New Shropshire company to help firms sell electricity to the grid
Jul 20 2010 by Graeme Brown, Birmingham Post
A group of West Midland businessmen have launched a new company to help homeowners and businesses sell renewably generated electricity to the grid.
In April this year the Government brought in a new “feed in tariff” - a generous financial incentive for people generating electricity from green sources.
In response to this Mipower, based in Shropshire, has launched onto the market with a focus on installing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.
Home-owners can get a guaranteed 41.3p for every unit (kWh) of electricity generated from their solar PV systems.
Robin Hooper, chairman of Mipower, said: “This new feed in tariff is a great incentive for individuals and businesses to start generating their own, clean, carbon-free electricity.
“They can not only save significant sums on their electricity bills by using less power, but they will also generate a Government-guaranteed, index-linked income that will be paid to them for the next 25 years.
“If they are not using all of the solar power that they generate, it will feed back into the local electricity network and they will get paid an additional sum that will be a minimum of 3 pence per kilowatt hour (kWh). This is on top of the 41.3 pence.
“Clearly it is going to be a real benefit to homeowners and businesses here in the UK and this has given us the stimuli to launch a business and create much-needed employment here in the Midlands..
“Solar PV will save me around £500 per annum on my home electricity bills, plus generate an income of somewhere between: £1,300 to £1,400 - a sum that will quickly pay for the cost of the system.
“I’ve actually witnessed my electricity meter running backwards as the electricity we’re generating feeds back out into the grid, where I know I am getting an extra 3 pence more for each kilowatt I produce.”
Mark Jones, managing director of Mipower, added: “The technology will work with pretty much any building, whether it’s domestic, commercial or industrial, the principle is much the same.
“Factors such as the direction a roof faces, its pitch and where in the country it is located will influence the amount of daylight it can usefully capture.
“Note that I use the word ‘daylight’, as it does not need to be sunshine and blue skies to generate electricity - which is just as well with our wonderfully unpredictable British weather.”
