Small steps that turn the home into a powerhouse

By Rebecca Bream
Published: January 26 2009 02:00

Over the past few years it has become fashionable to embrace the concept of microgeneration, that is, generating electricity on a small scale with the aim of using less from the national grid. A roof-mounted wind turbine, for instance, has become de rigueur for many politicians wanting to boost their green credentials.
Sceptics argue that microgeneration is merely a niche market that is unlikely to contribute much to greenhouse gas reduction efforts. Critics say the technology currently available to households is expensive and not suitable for every location: micro wind turbines can be ineffective in sheltered, urban areas while solar panels need large amounts of sunshine to be cost-effective.
But this is too pessimistic. The choice of microgeneration technologies is expanding and their cost is coming down. When combined with energy efficiency and the ability to sell excess power to the national grid, more and more households should find microgeneration worth the investment.
"Microgeneration is still in its infancy, but it is very much worthwhile," says David Gordon, chief executive of Windsave, a Scottish company that sells micro wind turbines for the home. "In the right locations, if you put a turbine on your home you can produce an average of 20 per cent of the household's power needs."
In the UK, households generating their own power with renewable technology receive government subsidies known as Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs). Mr Gordon estimates that households with a micro wind turbine would receive roughly £100 in ROCs each year, as well as saving roughly £100 on their annual electricity bill. Windsave turbines cost £1,899, £600 of which can be recouped through government grants. He argues, therefore, that an investment in a turbine would be repaid in about six years.
Interest in micro wind turbines is high in the UK, says Mr Gordon, but take-up is being held back by problems in gaining planning permission. Opponents say the turbines are noisy and an eye-sore, but new planning rules mean "the take-up of microgeneration will be vast" over the next decade, says Mr Gordon. "And with all these technologies, the larger the market is, the cheaper the technology becomes. Our aim is to get the pay-back time for our wind turbines down to five years."
The US offers attractive incentives for households that want to generate their own power, allowing the cost of microgeneration technology to be written off against income tax. Scandinavia, Italy, Germany and France are encouraging microgeneration through tariffs that guarantee households a minimum price for power they feed to the grid.
Not every location is suitable for wind power, admits Mr Gordon. "We have a strict installation regime and don't recommend turbines if the wind speed is less than 4.5 to 5 metres per second." He says that about 10 per cent of homes in the UK would benefit from the installation of a Windsave turbine, while others may be better suited to technology like solar panels and ground-source heat pumps.
Coastal locations and buildings on high ground are best suited to wind power. City centres are not ideal, but Mr Gordon says "if you put a turbine on top of a [high-rise] block of flats you get fantastic results".
An emerging technology is the fuel-cell boiler, which uses natural gas to generate power as well as heat within the home. While still reliant on fossil fuel, these boilers get much more energy out of the fuel than conventional power stations, where around two-thirds is wasted.
Peter Bance, chief executive of boiler manufacturer Ceres Power, says that his company's fuel-cell boilers are able to use 80 to 90 per cent of the energy from natural gas. The fuel cells convert gas and air into heat and power via catalysis using cutting-edge ceramic materials. Ceres says its fuel cells work at lower temperatures than previous versions - between 500°C and 600°C - allowing the boilers to be built from conventional stainless steel, which brings down the cost.
Although UK energy companies are starting to look at rolling out fuel-cell boilers as a way to meet government requirements on energy efficiency, Mr Bance says uptake is not dependent on help from the state.
"Our products make economic sense without subsidy, and they have to have mass market demand." He says "the typical householder will save £300 to £400 a year on their energy bills and the boiler will supply about 90 per cent of the home's power needs", allowing them to recoup their initial investment in less than five years.
The development of fuel-cell boilers is still at an early stage. "We are at the beginning of a new industry. We are not yet in mass production, but we are out of the lab," says Mr Bance. He is confident that, along with wind and solar power, fuel cell boilers will contribute significantly to making the energy industry cleaner and more efficient. "You could credibly see one-third of the UK's electricity supplied from people's homes."
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009