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In December 2006, the UK Government set a new policy that all new homes in England would be ‘zero carbon’ from 2016 and introduced an initiative called the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH), which would allow ratings to measure different levels of compliance. Although initially confusing, the term ‘Carbon’ in fact means anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide emissions. Although these ratings did not specifically promote solar thermal, it was most difficult to comply with the ratings without renewable technologies on the building. Ever since, several governmental announcements brought delay and doubts into this far-reaching climate protection policy. The photo shows a low carbon building in the town of Rothwell, Northamptonshire that achieves reductions of 65 % compared to Part L of the building regulations 2006.
Quarterly solar thermal statistics from the UK’s Solar Trade Association (STA) covering 80 % of the total market volume show that solar thermal sales have decreased by 35% in the first quarter of 2013 when measured against the same period in 2012 (see chart on the left and attached document). This news comes at the same time as the UK Government, in updating their heat strategy, announces further delays to making the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) eligible for householders: the so-called ‘Phase 2’ of the RHI scheme. This is now the second delay to the roll-out of Phase 2. When the RHI was first launched, the scheme was supposedly going to be made available to domestic customers in October 2012. However, in their factsheet published on 24 October 2012, the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) stated their intention to introduce the domestic RHI “in the summer of 2013”. But then on 26 March this year DECC released a press release that the launch of this scheme will now be pushed back once more until spring 2014: a full 18 months later than originally promised. DECC now state that further confirmation and proposed tariff levels will be published later this year. In the meantime, the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) scheme is to be extended until the end of March 2014.
In February 2013, French manufacturer Dualsun launched its hybrid solar panel, also called PVT, a technology which produces electricity and heat simultaneously. Dualsun has been the third French company after solar specialists Sillia and ABCD International to introduce this new technology to the French market. “We are really at the beginning of this combined technology in France. Most businesses on the market are still at the research stage,” says Daniel Mugnier, a solar heating expert from French consultancy Tecsol. The Dualsun unit consists of photovoltaic cells in the front and a metal heat absorber in the back, which are laminated together. The PVT element is inserted in a metal frame and installed on the roof. The photo shows the first demonstration project on the roof of a single family house in Roquebrune, France. Six Dualsun panels have been set up here for a family of six.
