How to earn money from your roof
Published Wednesday, 5th March 2008
As a youth, Greenbang had a brief flirtation with trying to top up her pocket money by washing the neighbourhood’s windows. She got as far as those in her own home, decided it was a mug’s game and went off to watch Neightbours instead. But for a bit of application, Greenbang tells herself, she could be the next Richard Branson, albeit less hirsuite and a bit less familiar with the comings and goings of Ramsay Street.
If only Labour had been around in Greenbang’s youth, then the Windex would have been binned and solar panels would have been in.
According to The Telegraph, Energy Minister Malcolm Wickes is setting up a scheme to let householders with solar panels sell back excess energy to the National Grid.
Says the paper:
Householders will be able to make money by fitting solar panels or mini wind turbines to their roofs, under proposals to be announced in the Budget next week.[…]
The scheme, known as “feed in tariffs”, gives long-term financial security to homeowners who instal the expensive electricity generation equipment.
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Sadly, I am finding anything originating with our government, even if it arrives having passed through multiple eminent media organs, to be immediately suspect – especially if it is transmitted as ‘…under proposals to be announced’.
When it’s ‘…commitments that have now been honoured and initiated’ I’ll take note and cheer.
A while ago the majors and then even the local media told me that secondary schools (like ours) would be offering our kids Mandarin. Then… nothing. So I checked to see what progress there was, only to be told that they were having trouble finding enough teachers to handle French, let alone another, more complex language. In fact I was made to feel silly for not realising that such guff is put out with no intention of delivery, and is mostly copied from a press release and left unchallenged by most media with pages to fill, as all assume it just gets forgotten about anyway.
I also concern myself that if ‘Householders will be able to make money by fitting solar panels or mini wind turbines to their roofs, under proposals to be announced in the Budget next week’, I do trust the various pros and cons will be clearly shared to ensure the ‘long-term financial security to homeowners who instal the expensive electricity generation equipment.’ promises are deliverable.
No way to run a country. Or a coherent renewable energy policy.