Investing in solar panels or a wind turbine could add to the resale value of a property and could be as attractive to house hunters as a new kitchen or solid wood floors.
When arriving at a market value for a property, there are a variety of factors that can add value to a home. Improvements such as a conservatory or designer kitchen, can convince a purchaser to pay more for a home.
However, with an ever increasing emphasis on the environment, it would appear that buyers are willing to pay a premium for a house that has a renewable energy source.
The Energy Saving Trust has just released the results of a poll that they commissioned recently. Over a third (35 per cent) of those polled said they would be prepared to pay more for a home where some of their energy supply came from renewable resources such as wind, solar or hydro-power.
Philip Sellwood, chief executive of the Energy Saving Trust, said: “It seems Britons are willing to pay more for a home with a renewable energy source so investing in a solar panel or a wind turbine could add to the resale value of a property and could be as attractive to house hunters as a new kitchen or solid wood floors.”
The term ‘feed in tariff’ is a direct translation from German. In Germany, the state has for several years encouraged the development of renewable energy sources such as anaerobic digestion plants, by paying the producer a premium per KwH for power generated from renewable sources. This has been a very successful model and is now being copied in the UK.
The poll also indicated that over half (53 per cent) of those polled were put off from installing a domestic renewable energy source by the high initial cost. The Energy Saving Trust can suggest grants that are available for certain green technologies. They feature case studies of people who are acting as “Green Ambassadors” by installing renewable energy sources in their homes.
An analogous situation would be vehicles converted to run on liquid petroleum gas (LPG). This is not only more environmentally friendly but actually costs less than half the price of petrol. Logically, any such vehicle should command a premium price over an identical petrol car. The reality is that neither an insurance company nor a retail purchaser will pay a penny more for an LPG vehicle over and above its petrol driven equivalent.
The research was done across 2696 adults in the UK in March this year. Unfortunately, like most polling exercises, it is deeply flawed. Asking respondents if they would be willing to pay more for a green home is one thing and many people will answer “yes” and bask in the warm, fuzzy glow of “helping the environment”.
Source - Property Confidential
Showing posts with label invest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label invest. Show all posts
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Saturday, 31 May 2008
Enquiries for solar panels are rising fast
Theories were emerging yesterday over the environmental effects of oil at $130 a barrel or more. In the green corner were the optimists, who believe that the shock will force people to cut their energy use, invest in renewables and energy conservation, downsize their cars, take fewer foreign holidays and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Others fear that oil prices at this level for any length of time will usher in a new bleak period where governments turn to extracting coal, growing biofuels and deforestation.
There was evidence of both trends yesterday. As Honda announced it was increasing output of its hybrid cars because of high fuel prices, Stuart Lovett of Heat my Home.co.uk said inquiries about his company’s solar panels to heat water and generate electricity through solar panels, had risen by more than 50% in five months.
“The oil price rises change the payback period dramatically. Anyone who buys solar equipment now has probably paid off the investment at the moment he buys it. High oil prices like this are good for us but no one else.”
“These prices are already proving to be the biggest single factor in curtailing the expansion of the aviation industry, and that wont necessarily be a bad thing,” said Ben Stewart, communications director at Greenpeace. “One hopes it will lead to a huge investment in alternative sources of energy. We are moving into the unknown. As prices increase, it will just have to lead to the investment that we so desperately need.”
Tom Burke, environmental scientist and visiting professor at Imperial College London, said that in the short term the oil price rise would cause a rush to exploit oil tar sands in Canada and Venezuela, and possibly deforestation in the Amazon to clear space for biofuels.
“We have passed the peak of cheap oil. I do not think it will slow down Indian and Chinese vehicle use. It will really hit the aviation industry and could cut the ground under the push for the third runway at Heathrow. It could also strengthen the localisation movement.” The majority of companies, he said, had already done a lot already to reduce their energy use.
Environmental consultant and former -director of Friends of the Earth Charles Secrett said the lesson of history in high oil prices was that it was an opportunity for change. “In the years after the 1973 oil shock, energy efficiency soared, but governments did not step in with policies to encourage alternatives energies to flourish. They have the real choice now.”
In the short term, the oil price rise is expected to cause further increases in the price of fertilisers, which doubled last year as US farmers rushed to put as much on fields as possible to take advantage of high prices for biofuel crops. But in poor countries the more expensive fertilisers are likely to be beyond the means of most small farmers. This could reduce farm yields and incomes, and result in more deforestation as people turn to any source of income they can.
“This is a wake-up call. In the short term we can already see people in the US cutting down on their driving, starting to use public transport and not buying SUVs. But in the long term it means that we have to completely rethink how we use energy”, said Walt Patterson, a fellow in the sustainable development programme at Chatham House in London.
Source - The Guardian
Others fear that oil prices at this level for any length of time will usher in a new bleak period where governments turn to extracting coal, growing biofuels and deforestation.
There was evidence of both trends yesterday. As Honda announced it was increasing output of its hybrid cars because of high fuel prices, Stuart Lovett of Heat my Home.co.uk said inquiries about his company’s solar panels to heat water and generate electricity through solar panels, had risen by more than 50% in five months.
“The oil price rises change the payback period dramatically. Anyone who buys solar equipment now has probably paid off the investment at the moment he buys it. High oil prices like this are good for us but no one else.”
“These prices are already proving to be the biggest single factor in curtailing the expansion of the aviation industry, and that wont necessarily be a bad thing,” said Ben Stewart, communications director at Greenpeace. “One hopes it will lead to a huge investment in alternative sources of energy. We are moving into the unknown. As prices increase, it will just have to lead to the investment that we so desperately need.”
Tom Burke, environmental scientist and visiting professor at Imperial College London, said that in the short term the oil price rise would cause a rush to exploit oil tar sands in Canada and Venezuela, and possibly deforestation in the Amazon to clear space for biofuels.
“We have passed the peak of cheap oil. I do not think it will slow down Indian and Chinese vehicle use. It will really hit the aviation industry and could cut the ground under the push for the third runway at Heathrow. It could also strengthen the localisation movement.” The majority of companies, he said, had already done a lot already to reduce their energy use.
Environmental consultant and former -director of Friends of the Earth Charles Secrett said the lesson of history in high oil prices was that it was an opportunity for change. “In the years after the 1973 oil shock, energy efficiency soared, but governments did not step in with policies to encourage alternatives energies to flourish. They have the real choice now.”
In the short term, the oil price rise is expected to cause further increases in the price of fertilisers, which doubled last year as US farmers rushed to put as much on fields as possible to take advantage of high prices for biofuel crops. But in poor countries the more expensive fertilisers are likely to be beyond the means of most small farmers. This could reduce farm yields and incomes, and result in more deforestation as people turn to any source of income they can.
“This is a wake-up call. In the short term we can already see people in the US cutting down on their driving, starting to use public transport and not buying SUVs. But in the long term it means that we have to completely rethink how we use energy”, said Walt Patterson, a fellow in the sustainable development programme at Chatham House in London.
Source - The Guardian
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