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Using renewable energy

Renewable technologies are now widely available which generate heat or electricity for your home.  Solar panels, air/ground/water source heat pumps, wind turbines, and biomass boilers can help to reduce carbon emissions as an alternative to using fossil fuels.

Can I use renewable source of energy at my current property?

To find out which renewable energy sources might be suitable for your home, you can use the Home Energy Generation Selector provided by the Energy Saving Trust. 

What is the Renewable Heat Premium Payment?

This is a UK Government scheme designed to help domestic customers to afford renewable technologies for their homes, such as:
  • air source, ground source or water source heat pumps 
  • biomass boilers 
  • solar thermal panels (solar water heating)

This 'interim' scheme will run from 1 August 2011 to 31 March 2012, to support renewable heat installations before the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) starts for residential installations in 2012.

How much grant is available?

The amount received as part of the Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme depends on which technology you are applying for:

Heat Technology Voucher value
Air source heat pumps £850
Biomass boilers £950
Ground source heat pumps £1,250
Solar water heating £300
Source: www.rhincentive.co.uk
Who can apply for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment?

All householders in England, Scotland and Wales are eligible for a Renewable Heat Premium Payment, but

  • if you currently use gas for your heating, you can only apply for a Renewable Heat Premium Payment to fit solar thermal (hot water) panels
  • if you currently use oil, liquid gas, solid fuel or electricity for your heating, you can apply for all types of Renewable Heat Premium Payments to install solar thermal panels, air/ground/water source heat pumps, or a biomass boiler

Other requirements are:

  • the property must be owned by the householder or if the householder is a tenant he/she must be purchasing the heat technology and have permission from the owner of the property
  • the property must have at least 250mm of loft insulation and cavity wall insulation (where practical)
  • all necessary planning and environmental permissions must have been granted
  • the product and installer use must be certified under the Microgenetation Certification Scheme (MCS), Solar Keymark (or equivalent)

Some households will be asked to agree to have a meter installed (free of charge) at the same time as the new technology in order to provide feedback to the Government on the performance of the technology.

How to apply
Contact the Energy Saving Trust who is administering the scheme on behalf of the Government. If you quality you will be provided with a voucher for the applicable amount. The voucher must be used within 3 months for solar thermal panels and within 6 months for all other technologies.  All technologies must have been installed by 31 March 2012.

To find out more and to apply online, visit www.energysavingtrust.co.uk  or speak to an Energy Saving Trust advisor on 0800 512 012.