Ex-soldiers join battle to reduce energy bills

About 40 of the 118 staff at A Shade Greener used to be members of the armed services. They have helped to make the company, which is based in Tankersley, near Rotherham, one of Britain's biggest installers of domestic solar panels.

A Shade Greener has installed 1,000 free solar panels on houses in Yorkshire and the Humber over the last six months.

Managing director Stewart Davies said: "If all our customers' homes were lined up, it would make a street 23 miles long. We are still looking for four thousand more homes to fit our free panels on.

"What's more important is that we are offering thousands of people the chance to halve their electricity bills.

"And it's good for the environment. One thousand customers means one thousand people using electricity that would otherwise have been produced by coal and gas-fired power stations."

The company fits a solar panel installation worth about 15,000 for free.

It lets the homeowner use any electricity that is produced by the solar panel for nothing. For the average home, that means cutting their electricity bill in half.

Mr Davies said the business was created in response to the Government's FIT scheme, which came into effect on April 1.

Under this scheme, A Shade Greener will be paid for all the electricity its panels generate at the rate of 41.3p per kilowatt hour, regardless of whether the electricity is used or not.

Mr Davies added: "We are not just paid for the surplus electricity that is fed back into the grid. We are paid for all the electricity generated. This is called a generation tariff, which is paid to us by the power companies. It is not paid out of the Government purse, and, accordingly, will not be at risk from cutbacks.

"The FIT income for every installation is guaranteed by legislation for 25 years and will eventually pay back our initial investment and provide us with a profit."

Mr Davies said the company had attracted backing from RBS Lombard and was looking for more roofers and electricians.

He added: "We have been involved in retraining soldiers who have come back from Afghanistan and Iraq. They are well disciplined and don't complain when it's cold!

"Thirty per cent of staff are formerly from the MoD, including the RAF and Royal Navy.

"Around 80 per cent of our staff were unemployed a few months ago. Some customers have already seen their electricity bill fall by 70 per cent."

A company spokesman added: "The Government is hoping that up to 750,000 homes throughout the UK will have home generation systems installed over the next 10 years.

"Obviously if this figure is achieved sooner, the Government may decide that the incentives offered by the FIT Scheme should stop for any further new installations – but this would have no effect on current installations."

Initially, A Shade Greener will retain ownership of the panels. However, at the end of the FIT scheme, the company has agreed to leave the panels on the property so that the owner can continue to benefit from them.

Statistics compiled by The Energy Saving Trust indicate that homes with solar panels sell 30 per cent faster than homes without.

To be eligible for the free solar panels offered by A Shade Greener, the roof must be south facing or 30 degrees either side of south. It must also be within one hour's drive from the postcode S75 3DP.

POWER OF A SUNRISE INDUSTRY

Stewart Davies, the managing director of A Shade Greener, is keen to dispel myths about solar panels.

For example, some people argue that the UK is not sunny enough for solar panels. According to Mr Davies, technology has moved on since this myth was born.

"Our solar panels are powered by light, not heat, so they do not need to be in direct sunshine,'' he said. "There is sufficient light, even on a cloudy day, for our solar panels to harvest the energy they need to power your home. Our panels will generate from sunrise to sunset. This means at the height of the British summer you could get around 17 hours of free electricity every day. Solar panels work well in the winter, even when the days are shortest. As soon as day breaks, the light is absorbed by the panels and they immediately start to generate electricity."

Mr Davies also dismissed sceptics' claims that solar panels were too fragile. Solar technology, which was designed for space exploration, has proved to be both robust and reliable."