Dr McPhee, Lanner Church Hall: May 2012
CORNISH CHURCH LIGHTS THE WAY FOR SOLAR ENERGY
Thanks to Enact Energy, a Cornish Methodist Church is one of the first in the UK to light the way for renewable energy after having solar panels fitted to two of its roofs in a bid to help reduce the rising cost of electricity."
And it means that Lanner Methodist Church can now look forward to a likely annual FiT income of around £700* over the next 25 years as well as significantly reducing their £800 annual electricity bill.
The idea of seeking sustainable solutions to meet the Church’s ongoing energy costs had been championed by Church Steward Dr Euan McPhee.
A retired ecologist and environmental scientist, Dr McPhee asked Enact Energy to install Solar PV panels to his own home last year and was so pleased with the results that he had no hesitation in recommending us to carry out similar work at the Church.
“I did a lot of research looking for a suitable company when I wanted to install a solar system at my home and Enact stood out as they were a local company which was also very competitive in terms of price,” he said.
“I found the Enact team to be very professional and extremely helpful and this was also the case when they installed the panels on the Church and Church Hall roofs.
“Their efficiency was a key reason we managed to beat the April 1 deadline for the 21p FIT and they even repaired a number of cracked slates for us at the same time which is a measure of their approach to customer service,” said Dr McPhee.
Dr McPhee hopes that the solar panel installation is just the first step toward equipping Lanner Methodist Church and its Church Hall with a complete renewable energy package in the future.
Based in a large granite building, Lanner Methodist Church faces real challenges about improving energy efficiency. Thus we are investigating other measures such as ground or air source heat pumps, as well as the more usual things such as double glazing and roof insulation,” he added."
“Apart from reducing the church's electricity bills, the solar electricity systems will help the church reduce its carbon footprint; as Christians, I feel it is important for us to respect creation - and that includes making our church buildings fit for the future and as environmentally-friendly as possible."
*Estimate FiT earnings based on a 3.84kWp system as determined by SAP2009 v9.90 based on solar irradiance values at 53.4 degrees North Sheffield (South of Sheffield the payback may be improved). Export figures based on 50% of the total output being exported to the national grid. Savings are based on 50% of the total output being used in the home. Earnings and savings over 25 years are based on RPI of 2.5% and electricity price rises of 5% per year.
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