We were very pleased to install the system at the technical department for Aga/Rayburn they are looking at ways to compliment there range of stoves and products. The collectors will remain on test and hopefully will be rolled out as a product supplied to their existing customer base.
If you have any further question please do not hesitate to contact us by email info@astralsolutions.co.uk or phone 01923 497865.
Grants
February 2008
Top of the agenda this month is the deadline for us to join the Much troubled BRE Microgeneration Grants program.
With registration running at £1800, or £900 if you're lucky to get a subsidy, this totally calls of Rip Off Britain. The scheme which started free to installers like myself, gave the small firm a chance in the market place offering free consultations on site. The scheme which is now due to change at the end of January has received a barrage of fire from all sectors of the solar thermal industry, from manufactures, suppliers and installers and the Solar trade Association alike, and in the majority of cases the scheme has been rejected with low turn out, meaning less choice for the consumer when applying for grants.
The other major problem with this scheme is that solar installations are not able to be notified to the local building control authority, meaning that we would have to join a separate competent persons scheme for solar. At the moment there is no scheme set up for solar for modifiable installation, forcing the larger hard sell companies the free reins to install absolute rubbish into peoples home as and when they feel like it. A new accreditation scheme is on the horizon which will compete with BRE, this will be modifiable as well, is set to start later this year.
Please write to your Local MP.
Planning permission
January 2008
Planning permission continues to prove frustrating and ridiculous, with some planning authorities giving the green light to go ahead within a matter of days, others across the border are making life very difficult, some installations have taken months to come to fruition. To date we have probably lost out on 8 installations, in which the customer could not stomach the lengthy process it brings. My sincere thanks to those that persevered!! You know who you are.
Again please write to your MP, this government is supposedly trying to making going green easy, but as the song says 'its not easy being green'
Refurbishment
January 2008
We have continued in our work this last year to put right and help those that have been misled, mis-sold solar thermal installations that have either not worked or perform badly.
The latest of these we start next week with a complete re-build of a system. The system installed was connected to a combi boiler that was not solar rated, so basically wore out the boiler!
Other system refits have included those that were unable to drain down, monitor the temperature or in a lot of cases the collectors have been oversized causing extreme stagnation temperatures. My best wishes go out to those that have been effected.
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