Question 1

WHO PAYS FOR THE GRANT?

Accepted Answer

The grant funding comes from energy suppliers, who have to spend up to £1billion a year on grants to help reduce the heating bills of low income households.  The grant is called the Energy Company Obligation. or ECO for short.  You can find out more about ECO here

Question 2

I AM NOT ON BENEFIT, AM I ELIGIBLE?"

Accepted Answer

You may also be eligible if your total household income is below £31,000 (Gross), or if you meet any two of the three criteria below:

1) You suffer from a long term or serious illness, have a disability, have a child aged 5 or under, or a person aged 65 or older in the home
2) Your child receive free school meals as a result of you having a low income
3) You receive Council Tax Reduction due to having a low income

People who receive Child Benefit may also be eligible, if you have an income below a certain threshold, based on how many children you have and whether you are single or in a couple, see below:

Question 3

WHAT TYPE OF HEATING MUST MY HOME HAVE?

Accepted Answer

The main heating in your home must be powered by electricity, this could be plug in panel heaters, night storage heaters, an electric boiler, or an air or ground source heat pump. If your home has plug in heaters, or older style storage heaters, we must upgrade these to modern high heat retention storage heaters before being able to install the solar PV.  There are grants available towards the cost of the heating upgrade, but until we have fully assessed your home and the works involved, we cannot confirm if the whole upgrade package will be free of charge, but you will be under no obligation to go ahead if a contribution is needed.

Question 4

IS THE SOLAR COMPLETELY FREE?

Accepted Answer

The solar works should be free if you meet all of the criteria below:

1) You meet the eligibility criteria (by being on benefit, or a low income etc)
2) Your home has an EPC rating of E, F or G
3) Your home is heated by high heat retention storage heaters*, a heat pump, or an electric boiler
4) If your home has cavity walls, that these are insulated and that your loft has at least 150mm of insulation**
5) Your home is no more than 2 storeys high and has a roof that is able to easily accommodate solar panels
6) Your home does not have a room in the roof, or any areas of flat roof***

The amount of the grant depends on the size of your home, the home's current EPC rating, the existing heating system, the amount of solar panels that we can fit on your roof and also the direction that the solar panels will face (a south facing roof is the best). Generally if you meet the above criteria, we can install the solar PV system for free, but all works are subject to a free technical assessment and you will be under no obligation to go ahead if the works are not fully covered by the grant.

* If your home is heated by older style storage heaters, we will need to replace these with high heat retention models before we can install the solar PV.  Whilst there is additional grant funding available for these, it may not cover the full cost of the works
** If you have cavity walls that need insulating, or your loft insulation needs topping up, we must undertake this work before installing the solar and additional grant funding is available to help with this 
*** In order to install the solar, we must ensure that all roof areas are full insulated and the grant will not cover the insulation upgrades for flat roofs or where a home has a room in the roof or sloping ceilings

Question 5

IS THE OFFER AVAILABLE OUTSIDE OF CORNWALL?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Grant like these are available across England and Happy Energy may also be able to offer the grants in the areas show below in green

Question 6

ARE THERE GRANTS FOR OTHER WORKS?

Accepted Answer

Grants may also be available for insulation, storage heater upgrades and central heating using renewable energy air source heat pumps. These other works may not always be free, but we will be able to confirm this once we have completed the assessment of your home.

Question 7

WHAT TYPE OF SOLAR SYSTEM IS AVAILABLE

Accepted Answer

The grant is for solar PV, which generates free electricity for your home.

Question 8

HOW BIG IS THE SOLAR SYSTEM?

Accepted Answer

The size of the system will depend on the size of your roof, or the space you have available for them to be located.  We would typically look to fit a minimum of 8 panels (3.3kWp), but if you have a large roof, we may be able to install up to 24 panels (10kWp), if the grant allows and if the local District Network Operator (DNO) gives us approval to connect a system of this size at your home.

Question 9

DO I NEED PLANNING PERMISSION?

Accepted Answer

For normal roof mounted systems, planning permission is not typically required.  Permission may however be required if your property is listed, in a conservation area, a World Heritage Site, or an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. You can check if your home is in one of these area by going to the Cornwall Council mapping web page, selecting the "layers" option and then the "Historical" option.  We will check this as part of the grant application process.

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