The end for the MCS?
By Stephen Munday, managing director of Clean Energy Installations, a MCS accredited renewables installation contractor 

While the media and the public are getting into a frenzy over the government rumour of a 87% cut in Feed in Tariffs on 1^st January, is everyone missing the implications for MCS?

Yes, the cuts will take place. No, the cuts will probably not take place on 1^st January but will sooner or later. So the issues of regulation and safety will arise sooner or later. Is anyone looking at this?

People forget that the whole regulatory process within the UK PV industry is based upon installations having to use MCS accredited equipment installed by MCS accredited contractors in order to be eligible for the financial rewards of being able to claim Feed-in-Tariffs. Take away those FITs and you take away the incentive to install to regulatory guidelines. The proposed reduction of FIT to just 1.7p may appear to retain an incentive for ‘doing things properly’ but for the average householder this is actually only worth £50 per year or £1000 over the 20-year lifetime of the incentive. Surely that will just re-open the doors to low cost, no-warranty cowboys who will certainly be able to undercut the costs of MCS approved companies that bear the overheads of acquiring and retaining MCS membership. DIY enthusiasts will start doing it themselves to get a cheap installation and reduce their electricity bills. The industry will become unregulated and unpoliced overnight.

And before you shout ‘people won’t be allowed to do it’ then just reflect on how ineffective Part P of the Building Regulations actually is in terms of preventing amateur electricians from practicing their DIY. Nobody ever finds out. At best, upon the sale of a house, a diligent conveyancer might insist on up-to-date electrical test certificates that may or may not uncover unauthorised wiring but very few purchasers would walk away from their chosen house just because of a missing certificate. It is a stamp of conformity for those that wish to conform but it is not a barrier to those that do not wish to conform. Unregulated and unregistered PV installations will still reduce electricity bills for the owners so why pay more for a regulated product or installer? And what happens to G59: the process that supposedly regulates and prevents the grid becoming overloaded with back-fed generation? This becomes unregulated too. Everyone will start installing as much PV as they can afford – telling nobody.

The MCS accreditation process itself is already drifting towards being unfit for purpose: an evolving set of ‘rules’ assembled and frequently amended by bureaucrats and auditors as much for their own self-justification as for the benefit of the end-consumer. Even the accreditation bodies charged with enforcing the standards through audit can’t explain why some of the standards exist. You end up with a disproportionate amount of management time being tied-up in implementing an unfit process while the rogue-installers sweep up the market at unsustainable ‘fit and disappear’ prices.

MCS may remain in the short-term for other renewable technologies but even there its suitability is being challenged. The implementation of standards and the process of technical audit itself needs to take a good look in the mirror. Certificates and pieces of paper will never become a substitute for genuine experience but the average auditor is incapable of measuring competence: besides, it is something that accrues with time and not from possessing a certificate acclaiming attendance at some course or other. So is this the beginning of the end for MCS?

For more information, visit www.ceinstall.co.uk, like on Facebook and follow on Twitter and LinkedIn. 

For media enquiries, please contact Emma De Maio, redheadPR, 07921 160 134, emma@redheadpr.co.uk.
 

Editors Notes 

Clean Energy Installations - backgrounder

Clean Energy Installations is an independent supplier and installer of heat pumps and solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Working across the Midlands and the southern counties, it provides energy efficient services to homes, businesses, agricultural premises, schools and churches.

Clean Energy Installations works with customers throughout every stage of every project - from feasibility studies and design to installation and post project support.

Heat pumps provided by Clean Energy Installations can supply homes with all the heating and hot water they need. Completely replacing boilers, they can reduce heating and hot water bills by up to 50 per cent.

Clean Energy Installations offer two types of heat pumps - ground source and air source.

A ground source heat pump transforms land into an underground heat collector. Pipework buried just one meter underground absorbs thermal energy and transfers it into the home, meeting all its heating and hot water needs. With the air source option, a heat pump is placed outside the home. Here it harnesses heat from the outside air, whatever the temperature.

PV systems installed by Clean Energy Installations are bespoke to every client. They maximise efficiency and return on investment. Solar panel installation can be either on-roof, in-roof, or ground-mounted. Designs range from a 1.5 kWp system to power a family home to a 50 kWp system or more for commercial clients.

Clean Energy Installations recognises that construction and specialist contractor industries contribute to the environmental footprint of development projects. With this in mind, it mitigates the impact of its work through the three-Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle. 

The team at Clean Energy Installations comprises experienced and fully trained electricians, installers, roofers and project managers. They have a reputation for being friendly, flexible and trustworthy industry experts. Clean Energy Installations has close links with manufacturers and suppliers and provides regular training for its staff. This keeps the business at the forefront of advances in the solar industry and certified to install all types of systems to wide variety of clients. 

Clean Energy Installations’ accreditations include:

• Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) – the company iscommitted to meeting the rigorous and tested standards set by MCS for the installation of solar equipment to the highest quality every time

• National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC) - Clean Energy Installations assures clients that all electrical work is of the highest standard required of a NICEIC Approved Contractor

• Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC) - Clean Energy Installations guarantees a high quality experience for customers buying solar panels for their home, community building or for a business, working to the stringent regulated standards of RECC

Clean Energy Installations was founded in 1997 as a consultancy to the rail and health sector. In 2010, it refocused its activities on solar developments and sustainable energy technologies for buildings.