Rough Service
I feel a bit of a fraud still writing as Solar Simon as since the Government's proposed
alterations to the Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) were announced I have only finished systems
that were already ordered. Since the in tariff cut-off date of 12th December I haven't
installed a single system and I haven't had a single phone call concerning solar
power. I could see the reasoning behind the plans but it was rushed and ill thought
through; instead of slowing things it has killed the trade. Prices were coming down
because of competition between installers; there are now fewer installers so I can
see a steady increase in prices coming. Another concern is that with installers going
into receivership, who will fix any problems or replace equipment still under warranty?
I always wanted the solar side of my business to run alongside my electrical work,
which it has done to good effect and the solar work meant that I could take on an
apprentice, something I'm not sure I could have done as purely an electrician in
the current building slump. I am lucky - I still wire houses - many tradesmen who
went into installing solar systems haven't been so lucky. Never mind, I'm sure it
will all come out in the wash.
Light bulb technology seems to be coming on - I notice there are a lot more exterior
LED floodlights becoming available and, alongside that, the more common lamp shapes
are easily changed to LED technology. The wholesalers I deal with now stock most
shapes including candle and golf ball/ping pong lamps in an LED equivalent. I think
that, in time, LEDs will replace all light bulbs; the energy they would save is phenomenal.
I recently fitted some GU10 LED lamps for a customer and you couldn't tell they weren't
halogen lamps as the colour rendition of the higher end lamps is now that good and
they last for tens of thousands of hours.
I did wonder how long it would be before we saw the re-introduction of the old style
tungsten filament lamps after they were banned. Someone has come up with a clever
wheeze for those of you who don't want to save energy and hate the modern efficient
lamps. Their way around the legislation is to call the lamps "rough service". Rough
service lamps have been around for years (I'm going to show my age here); years ago,
we always used them in our inspection lights and most cooker manufacturers used them
in their cookers as they withstand vibration and shock better. I notice that they
always say on the box 'Not Suitable for Domestic Use' - I can see no reason for this
and it only seems to be there to beat the legislation.
Solar Simon
