Could Voltage Optimisation be included in the Green Deal?
The Green Deal is the initiative from the Coalition Government which seeks to support energy efficiency measures in UK homes and businesses. Under the deal, bill payers will be able to get energy efficiency improvements without having to front up the cash, with businesses providing the capital, getting their money back through savings on energy bills. Voltage optimisation would be an important inclusion in the Green Deal, reports experts in energy saving technology EcoAdapt (http://www.ecoadapt.co.uk).
The Green Deal is all about payback. In the words of Chris Huhne, Secretary of State of Energy and Climate Change, “At the heart of the offer is a simple rule: estimated savings on bills will always equal or exceed the cost of the work.” And when it comes to payback, you can’t get much better than voltage regulators. Voltage optimisation units, such as our EAST range, have a far quicker payback period than other green energy technology such as solar panels, and far higher energy savings.
However, as it stands at the time of writing, voltage optimisation technology has not yet made the list for approved Green Deal technologies, despite voltage reduction being the technology of choice at No 10 Downing Street and the offices of the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Its absence seems especially surprising given the Government’s statement in the Foreword of the Green Deal Summary Proposal that “Britain has some of the oldest building stock in Europe. Our draughty homes are poorly insulated, leaking heat and using up energy…the Green Deal [is a] revolutionary programme to bring our buildings up to date”. It is in fact just these sort of older buildings that benefit most from voltage optimisation technology.
Frustratingly, it seems that the computer programme which evaluates energy efficiency improvement measures, based on the Energy Performance Certificate software, is limited when it comes to assessing any technologies that are more advanced than basic insulation. Frustrating, because any additional investment needed in the system in order to be able to make it evaluate voltage optimisation technology, would easily be made up for in V.O.’s superior energy saving potential.
The Green Deal is in fact the perfect opportunity to spread the word about how effectively voltage optimisation can reduce carbon emissions and electric costs. With the recent discussions of amendments to the Green Deal in the House of Lords, VO could still be included in the list of technologies.
Find out about the EAST range of voltage optimisation units at http://www.ecoadapt.co.uk.
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