A winner when it comes to energy saving lighting schemes
At Nulty we’re constantly on the look out for new ways we can help our clients save energy and money. Companies can lower their carbon tax liabilities and also boost the bottom line by using innovative funding models, so we decided to pull together some of the best energy saving lighting schemes out there to see what they have to offer.
The Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) energy scheme provides tax allowances for energy saving products. The scheme offers a 100% First-Year Allowance (FYA) for investments in certain energy saving equipment. If you buy equipment that qualifies, you can write off, for example, 100% of the cost against that year’s taxable profit. This could save you a lot of money, as well as reduce your business’ energy use, carbon footprint and climate change levy payments.
Lighting is not listed on the Energy Technology List (ETL) but products can still qualify for an ECA. The process of claiming for non-listed products can vary according to which technology group the product falls into.
How to qualify:
High-efficiency lighting units are a combination of a light fitting (luminaire), one or more lamps, and associated control gear – assembled into a single packaged unit. It must be a packaged unit – separately the components don’t comply with the (ETL) criteria.
To claim an ECA on new lighting equipment ask the manufacturer or supplier to confirm that the products comply with the criteria and qualify for an ECA. You can use that confirmation to support your ECA claim.
Energy Efficiency Financing (run jointly by the Carbon Trust and Siemens Financial Services)
With this scheme monthly payments are aligned with the expected energy savings – the objective is that the equipment pays for itself in quite a short time period. It also allows for businesses to keep their credit lines intact, with their banks, so that they can be used for other means.
Energy Saving Solutions & Products
From the start of the scheme Energy Saving Solutions & Products has been engaged, preparing a survey showing the cost of the equipment and the subsequent savings after just one year and up to ten years. On behalf of the customer The Carbon Trust validates the energy savings – Siemens then offers a loan or lease after which they install the equipment.
Shared Saving Schemes
Premium Lighting Solutions offers a shared savings scheme. It details expected savings by assessing a company’s current energy use, working out a model whereby the business can share savings with the customer until the price of the installation is met. The benefit here is that if savings are not imminent the customer doesn’t pay for the installation at all.
Longer-term contracts (5-10 years) are used by Energy Works but they do offer a similar model focusing on the implementation of Lietcorp LED products. Ownership is passed to the client, after the business has taken an approved percentage of the energy savings for the length of the term.
The Green Deal is ideal for residential projects as it gives homeowners, landlords and tenants the opportunity to minimise the up-front cost of installing energy efficiency home improvements. The deal covers the installation of multiple energy efficiency measures and lighting falls under the renewable energy technologies category.
The Green Deal Process
There are four stages of the Green Deal journey, from assessment through to repayment:
1. Assessment – A Green Deal Assessor will suggest energy efficient improvements based on the property’s current energy use.
2. Finance – Using the Advice Report from the Assessor the Green Deal Provider will calculate the repayments and interest rate of the Green Deal Plan.
3. Installation – The Green Deal Provider will arrange for an authorised Green Deal Installer to install the energy efficient improvements.
4. Repayment – Loan paid back through energy bill savings.
Finance through The Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC) is attached to the property rather than the individual improver, therefore repayments will be made through the electricity bill. This means that, should the client wish to move, responsibility for repayments will be passed onto the next occupier.
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