Tom Craig & James Clifford

EPCs and the impact on your PV installation

Transcript

1. Tom Craig & James Clifford, Head of Marketing and Commercial Sales Manager, EvoEnergy
2. EPCs and the impact on your PV installation
3. EvoEnergy Overview EPC background How EPCs affect a solar install Financial implications of an EPC A few case studies We’re around afterwards too!
4. EvoEnergy Who are we? How have we got here? Who do we work with? Tom and James
6. Background to EPCs Drivers Global Warming Diminishing Resources (consuming faster than produced or replenished) Security of energy supply (gas & oil imported, political stability) Response Policy (carbon targets of 20% reduction by 2020 and 80% by 2050) Buildings (existing housing stock and commercial buildings and new build regulations) EPCs have been in use since mid 2000’s for selling and renting property
7. The energy efficiency requirement applies to PV installations with eligibility dates on or after 1 April 2012. (N.B. The eligibility date is the date on which your FIT Licensee receives your valid application for FITs. It will therefore be after the date on which your solar panels are installed.) Under the requirement, PV installations will only be eligible for standard FIT tariffs if they can provide a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) or valid EPC exemption document at the time of application for FITs, showing a rating of level D or above for the property to which the solar panels are attached or wired to provide electricity. Installations that do not meet the requirement will receive a lower tariff which is currently 7.1p/kWh. What is the energy efficiency requirement?
8. Do I have to pay for an EPC certificate ? if so, how much? If you do not already have a valid certificate, you will need to obtain one before applying for FITs. They typically cost around £300 for commercial properties. There may be additional costs involved in improving the energy performance of your property to EPC level D. EPCs are typically valid for 10 years, and are required for most buildings on sale, rental, or when built, so you may already have a valid EPC for your property. I have a Display Energy Certificate (DEC). Is this enough? No – only an EPC showing level D or above is acceptable. EPCs and DECs provide information about different aspects of energy performance, and are not interchangeable.
9. Can I install Solar PV to get a level D certificate then apply for FITs? In some cases this may be possible. However, you should be aware that if you decide to install solar PV on a building that has a rating lower than D and a subsequent EPC assessment shows that the solar PV installation has not improved the rating of the building to a level of D, you will be unable to obtain the standard tariffs without undertaking further improvements to the energy performance of your property and obtaining another EPC assessment. This is because a generator must be able to provide as part of their application for FITs an EPC certificate showing a rating of level D or above for the building to which the solar PV installation is attached or wired to provide electricity.
10. Can my PV installer carry out an EPC assessment? The assessment can be carried out by an installer if they meet all the qualification and accreditation requirements under the terms of the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations 2007 (for England and Wales) or are members of an Approved Organisation (in Scotland). If I make improvements to my home after installing PV and applying for FITs, can I resubmit the EPC and get an uplift in the tariff? No. Generators who cannot demonstrate that they meet the energy efficiency requirement at the time they apply for FITs will only be eligible for a lower tariff for the duration of the tariff lifetime. What if the generator doesn’t provide an EPC with their FITs application? If no EPC has been received by the time the application is processed, the generator will receive the lower tariff which is currently 7.1p/kWh.
11. What if I find out the EPC was incorrect after applying for FITs? Only qualified assessors are able to undertake assessments of buildings and provide EPCs based on standard methodology and guidance. Therefore, there should not be an issue of an EPC being incorrect in the first place. If an EPC is found to be incorrect because it has been deliberately fabricated, that would constitute fraud which would need to be investigated by the FITs supplier or Ofgem. If fraud was found to have taken place then appropriate steps would be taken, potentially including reducing the tariff for which a PV installation is eligible. The issuing energy assessor’s EPC accreditation scheme operator will be notified in such instances.
12. Exemption criteria Most farm buildings used for housing livestock, storage and other traditional uses, will not constitute as a 'building' under the Regulations. A building must have a roof and walls where energy is used to condition the indoor climate. This is the case where the building has heating, mechanical ventilation or air conditioning. The provision of hot water and electric lighting, although fixed building services, do not trigger the need for an EPC. An example of where an EPC may be required would be a farm building converted in to office space which has one or all of the following; heating, mechanical ventilation and air conditioning.
13. EPC’s: The impact on FIT values in 2013 Size of PV System FIT (p/kWh) with EPC level D FIT (p/kWh) without EPC level D <4kW 15.44 7.10 >4-10kW 13.99 7.10 >10-50kW 13.03 7.10 >50-150kW 11.50 7.10 >150-250kW 11.00 7.10 >250kW- 5MW 7.10 7.10 We are waiting on confirmation from DECC as to the FIT values from 1st May, but we do not expect the FIT rate to fall as there have been insufficient installations across the UK to trigger the next degression point. If this is confirmed it will mean there will be an automatic fall in the FIT rate as of 1st August.
14. EPC’s: The impact on FIT values in 2013 PV Summary System 1 System 2 Peak Output (kWp) 49.92 49.92 Estimated Energy Production (kWh/year) 39,869 39,869 Capital Cost excl VAT (£) £51,738 £51,738 FiT Generation Rate Applicable (p/kWh) 13.03p 7.10p Electricity Saving Rate (p/kWh) 10p 10p Percentage of Electricity Exported 0% 0% FiT Money Earned (£/year) £5,195 £2,831 Electricity Money Saved (£/year) £3,987 £3,987 Total (£/year) £9,182 £6,818 Year 1 Return 17.75% 13.18%
15. These calculations take into consideration the following: annual changes due to degrading system performance, RPI adjustments & energy cost rises. • System performance drops by 0.50% per year • Feed-in-Tariff rates increase with RPI of 3.5%/yr • 'Real Term' electricity costs increase at 2.5%/yr With EPC level D Year FiT & Export (£/year) Money Saved (£/year) Cumulative Benefit (£) 1 £5,195 £3,987 £9,182 2 £5,350 £4,205 £18,737 3 £5,509 £4,435 £28,681 4 £5,64 £4,678 £39,033 5 £5,843 £4,934 £49,809 6 £6,017 £5,203 £61,030 7 £6,197 £5,488 £72,715 8 £6,382 £5,788 £84,885 9 £6,572 £6,105 £97,561 10 £6,768 £6,439 £110,768 11 £6,970 £6,791 £124,529 12 £7,178 £7,162 £138,869 13 £7,392 £7,554 £153,815 14 £7,612 £7,967 £169,394 15 £7,839 £8,403 £185,637 16 £8,073 £8,863 £202,573 17 £8,314 £9,348 £220,234 18 £8,562 £9,859 £238,655 19 £8,817 £10,398 £257,870 20 £9,080 £10,967 £277,917 Total £139,343 £138,574 £277,917
16. These calculations take into consideration the following: annual changes due to degrading system performance, RPI adjustments & energy cost rises. • System performance drops by 0.50% per year • Feed-in-Tariff rates increase with RPI of 3.5%/yr • 'Real Term' electricity costs increase at 2.5%/yr Without EPC level D Year FiT & Export (£/year) Money Saved (£/year) Cumulative Benefit (£) 1 £2,831 £3,987 £6,818 2 £2,915 £4,205 £13,938 3 £3,002 £4,435 £21,375 4 £3,092 £4,678 £29,144 5 £3,184 £4,934 £37,262 6 £3,279 £5,203 £45,744 7 £3,377 £5,488 £54,608 8 £3,477 £5,788 £63,874 9 £3,581 £6,105 £73,560 10 £3,688 £6,439 £83,686 11 £3,798 £6,791 £94,275 12 £3,911 £7,162 £105,348 13 £4,028 £7,554 £116,930 14 £4,148 £7,967 £129,046 15 £4,272 £8,403 £141,720 16 £4,399 £8,863 £154,982 17 £4,530 £9,348 £168,860 18 £4,665 £9,859 £183,384 19 £4,804 £10,398 £198,587 20 £4,948 £10,967 £214,502 Total £75,928 £138,574 £214,502
17. EPC’s: The impact on FIT values in 2013 The EPC rating of your property will probably have a large bearing on whether renewable energy is going to be suitable for you, so please ask us for advice as to what your site is capable of achieving. Here at EvoEnergy we have a couple of different routes that we can help you with: We have our buy outright option, much the same as any other PV installer, where we will engineer the project before hand, procure all of the equipment required for the install and commission the project. This route allows you to achieve the biggest benefit from the FIT, but requires you to invest the capital to do so. The alternative method that we have developed is to again design and install a suitable Solar PV array, but at no capital cost to yourselves. This solution requires us to match up the capital with your site, so that you can benefit from subsidised electricity costs over the next 20 years, giving relief from high energy prices currently and protecting you against future price increases.