climate change. These include the energy regulator (Ofgem), the government’s climate change department (DECC), the UK’s main electricity distributor (National Grid), the UK’s biggest retailer (Tesco) and 9 other supermarket chains, the UK’s environmental guardians (Environment Agency), as well as 145 local authorities and over 20 government agencies. We have installed as many as 60 powerPerfectors a week so we really do understand risk for our client’s in this area as well. However not all companies have the credibility afforded by the clients listed above. There is a need for greater regulation within the energy efficiency market. With no over-arching body to monitor and police false or exaggerated claims, companies have entered the Voltage Management sector with technology that does not perform as promoted.
ESTA’s endorsement of the International Performance, Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP), a robust, proven M and V protocol from the US, goes a long way to filling “the policing gap” in the sector. Its use is intended to be mandatory at some point in the future and clients can then have 100% confidence in true savings and suppliers 100% confidence in a level honest playing field – the snake oil salesmen will creep back under their rocks.
IPMVP brings reassurance for clients that the savings are real and auditable. Think twice about buying Energy Conservation Measures from any company that does not include this evaluation process.
Within the voltage management market there are a variety of offers. Each technology is slightly different and claim varying savings and performance capabilities. So what criteria should energy professionals use when purchasing voltage management solutions?
Reliability - Make sure that the company’s technology has an unblemished reliability track record, otherwise you are risking business continuity.
Guarantee – If the guarantee is longer than the product’s market time how do you know it will last? And if it has been around a long time then what is different about it compared to other offerings?
Simplicity - As a rule of thumb, the fewer points of failure the better. Beware of ad hoc solutions which combine multiple separate components in one box to solve multiple problems. If it requires fan cooling it is not efficient and if the fan fails what is the danger of overheating? Moving parts can be a point of failure and at the critical point of the electrical supply they introduce unnecessary risk.
If a bypass is recommended – why - might it fail? If the supplier is not confident of their product, how can you be?
Bells and Whistles – Equipment showing savings live ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE |89|
may seem useful but savings can’t be measured live as you need comparative consumption data, so a product providing this is providing false information.
Measurement and Verification – A savings analysis should come in two parts; firstly a detailed savings plan, in which the site is analysed and a methodology for determining the savings is agreed upon, and secondly a savings report, which quantifies the avoided energy use.
Any measurement and verification strategy that does not have these two ingredients could be open to ambiguity, or worse, abuse, as the savings analysis can simply be thrown together after the energy conservation measure has been implemented.
IPMVP as mentioned before, is now the most widely used and recognised M&V protocol in the world. You can be sure savings calculated using IPMVP will be auditable and accurate if conducted by qualified practitioners – but make sure the practitioner is registered!
Price – The government spending review risks putting “best value procurement” at risk and raises the spectre of “lowest cost wins”. There will always be a cheaper product available if price is the main factor in decision making. The cheapest product is unlikely to provide the best value and in Voltage Management it will buy the highest risk.
Benchmarking – Make sure that the technology has been tried and tested. Review the case studies and testimonials of the company and then follow up by speaking to clients of the company.
Company reliability – Check the financials of the product seller – are they financially secure enough to pay out on their guarantees?
Finally, because of the critical point of the building at which Voltage Management technology sits, it is critical that you choose a robust, reliable solution. Failure is not an option.
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