FAQ

Essex Community Energy CIC is a ‘Community Energy Service Company’ (C-ESCO for short). This is a list of frequently asked questions about Essex Community Energy, its services, and how it works. This list of FAQs will be developed over time.

About Essex Community Energy CIC
More detail on the ‘Customer Purchase’ option
More detail on the ‘Pay as You Go’ option planned to be launched later in 2024
More detail on the ‘Peer-to-Peer’ option
General questions
More detail on the funding of the Pay as You Go model
Questions on community projects
Questions on batteries

1. About Essex Community Energy CIC

What is your purpose?

To make it as simple as possible for any household, business, community, or other organization to install low carbon energy, with an initial focus on solar PV and battery storage.

What legal model are you using?

Essex Community Energy CIC is a ‘Community Interest Company’. A ‘Community Interest Company’ (CIC) is a special type of limited company which exists to benefit the community rather than private shareholders. CIC’s are regulated by the Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies.

How will Essex Community Energy CIC (ECE) work?

ECE’s initial focus is on solar PV provision (with battery options in some cases) as described below.

ECE aims to:

Work directly with households to help them install solar PV and battery storage
Work directly with businesses, farms, and other organisations to help them install solar PV and battery storage
Work with community groups, parish, and district councils to develop community energy projects

For each household and business solar PV project we will offer two service options:

1. Customer purchase

The customer buys the PV and battery storage

2. ‘Pay as You Go’

ECE installs the PV and battery in the home/business. ECE owns the PV/battery.

The customer buys electricity from the installed array on a ‘Pay as You Go’ basis. (There will be regular options to buy the PV from ECE).

‘Peer-to-Peer’ Trading will be an option in both of the above and for others who cannot have solar PV installed.

The customer buys renewable electricity from other households and businesses in the Essex Community Energy network

2. More detail on the ‘Customer Purchase’ option

If I choose the ‘Customer Purchase option’, how much is it likely to cost?

An average system (4kW of solar PV plus a c. 5kW battery) will be in the range of £8,500 – £9,500.

If I choose the ‘Customer Purchase option’, how long will it take to pay for itself?

If you buy the system once it is installed, your payback time will typically be between 7 and 15 years. With the working life of the PV of over 30 years, there is a good net present value and internal rate of return to the investment.

Parts of the system – the inverter, and the battery, will likely need to be replaced around year 15.

There are many variables that determine your return on investment. These include:

Whether you include a battery in your system
Whether there are people in the house all day or people are at work
What percentage of energy you use yourself, and what percentage is exported to the grid
Whether you have a time of use tariff to optimise performance of a battery (e.g., importing electricity when it is cheap at the night-time, say 13 pence per kilowatt hour, to displace the use of expensive energy in the daytime).
What type of time of use tariff you choose
Whether you have any electric vehicle
How and whether you configure your system to trade services to the electricity grid, and whether you enable the ECE to use your battery to provide those services to the grid.

Because of these variables, we take a cautious view in saying that the system will take between 7 and 15 years to pay back.

For the Customer Purchase option, does the buyer need to opt into the grid services/local energy market elements of the ECE services?

No, it is a choice.

For the Customer Purchase option, how does insurance work?

You should make your own insurance arrangements for the PV and battery storage. With over 1 million systems installed in the UK, insurers are now familiar with quoting for these systems.

3. More detail on the ‘Pay as You Go’ option planned to be launched later in 2024

If I choose the ‘Pay as You Go’ option, how much will my electricity cost?

This will vary slightly, but we are charging our pilot households 16.8 pence per kilowatt hour.

If I choose the ‘Pay as You Go’ option, who is responsible for maintaining the PV and battery?

ECE is responsible for maintaining the PV and battery.

If you choose to buy the array from ECE at some point, the maintenance then becomes your responsibility.

If I choose the ‘Pay as You Go’ option, am I tied to ECE for a fixed period?

Yes. You will be tied in to ECE until the funding agreement terminates. It is designed this way to keep the costs to the customer low.

You can terminate the agreement in several ways:

Buy the panels out for their residual value. (You will have an option to do this at least once a quarter).
Arrange for the panels to be bought as part of selling your home
Have ECE remove the panels and the battery (there will be a cost to this).

If I choose the ‘Pay as You Go’ option and my roof needs maintenance, how does that work in terms of removing panels and reinstalling them?

Should the panels need to be removed and replaced for maintenance work on the roof, you would be responsible for the cost of removal and reinstallation. This is a standard feature of systems that are paid for by a third-party.

The condition of your roof will be assessed during the survey. If any issues that may require maintenance are identified, they will be discussed with you before an installation takes place. It may be worth resolving any problems identified before installing the solar PV.

How does it work if I decide I want to buy the PV at some point?

You’ll be offered regular options to buy the PV and battery at their residual value. We anticipate this option being available every quarter at a minimum. If you need to buy the system (for example, if you are moving house) then this can be arranged.

For the ‘Pay as You Go’ option, how does insurance work?

ECE will be responsible for insuring the PV and battery which it installs, including Public Liability insurance

The customer may wish to inform their Building Insurance Provider. Where the property is subject to a mortgage, ECE will wish to be satisfied that the mortgage provider has agreed to the customer entering the agreement with ECE.

With over 1 million systems installed in the UK, insurers are now familiar with quoting for these systems.

What happens if I move house?

You have the option to buy the panels and own them out right or make it a condition of sale that the buyer enters a ‘Pay as You Go’ agreement with ECE.

If I choose to ‘Pay as You Go’ option, will I ever own the panels?

Yes, after thirty years which is the term of the PAYG agreement, or if you exercise the buyout option.

4. More detail on the ‘Peer-to-Peer’ option

What is Peer-to-Peer?

Peer-to-Peer trading is where one generator sells to a customer – for example if you sold surplus electricity from the panels on your roof to your next-door neighbour.

We are using a specialist local electricity trading platform, Urban Chain, to enable us to offer this service.

The Urban Chain platform records where electricity using the platform is generated, and where it is consumed.

Electricity bought from the ‘peer to peer’ platform is cheaper than electricity bought from a standard electricity tariff supplied through the grid. This ‘Local Energy Market’ will typically give a generator more for each kWh sold and a discount for the consumer.

How does the Peer-to-Peer element of the scheme work?

If you choose the Customer Purchase option, you may enter into your own contract with Urban Chain to sell exporting electricity on a peer-to-peer basis. Urban Chain would then pay you for the electricity that you spell into the grid and that they sell. Under PAYG, ECE has the right to export the electricity you generate but do not use in the building

What would households that cannot generate themselves, but who want to buy locally produced green energy need to do?

These households would need to enter into an energy supply contract with Urban Chain. Urban Chain would then become their energy supplier.

If I buy my PV and battery, and then sign up to the smart local energy system elements of this scheme, am I tied in to ECE and Urban Chain in any way?

No, you can leave at any point.

If I choose the Peer-to-Peer option, how much will my electricity cost?

A quote can be given once details of your electricity consumption and meter point (MPAN) have been provided – usually by giving a sample bill.

Who are Urban Chain, the technical services providers for the peer-to-peer option?

Urban Chain is the leading provider of peer-to-peer energy exchange services in the UK.

How is the data supplied to Urban Chain for accounting purposes in the Peer-to-Peer network?

Data would normally be supplied via the smart meter directly to Urban Chain.

5. General questions

How much money am I likely to save?

On the customer purchase option, your electricity bills are likely to reduce by between 10% and 25%. If you choose a time of use tariff, you are likely to save more than if you choose a single rate tariff.

Do I have to sign up to a new electricity supplier?

Not if you choose the customer purchase option.

If you choose the ‘Pay as You Go’ option, you will need to sign up with ECE as a second electricity provider. From that point, you will receive two bills a month, one from your main electricity supplier and one from ECE.

Will I pay a standing charge to ECE?

No – we do not charge standing charges.

You will still pay the standing charge for electricity supplied to you through the meter by your other supplier.

Is there a limit to how many panels/batteries can be installed on any one property?

Pay As You Go: ECE will determine the size of the installation following the survey.
Customer Purchase: The householder will be presented with a proposed design and options following the survey.

Can households sign up to replace older panels?

Yes, provided the customer meets the cost of removing the older panels.

What happens to the electricity that I do not use and is spilled back into the grid?

If you have chosen the Customer Purchase option, you choose who to sell the electricity to. You could choose one of the Smart Export Guarantee options or choose to sell to other energy users through our ‘peer to peer’ partner Urban Chain.

If you have chosen the Pay as You Go option, ECE will have the right to export any electricity not used in your home. ECE will not make any payment to the customer for this electricity. This arrangement helps keep the cost of electricity supplied via the ‘Pay as You Go’ option low.

I have a mortgage. Do I need to inform my mortgage company that I am putting solar PV on my roof?

Yes, if you have a mortgage, your mortgage provider must be kept informed and lenders consent secured before entering into an agreement with ECE.

Tariffs

Can I choose a flexible ‘Time of Use’ tariff, such as Economy 7, that allows me to get cheaper electricity at night – for example, to charge my battery?

Yes. You can choose a supplier and a tariff to supply the rest of your electricity needs.

We encourage the use of ‘Time of Use’ tariffs if you have a battery, as that can potentially increase savings.

Planning permission

I live in a listed building / conservation area. Can I put solar panels on my roof?

This will be a decision made by the planning department in your Council on a case-by-case basis. Typically:

Listed buildings: would need to come to the planning team first for planning permission.

Conservation areas: In the first instance residents should book a Duty Planner call back in order to discuss it. This is a free service where planners look at the proposals and advise whether or not permission will be required.

Broadly speaking, solar panels on roofs in Conservation Areas do not require permission, depending on their location / orientation / surroundings. If they are situated to minimise the effect on the character and appearance of the building, and the visual amenity of the area, they are unlikely to require permission. If there are technical reasons for the location of panels not meeting the criteria above, i.e. need to be south facing, other roof areas not large enough etc these would need to be presented as part of the application.

Smart meters

Does a household need a smart meter to participate?

If you just want to buy a solar PV array, then no.

If you want to buy a battery, and have your battery participate in ECE’s Smart local energy system network (trading surplus energy with neighbours, providing services to the grid) then yes.

If you are choosing the ‘Pay as You Go’ or ‘Peer-to-Peer options, then yes.

Can I still get a smart meter if my home has poor mobile signal?

If you live in an area with poor mobile telephone reception you can either request a first-generation meter that uses this network but may experience difficulties sending readings to your supplier automatically. Alternatively, you can contact your energy supplier and insist that they install a second-generation meter, known as SMETS2. A SMETS2 meter is not reliant upon the mobile phone network and by the end of the rollout this network will have coverage of 99.25% of Great Britain.”

https://www.smartenergygb.org/faqs/how-do-smart-meters-work

Can I add a battery to an existing PV array?

Yes (under the Customer Purchase Option).

Can I add panels to an existing array?

This may be possible under the Customer Purchase option but the module sizes may be different and a new inverter would be required. Whether this makes sense depends on the age and performance of the existing panels and the amount of new solar PV which could be fitted.

I already have a battery and a solar PV system. Can I connect this to the ECE smart local energy system and use the battery to make money by selling electricity?

Yes, provided you have a smart meter

Are the panels all black or aluminium edged?

The panels offered as standard are all black. If you wish to have different types on panels under the Customer Purchase option, you can discuss this with the installers.

Can the PV panels be on a vertical wall?

Not normally, but we are working with an innovator and testing a ‘thin film’ solar PV panel suitable for vertical mounting. There are currently regulatory restrictions on solar PV prohibiting installation on walls of occupied rooms (as distinct from common areas, stair wells etc).

Can the PV panels be in your garden or field if you are not able to have them on the roof? (For example, because the roof is thatch, the building is listed, a landlord will not allow it)?

Yes, in principle, subject site survey, distance, and practicality.

Installation

Who will be doing the installation of the solar PV and battery?

If you are choosing the Customer Purchase option, then you can choose whoever you want to install PV and battery storage. We have a panel of installers which have been through our qualification process.

Details of these installers will be provided on this website.

If you are choosing the ‘Pay as You Go’ option, ECE will contract with one of its installers .

How long does installation take?

A typical installation process will take one to two days. If scaffolding is required, it may need to be put in place before the installation and be removed afterwards.

How disruptive is the wiring?

The cabling is not extensive but depending on the current system as the property, fuse and service boards may need updating. This will all be discussed during the survey process.

Do you have an import meter and an export meter? Or is this part of the battery’s role?

You would need a smart meter which would be able to measure both import and export. There would also be a generation meter measuring how much electricity is generated onsite.

How long will the solar panels and batteries last?

The panels are shown to have approximately 85% efficiency after 30 years. The batteries are expected to have 80% efficiency after 10-12 years.

I am concerned by reports of certain manufacturers using forced labour in China to construct the solar panels and other components. Which solar panels do you use?

We do not use panels manufactured by companies that are alleged to used force labour. We will be keeping the issue under review as is the solar trade association Solar Energy UK of which we are a member. The installers ECE uses and installers on our Installer Panel have committed to the Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI) and will apply the SSI’s Supply Chain Traceability Standard once this is launched.

6. More detail on the funding of the Pay as You Go model

Who is funding the installation of the solar PV panels?

The money will come from a variety of sources. These may include:

‘Responsible investors’, that is investors with a remit to invest in projects that deliver social and environmental value.
Pension funds

What do the funders get from doing this

The funders get:

An agreed financial return
As ‘social impact’ investors, they value the social and environmental benefits from projects they have invested in and use these case studies to meet their impact mandate and secure more investment.

7. Questions on community projects

Will there be a community benefit fund for the parishes taking part?

Yes. We intend that ECE will ring-fence funding available for local benefit arising from the projects into community benefit funds for the parishes taking part.

If you help us develop a community project, who owns it?

Until it is paid for, those who have invested in it, which could be the community (if they issue a community share offer) or the funder.

8. Questions on batteries

What are the fire risks associated with Solar PV arrays and electric batteries?

The risk is very low.

A study by the Building Research Establishment National Solar Centre, conducted for the UK Government, found very low incidence of fires associated with solar PV.

The report, ‘Fire and Solar PV Systems – Investigations and Evidence’ states ‘With nearly 940,000 PV systems now installed in the UK, an increase in incident reports is to be expected (p6 – 2018 figures). The report continues (p12) ‘There are currently a total of 80 unique records of fire incidents involving PV in the database. These are made up of 33 historical incidents and 47 that have been investigated by the team.’

The batteries we use are from GIVEnergy, which provides the following details of the low fire risk involved in use of its batteries and comments as follows:

“In September 2020, the UK government published a review of safety risks related to domestic battery energy storage systems. It acknowledges that a few incidents with domestic battery energy storage systems are known in the public domain.”

Minimising even these small risks is a key concern for our installers.

What type of battery is used in the system that would be installed?

The electrical battery is a GIVEnergy battery. The GIVEnergy battery uses lithium technology.

GIVEnergy state the following: “Our chemistry is cobalt free and uses lithium iron phosphate cathode technology (LiFePO4) – the safest cell technology on the market. This results in our cells being inert and eliminating oxidisation fire risk.”

Further commentary from GIV Energy is here (link below)

https://givenergy.co.uk/the-superior-choice-embracing-lifepo4-batteries-over-nmc-technology/

What is the expected lifetime of the batteries you are using?

We expect the GIVEnergy battery to last 15 years.

The GIVEnergy warranty is 12 years.

If you have chosen the customer purchase option, we would recommend budgeting to replace the battery between years 12 and 15. We also observed that battery prices are reducing fast and it should be much less expensive to replace the battery with a like for like system in the future.

Can the battery be installed outdoors?

GIVEnergy batteries have been tested and passed the IP65 standard for outdoor installation. They may be installed outdoors or indoors depending on the specific property