works were necessary.

Stephen, who has been leading the solar project, says ‘hopefully we will be creating our own energy by Friday this week, we just need some sunshine now!’

Adrian Adam, Sales and Marketing Director for Natural Energy Sources commented “We were approached by Brewsters to install a solar PV system on their business to help reduce electricity usage from the national grid and to show a commitment to renewable energy. After assessing the property, analysing available options with the aid of state-of-the-art design software, and liaising with the team at Brewsters, we designed and installed a 3.67 kW system using 15 Hyundai monocrystalline modules and a top of the range Power One inverter. This system would maximise the yield with the available roof space and significantly help to reduce the carbon footprint of the company.

The solar project forms part of an ongoing scheme to increase our green credentials and reduce our carbon footprint. Our recent office refurbishment has included the installation of other energy saving features such as an automatic light control system which will activate only when an area is occupied and also measure the ambient light levels within the offices with lights coming on only when necessary, it’s hoped that we will save at least 70% of our lighting costs by using this system.

If you are thinking of ‘going green’ and are interested in solar pv panels but want to check if your roof is strong enough to take the increased load, check out our services for solar pv, with prices starting from £75 + VAT why take the risk?

DECC announce new cost control mechanism

sharon — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:41:51 +0000

On February 9, DECC launched a consultation on its decision to move the FiT scheme towards a tariff structure that is able to respond directly to levels of deployment, replicating a successful model that has been deployed in Germany.

DECC proposes that the starting tariff levels for July 1, should be set dependent on the levels of actual deployment of solar in March and April. As a result DECC has modelled for three different scenarios depending on the level of capacity installed in March and April.

DECC’s proposed July 1 tariff rates are outlined below:

Band (kW)	1 April tariff	Option A	Option B	Option C
≤4kW	21p	13.6p	15.7p	16.5p
>4kW-10kW	16.8p	10.9p	12.6p	13.2p
>10-50kW	15.2p	9.9p	11.4p	11.9p
>50-150kW	12.9p	7.7p	9.7p	10.1p
>150-250kW	12.9p	5.8p	8p	10.1p
>250-5000kW	8.9p	4.7p	6.8p	7.1p
Stand alone	8.9p	4.7p	6.8p	7.1p

The most conservative option released by DECC would see FiT rates slashed by over 20 percent in July, Option A would see March tariff levels slashed by 35 percent. A 68.6 percent drop in just 8 months. A further 5 percent reduction on the July level of tariff will be enacted in October, with 10 percent reductions being introduced every six months thereafter.

Read more on this story from the solar panel portal

source: solar panel portal