REI Mar-Apr 2012 - Renewable Energy Installer

“The overwhelming majority of MCS-related complaints we receive are from members of the
public regarding their heat pump installations” p28 Steve Pester, BRE
Evoco Energy back on track
Evoco Energy reports that its fl eet of turbines
will shortly all be back up and running.
Evoco issued an isolate-and-brake notice
to turbine owners at the end of December
ahead of expected hurricane force storms,
however despite this, several turbines were
reported to have suffered blade failure
incidents in extreme winds.
Commercial director, Fraser Marwick,
explained: “We had already identifi ed that
some of our turbines exhibited an unusually
high rate of yaw which can lead to turbines
experiencing damaging gyroscopic forces.”
The yaw of the turbine is its ability to
face in different directions. If this movement
is too fast, turbine blades can be subjected
to a bending force beyond the limits they are
designed for.
“Unfortunately some of our turbines
Renewable Energy campaigners and installers
alike have criticized ITV over its examination
of the cost of renewable energy incentives in
its programme ‘The Cost of Going Greener’.
Aired on 9 February, several aspects
of the programme have been challenged
including the level at which consumers fund
green technology subsidies through their
annual bills and the perception that the Feedin
Tariff has led to unreasonably large profi ts
for installers.
Cathy Debenham, founder of consumer
information website YouGen, said: “The
information on the Feed-in Tariff was outof-date.
For those of us who try to give clear
information to consumers, it makes things
were not braked during winds which
reached record speeds of up to 112mph and
a small number of failures occurred in severe
turbulence. This prompted us to extend the
duration of the shutdown notice pending
an upgrade despite 98 per cent of the fl eet
being unaffected. During the shutdown, we
have been paying ex gratia compensation to
all customers, in addition to performing the
upgrades under warranty.
“Recent newspaper reports suggested a
problem with our blades, but in fact our blades
are extremely strong”, continued Marwick.
“The fi x, which we have developed under
scrutiny from our MCS certifi cation body is
quite simple, and aimed not at blades but at
controlling movement in the yaw axis.
“We are incorporating a yaw dampener
to limit the maximum rate of yaw. This
Questioning the cost of going green
Following the success of its stand
at Ecobuild 2011, the BPVA says
it will have a stronger presence at
this year’s event.
To kick-off Ecobuild
the BPVA and the Associate
Parliamentary Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Group
(PRASEG) are co-hosting
Eve of Ecobuild drinks in
Parliament where Greg Barker
that bit harder.”
Cotswold Energy Effi ciency Centre’s
md, Andrew Buchan, said: “It was fi lmed last
September before the solar PV gold rush so I
think some people in the programme would
probably have said different things now.
Zara Glew, of Environmental Energies,
said: “The show was very negative. When
you look at how much money the large
energy companies make from rising bills, it’s
nowhere near the profi ts of renewable energy
installers. I think the show was a bit unfair
to Ploughcroft. What’s more important is
that every carbon emission we cut is for the
better.”
Chris Hopkins, md at Ploughcroft, added:
MP, minister of state for energy
and climate change, and Peter
Byck, director and producer of
carbonnationmovie.com will
speak.
The BPVA stand at
Ecobuild, will give members the
opportunity to showcase their
products and services, give a
daily presentation on a range of
topics as well as networking or
relaxing in the member lounge.
Reza Shaybani, chairman
of the BPVA, said: “Ecobuild
2011 was extremely successful
and the BPVA believes this year
will be even better. Ecobuild
is an important event in our
industry calendar and most of
our members are exhibiting or
visiting the show. We are there to
support them and also encourage
dampener will ensure that the turbine’s
behaviour, and the consequent forces on the
turbine, will be kept comfortably inside the
turbine’s original design limits.”
The Evoco 10 is designed and certifi ed for
Class 2 wind regimes.
“That’s quite hostile wind, but we can
confi dently report that, with the upgrade, the
Evoco 10 is fully up to the heavy duty job for
which it’s designed,” added Marwick.
Evoco reports that over the next
few weeks all affected customers will be
contacted by the company to complete works
and enable turbines to be switched back on.
According to Marwick: “Since the recent
Feed-in Tariff announcements we have seen
a surge in demand and are rapidly fi lling our
order book.”
Gloomy picture: ITV’s investigation into the
cost of green technology has been labelled as
negative and unfair
“The ITV interview I took part in was fi lmed
for approximately two hours at our eco roof
visitor centre, however, ITV only showed two,
one minute points. As a whole, ITV Tonight’s
‘The Cost of Going Green’ did not get the
correct message across to home owners.”
British Photovoltaic Association set to impress at Ecobuild
new companies to join us. Visit
us at stand number N324.”
Growing stronger: The BPVA is
looking forward to Ecobuild
www.renewableenergyinstaller.co.uk | 5