Tiny village in Cumbria laying claim to be Britain's solar panel capital

BRITAIN: A tiny village in Cumbria is laying claim to be Britain’s solar panel capital. At least half a dozen residents out of just 200 in Garrigill have had panels installed – beating by days the Government’s controversial reduction in Feed-in-Tariff subsidies.

And other residents and potentially even the village hall are expected to go ahead with installations next year. All of the installations have been carried out by leading renewable energy company Eco Environments.

One villager, Fiona Gifford, who has had a 12-panel Sanyo system fitted, said: “A few of us had been talking about having solar panels installed for a while. “As soon as the Government announced it was cutting the Feed-in-Tariff subsidies available, we decided we had better get a move on.

“By getting in ahead of December 12, when the reduction is due to come into force, the financial returns are extremely attractive. I expect my system to have paid for itself in about eight years. With electricity prices only set to go up, installing solar panels made total sense.

“Although we have been able to get our panels installed before the deadline, we believe the Government should have allowed a longer consultation period. The villagers felt so angry we wrote to our local MP Rory Stewart to protest.”

Other villagers who have gone ahead with installations are Tim Haldon and Jules Cadie, who have had 18-panel Sungrid systems installed, Paul Lincoln, an 18-panel Hyundai system, Laurie MacDonald, a 10-panel Hyundai array and Janette Thorley a 14-panel Sungrid system.

David Hunt, a director with Eco Environments, said: “For a village as small as Garrigill, the interest and uptake has been phenomenal. The village may even be Britain’s solar panel capital!

“We have worked round-the-clock to ensure that all of the current installations are up and running before December 12, but we are hopeful that as the word spreads, more of the villagers will want to install their own arrays next year.

“While the current subsidies are incredibly attractive, the post-December 12 tariff levels are still excellent especially when allied to the anticipated reduction in the cost of the panels.”

Eco Environments, which has its head office in Liverpool and regional offices across the UK, took three months’ orders in just two weeks following the news that the cuts would kick-in from December 12. As of next week, the tariff for Solar PV schemes up to 4kW will be cut from 43.3/kWh to 21p/kWh.

Eco Environments is led by its three directors, Mike Clarke, David Hunt and Mark Buchanan, and employs 46 people compared to 11 at the same time last year. It is on course to increase turnover from £1.4million to £5million during the current financial year.

Eco Environments designs, installs and commissions renewable energy solutions for the domestic, commercial and construction sectors. It offers a comprehensive range of technologies including Solar Photovoltaic (PV), wind turbines, solar thermal and air source heat pumps. It is one of only a small number of companies to have successfully secured Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accreditations for all four of its specialist areas.

Apart from its new head office in Liverpool, Eco Environments has regional offices in Carlisle, Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and North Wales. During the next few months, further offices will open in the south of England. Staff numbers will also rise to approximately 60 during the current financial year.