November 2011 Archives

In common with Muslims and Jews in this country, in public worship Christians traditionally face eastwards. Each faith has different reasons for doing this. Muslims to face Mecca, Jews to face Jerusalem, and I am fascinated to learn from the website of the Orthodox Christian seminary in Kerala, India, (http://www.ots.org.in/main/Articles/whyturn.asp) that Christians turn to face the rising sun, which is a rich symbol for us. I had, until now, assumed we too were facing Jerusalem, but it seems that those east of Jerusalem still face east, not west, as would be the case if they were facing Jerusalem.
What, you might be asking, has this got to do with 'Lighter Footprints'? Well, traditionally designed church buildings, have a short wall that faces east, across the width of the building, which is the front of the church where the altar is found, then the walls that make up the length of the building face south and north, with a short west wall at the back. So most churches have long south-facing pitched roofs, and these are currently of great significance as they are ideal sites for photovoltaic solar panels. The Birmingham Churches Green Network is very conscious of this fact and recently held a seminar in Balsall Heath, called 'Power from Above' when about 35 people from different church traditions met together to discuss how churches might be encouraged to make the most of this great resource.

As you may be aware there are some churches already ahead of the game. The seminar began by hearing the stories of the church buildings in Balsall Heath and Moseley from John Newson and Prof. John Dowell. John Newson explained to us how our host church, Balsall Heath Church Centre's roof is covered with the UK's first installation of 'Flexilight' panels. An annual output of 6,000kwh is expected from these panels, giving the church a Feed in Tariff income of around £4,000pa. Interestingly, this is a church building that doesn't have an eastward orientation, and the panels on the long roof actually face east, but the Flexilight panels are suitable for flat roofs, and are not so dependent on a southwards pitch. St Mary's Moseley, in contrast, as John Dowell told us, is a traditional east-facing church and now has an array of panels on frames on its south-facing pitch. The panels have an expected output of 7,000kwh pa and a saving of 4 tonnes of CO2 pa.

After hearing these stories, we then had presentations from Mark Clemson of New World Solar, Phil Beardmore of CoRE 50, and Brough Skindley of the Diocesan Advisory Committee. Mark talked of the impact of the changes in the Feed in Tariff, which have been implemented in such a hasty manner they have caused chaos in the industry. However, despite these problems, it still makes sense for churches to go ahead, as the capital costs of the installations are also falling. Phil talked to us about the value of working co-operatively to raise the finance and for procurement. Brough reminded us that on listed buildings (as many churches are) there are planning restrictions. The discussions were then continued in a question and answer panel format, where we learnt, among other things, that it probably takes about five years of using a solar panel for it to become zero-carbon, due to the energy consumed during its manufacture.

There are hundreds of churches in the West Midlands area, each one with its own story and its own particular issues. Some are new buildings with few planning issues; others are listed and in conservation areas. Some have very visible south-facing pitches, others are hidden behind parapets; some have old timbers that have to be protected from water ingress; others have roofs in need of repair and insulation before PV panels can be contemplated. Some have congregations who understand the significance of renewable energy, others do not. While there aren't any 'one- size- fits- all' solutions, each of us left the seminar resolved in our commitment to pursue these ideas further. The next opportunity for us to meet up again will be on 21st January, when our follow-on seminar 'Better Together' will look in more detail at how we can work co-operatively to make our aspirations a reality.

Margaret Healey Pollett

The Government have announced that feed-in tariffs (FiT) are to be slashed, increasing the payback time for customers.

The purpose of the FiT was to provide a much needed incentive for homeowners and businesses to install renewable energy sources on their properties.  The increase in demand would lead to a reduction in production costs due to economies of scale. The plan has always been to progressively reduce the feed-in tariff, in line with savings in upfront costs, but this sudden reduction will surely have a negative effect on a market which has not yet found its feet.

In Birmingham, a number of local companies have started installing solar panels, competing with much larger installers, such as British Gas and Eon. In an already competitive market, how will it be possible for smaller companies to compete with these giants, who will still be able to take advantage of discounts offered for bulk-buys? There are many stories of people getting solar panels through their energy company and finding that the installers have travelled from another part of the country, a baffling decision when promoting sustainability but doing little to support our local economy.

What does all this mean for those who would have considered getting the panels? Well, this depends on motivation. Those getting renewable energy sources because they want to reduce their carbon footprint will not be deterred. However, for most people there does need to be a financial incentive does, and as always, the fuel-poor will be hit hardest. In Birmingham we are lucky in that the council are currently working on rolling out a plan to enable homeowners to benefit from renewable energy with no upfront cost; see Birmingham Energy Savers for more details.

SusMo have spent a lot of time on the Green Streets project, which has enabled solar panels to be installed on Moseley CofE school, the allotments clubhouse, St. Mary's Church and Church Road Mosque. Ten percent of the FiT is going to go to CoRE, which will distribute the profit in community projects across Moseley and surrounding areas.  The review has meant the financial model originally developed has had to be revised, and less renewable can be distributed.

Sarah Napier