… the best way to reduce energy bills in 2014

With the new year underway, there is a buzz in the air at SunGift, because – while financial experts are predicting that the UK will be the fastest growing European economy in 2014 – we are currently experiencing one of our busiest periods for years.

Demand for SunGift’s renewable energy services leads me to believe that 2014 will also be one of the most fruitful on record for renewable energy, as all the areas that SunGift covers hit new heights in the latter part of 2013.  We recorded more than 3,000 megawatts of electricity in 2013 – that’s 70% more than we installed in 2012 – as both our domestic and commercial customers demonstrated that generating your own renewable electricity and heat is the most popular way to actually get control of and reduce your energy bills.

Becoming more sustainable and resilient

During World War 2 ‘Grow Your Own’ was a national campaign aimed at making the UK more resilient by producing more of the food we require ourselves. This made us less reliant on foreign imports and intermittent supplies. If you are able to grow your own food it not only enables you to enjoy fresh produce, but also it costs a lot less and gives an enormous sense of pride. This same theory applies to generating your own energy: the UK has abundant sources of renewable energy readily available for us to use, whether its solar panels harvesting the free energy falling on our roofs or using UK-grown biomass to heat our homes and businesses.  By generating your own you are not only able to take control of the ever-spiralling cost of fossil fuels, but also you are doing your bit for the environment and helping the UK become more sustainable and resilient.  What’s more, being dependant on foreign energy imports is not good for the UK economy, so producing more of our own energy will make us more competitive while helping to combat climate change.

 

Let 2014 be the year of ‘Generate Your Own’!

 

More support for renewable heat

In particular, in 2014, we expect to see an increasing number of homeowners turning to renewable heat from spring 2014, as they will now be eligible for renewable heat incentive (RHI) payments.  There’s also more good news for our commercial customers who choose technologies such as solar thermal, biomass and ground source heat pumps, as RHI tariffs have been raised for all these technologies.

You can find out more about the changes to the RHI rates here (https://www.sungiftsolar.co.uk/renewable-energy-remains-important-householders-businesses/)

In other news, 2013 has ended on a high as SunGift finished the year with a number of new announcements, including our involvement in Exeter’s first zero-carbon housing development (due to outdo Cranbrook, which is currently being run on gas boilers).

My very best wishes for the New Year

Gabriel Wondrausch

Managing director