Every property owner has the opportunity to use the energy from the sun
for heating and generating electricity. Loans at the same rate of interest as
house mortgages would encourage them to do so.
In June 2002 the Renewable Energy
Information Office, Bandon, Co. Cork and
Sustainable Energy Ireland organised a conference
in Tralee entitled 'See the Light, no bills
from the Sun'. This was a brilliant conference
with some of the top European experts on the
subject of solar energy. The outcome of the conference
was a meeting of delegates to decide on
how best to represent the entire industry, meaning
not just suppliers and installers, but also
professionals and the consumers. After an hour
of heated discussion it was agreed to have a follow-
up meeting in Thurles to agree the setting
up of an association to represent as a many
aspects of the industry as possible.
By August 2002 a not for profit limited company
was established with nine directors and this
is now the Irish Solar Energy Association Ltd.,
ISEA for short. Its remit is threefold:
You may ask what do we mean by 'solar'? The
level of ignorance on this subject in all sectors
is astonishing considering that solar energy is
so crucial to our everyday living. We just take
solar energy for granted and ignore the huge
benefits to be derived from developing this virtually
free resource. Solar is about:
Most people have some understanding of conservatories
on houses and they would be familiar
with solar domestic hot water roof panels,
but they certainly have no experience in Ireland
with town and village district heating systems
derived from solar farms, which can be seen in
Denmark. Interestingly Denmark is roughly on
the same latitude as Ireland, so why have we in
Ireland taken so long to embrace this abundant
source of energy?
Has anybody thought of using photovoltaic
panels as a substitute for standard roof tiles,
while having the benefit of generating their own
source of electricity?
Heat pumps are a greatly misunderstood technology
that is only just catching on in Ireland.
This is a way of harvesting the rich source of
solar energy at shallow depths under the garden
grass or from a borehole or other water sources
365 days of the year and at night or day time.
All of this translates into a huge move away
from hydrocarbon-based fuels and the possibility
of meeting our Kyoto commitments with
ease.
However, the current level of ignorance at all
levels of Irish society means that we have an
uphill battle that presents a really exciting challenge
for those involved in the industry.
There is so much to do, so the discipline is
where to start and what to leave out at the
beginning. On the best advice from our
European colleagues who went through this
pain threshold many years before us and learnt
a lot of hard lessons, we have a short list as follows:
I would be the first to say in the current difficult
economic climate that the government is not
going to provide any financial incentives or
VAT reductions. Instead can I suggest that the
financial institutions be encouraged to provide
both capital and low cost loans similar to the
current mortgage rates of 3.9%. Grants and VAT
reductions smack of dependency culture, which
is not what this €700 million industry needs. We
need the best financial resources available in
this country and the best management, and that
means private enterprise.
The unique aspect of the ISEA is that it is
essentially a bottom up organisation unlike the
wind energy industry which is the preserve of
business interests as it is very capital intensive.
How can the man in the street get involved in
wind power except by being a consumer or an
environmental objector? With solar energy
every man, woman, child, company, farm and
institution has a role to play in helping to make
Ireland not only self-sufficient in energy, and
that is a reality which our politicians have not
realised yet, but we should also be seriously
considering how we can establish Ireland as a
world leader in solar applied technology with
huge export potential in design, consultancy,
manufacturing and installations. With Ireland's
worldwide connections this should be just as
big an export potential as our computer industry.
Is anybody prepared to take note of this
simple fact? Is anybody interested in creating
wealth and jobs? The ISEA has already had an
approach from sources close to the Indian
Government to get involved in technology
transfer to India with a market value of €5 billion.
The ISEA is a national representative body concerned
with the following:
The address of the ISEA is 17, Kildare Street,
Dublin 2. Alternatively, you may contact the
Association using my e-mail - douglasgordon@eircom.net
This is one of almost 50
chapters and articles in the 336-page large format book, Before the Wells
Run Dry. Copies of the book are available for £9.95 from Green Books. Continue to part F of Section 7: Wind energy in Ireland, the present situation
WHAT DOES THE ISEA PLAN TO DO?
