The "Coping with the Cuts Roadshow" is designed to help with proposed
reductions to the UK's feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for the solar industry. The Roadshow is a half-day, informal event, giving you the unique chance to quiz industry experts, get right up-to-speed with the recent policy changes and equip yourself with the necessary information to make sure your solar business is a success in 2012 and beyond.
Solar Power UK will tour across six towns in England and Wales. Each session will discuss the real impact of the FiT cuts, the impending and possible EPC requirements, how the Green Deal will affect the PV installer, and how the UK solar industry can remain sustainable into 2012.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?MCS qualified installers, distributors, green deal assessors, end users and equipment vendors.
PROGRAMMEFiT Overview and Update - The Government perspective Dr Alex Weir, Senior Policy Advisor, Feed-in Tariff Review, DECC - London 7 March Alasdair Grainger, Lead - Newmarket 14 March
Analysing PV Pricing Models/How to Remain Competitive with the new FIT rates Ray Noble, STA
Getting ready for the 1st April Martin Cotterell, MCS Committee and Founder of Sundog Energy - (Newport 29 Feb, Exeter 1, Birmingham 13, Newmarket 14 March)Toby Ferenczi, CTO, Engensa (Salford 6, London 7 March)
Green Deal - What's the deal?Andrew Padmore, Chief Executive, Egnida (Newport 29 February)
Lee Richards, Programme Manager, Regen SW (Exeter 1 March)
Richard Gould, Director of Inspection Services, NAPIT (Salford 6, London 7 and Newmarket 14 March)Dave Allport, Programme Manager, Birmingham Energy Savers (Birmingham 13 March)
Marketing strategies to beat the cutsCathy Debenham, Founder, YouGen
Panel DiscussionImpact of the cuts and how to cope with them
SPEAKERS
Martin Cotterell, MCS Committee & Founder of SunDog Energy
(29 Feb, 1, 13 & 14 March). Martin Cotterell has been instrumental in establishing and improving UK industry standards for PV and wind system installations. Martin was the major author of the UK Guide to the installation of PV systems and he worked on the development of engineering recommendations that govern grid-connection of PV in the UK. Martin sits on the MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) PV and roofing technical working groups. He also represents the UK on the IEC (International Electrotechnical Committee) working group on PV installations standards, which he also convenes.He is also the Founder of Sundog Energy, one the UK’s leading PV companies, started in 1995. Martin is now the company’s Chairman and Technical Director.
Cathy Debenham, is founder and director of YouGen, a website which aims to help people make informed choices when they invest in renewable energy or energy efficiency measures for their homes, communities or small businesses. With the help of expert contributors from the industry and beyond, YouGen provides practical information, answers to user questions and a directory of installers. With a background in journalism and marketing, Cathy is also interested in communication and how to stimulate behaviour change around the shift to a low carbon economy. Prior to setting up YouGen she worked primarily in the voluntary sector.
Toby Ferenczi, (6 & 7 March) co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Engensa. Before Engensa, Toby worked in renewable energy for General Electric in Munich and as an analyst for Bloomberg New Energy Finance in London. Toby has a BA and MSci in Physics from Cambridge and a PhD in solar technology from Imperial College, London.
Alasdair Grainger, Lead Delivery and Engagement, UK Feed in Tariff Team, DECC. Alasdair is engineer and member of the UK Civil Service, serving in the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC). His current role is Team leader for the UK Feed in Tariff policy, working on the comprehensive review of the scheme. He joined the FITs team to work on the fast track review in early 2011. Previous roles include establishing a new Engineering Team within the Department, policy work for the Chief Scientist (Prof. David Mackay), negotiating the UK's position on technology within the UNFCCC and completing the first banding of the Renewables Obligation; he has also managed a Ministerial Office.
Emma Hughes is Editor of news and information website Solar Power Portal and bi-monthly magazine Solar Business Focus UK, and is now widely regarded as one of the most influential solar technology journalists in the country. With several years of technology research under her belt, including spells in the semiconductor, consumer technology and photovoltaics industries, Emma has been solely focusing on the UK solar photovoltaics market since its inception in 2010. She has been involved in global photovoltaics developments for a number of years, and is a frequent contributor to the industry-renowned technology journal Photovoltaics International and global online news and information resource, PV-Tech.org.
Ray Noble is the Solar Trade Associations Solar Photovoltaic Specialist Consultant. He has assisted the UK Government in the development of its PV strategy and now sits on the MCS Steering group and MCS PV working group as well as running his own Consultancy, Solar BIPV Ltd. Before setting up his Consultancy, Ray was the UK manager of BP Solar, developing and demonstrating BP Solar products on buildings, after previously being a Building Engineering Group Director at Arup.
Lee Richards is Regen SW's Programme Manager (Business & Built Environment) and works to provide strategic support to the south west sustainable energy supply chain. He is responsible for understanding the capabilities of businesses in the region, and delivering activities to improve and exploit this capability. Lee has worked assisting businesses in the region for the past ten years and joined Regen SW from Promar International Ltd where he worked as a business consultant. He holds a first class honours degree in Business and an MSc in Business Management.
Alex Weir is Senior policy adviser in the Feed-in Tariffs team at the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Alex joined the Feed-in Tariffs team in October 2011 and leads on the energy efficiency requirement, and the cost control mechanism for solar PV tariffs. He has had previous posts in DECC including Policy adviser on the International Energy International Energy Security team leading on relationships with Gulf States and Private Secretary to Phil Wynn Owen, Director General for National Climate Change and Consumer Support. Prior to joining DECC he was a Science Policy Office at the Royal Society and also completed a doctoral and postdoctoral research scientist at Oxford University studying animal behaviour.
Andrew Padmore is founder and Chief Executive of Egnida and specialises in creating and developing businesses in environmental markets. Egnida provides renewable electricity and heat solutions to homeowners, businesses and organisations and is creating sustainable long term jobs in Wales. Egnida solutions are underpinned by mechanisms such as FITs, RHI and Green Deal. Andrew is heavily involved in Business In The Community (BITC) in Wales using his knowledge and entrepreneurial skills to help regenerate more deprived areas by promoting employment in green industries. Andrew is director on the advisory board of BITC Wales and a director of Cynnal Cymru/Sustain Wales. Andrew is IOD director of the year 2011 in South Wales and was also highly commended/runner up in the IOD UK environmental leadership category in 2011.
Dave Allport is Birmingham City Council’s lead Change Agent, an internal consultant providing project management to transformational programmes. He has delivered regeneration and enterprise programmes in the public and voluntary sector throughout his working life, primarily in the West Midlands. He is currently Programme Manager for Birmingham Energy Savers. Following on from a pilot phase that saw photovoltaic (PV) panels fitted to 60 properties, Phase 2 will see PV fitted to a further 2,000 properties to reduce fuel poverty and CO2 emissions. However, the true goal of the programme is to establish the Birmingham Energy Savers – Green Deal programme. This is planned to deliver eco-refurbishment to 200,000 homes by 2026 and grow the green economy in Birmingham. As the next step, he will be overseeing a procurement process in April to select a company that can deliver refurbishment to 15,000 houses at a cost of £100m repaid by householders through the Green Deal.
Richard Gould is Director of Inspection Services for the NAPIT group. NAPIT are one of the fastest growing certification bodies with over 9,000 registered electricians, plumbers, heating and ventilation engineers through Competent Person Schemes (CPS) for the Building Regulations in England and Wales. NAPIT’s Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) register has exceeded 1,400 installers covering photovoltaics, wind turbines, micro-CHP, solar heating, biomass and heat pumps. Richard has been involved in the construction services industry for over 20 years. Richard originally training as an apprentice electrician, plumber and heating engineer and is now fully qualified in all areas including, gas, oil and all renewable energy technologies. Employed by NAPIT since 2005, Richard represents NAPIT at many industry committees and trade events. Furthermore, Richard has been directly involved in the development of the MCS scheme within NAPIT and is currently working on the Green deal opportunities.
Charlie Greenaway, United Kingdom Manager, Clenergy Europe Ltd. Charlie has been working in this evolving and exciting Solar PV industry for over three years. His background is technical but people and sales are the key to success providing the best solutions and support to as many PV businesses as possible. Clenergy and I selected one another 6 months ago to launch their UK business. This gave the opportunity to bring their innovative, high quality products to the UK, while being able to help design and adapt the Clenergy range to meet our local needs and requirements. Charlie’s aim is to provide the best product and service at competitive prices……value! The challenge is to reduce our reliance on feed in tariffs, to strive for grid parity, and then we will truly have a sustainable industry providing a sustainable future.
Michael Middlemast, UK Sales Manager, Clenergy Europe Ltd. Michael is 28 years old and has close professional links to the PV industry in the UK since 2009. Before joining Clenergy as UK Sales Manager, his most recent position was that of Trade Sales Manager at Cleaner Air Solutions UK Ltd, where he was involved in a multitude of smaller and larger photovoltaic projects. During his time at CASUKL it developed into one of the leading providers in the UK PV market.
DATES LOCATIONS AND TICKETS
Wednesday, 29 February 13.30 - 18.00 Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, Wales Thursday, 1 March 09.00 - 13.30 Exeter Racecourse, Devon Tuesday, 6 March 13.30 - 18.00 Salford City Stadium, Greater Manchester Wednesday, 7 March 09.00 - 14.00 Novotel London Heathrow Tuesday, 13 March 13.30 - 18.00 Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham Wednesday, 14 March 09.00 - 14.00 Newmarket Racecourse, Suffolk PRICES AND PAYMENT
Tickets are priced at £55 excl. VAT and £40 excl. VAT for all MCS Qualified delegates. Small booking fee applies. Tickets will be available at the door for £65 incl. VAT. We will only be able to accept cash payments. Please note: tickets are subject to availability and numbers are limited. Book now to avoid disappointment.
Contact Chloe Theobald, Events Manager at ctheobald@solarmedia.co.uk for more details.
© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
