Daily Archives: October 2, 2009

Electricity, Energy, Energy Distribution, Services

Four Suppliers Join in Energy Price Fray Today

Today has officially been the busiest day of the year for energy price cuts with four suppliers announcing changes. The day started with E.ON knocking smaller rival First:Utility off the cheapest supplier spot by cutting its online prices by £19. But in a David and Goliath move, First:Utility hit back, cutting its online prices by £13 from £967 a year to £954 a year on average.

The move sees First:Utility back in place as Britain’s cheapest supplier, although E.ON’s plan is available countrywide while First:Utility’s plan is only available in 12 out of 14 energy regions.

ScottishPower also ventured into the fray, but its move was more cautious. It has cut its gas rates in 5 regions taking the annual bill on its Online Energy Saver 7 plan to £972 from £975.

The final moves of the day are on mainstream rather than online plans. EDF Energy has changed its direct debit discount for standard customers from a fixed annual discount to a 6% discount. This will cut bills for the average customer from £1,147 to £1,118. It is also cutting prices for gas only customers. These moves mean that EDF Energy now offers the cheapest dual fuel standard plan paying by monthly direct debit and is thecheapest gas only supplier.

Will Marples, energy expert at uSwitch.com, says: “Given the amount of speculation and debate about price cuts this week, these moves could be seen as a bit of a peace offering. They don’t have the impact of a full blown price cut, but in the run up to winter they will be welcome. Whether consumers will be completely appeased remains to be seen, but the key thing now is to move to one of these competitive plans to make sure you benefit from lower prices in time for winter.”

Via EPR Network
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Electricity, Energy, Energy Distribution, Services

E.ON Now Cheapest Energy Supplier

The online price war has claimed another casualty. E.ON has cut its prices on its FixOnline3 plan, knocking First:Utility off the cheapest supplier spot. The move ends First:Utility’s winning bid to go head-to-head with the big six suppliers on price. At £962 E.ON’s plan undercuts the smaller supplier by £5, but E.ON’s plan is also available countrywide while First:Utility’s plan is only available in 12 out of 14 energy regions.

E.ON’s price cut comes at the same time as it is writing to customers who are coming to the end of a fixed price deal. E.ON is moving them onto a new fixed price plan which costs £1,198 a year. However, customers would be better off moving to the supplier’s more competitive online plan instead, saving £236 in the process. There are no exit penalties to take into account before making the move.

Will Marples, energy expert at uSwitch.com, says: “This is great timing for E.ON customers who are coming to the end of their fixed price plan. The supplier has already contacted them with a view to moving them onto a new fixed price deal, but its online plan is now £236 cheaper. I suspect that many customers will be taking this option instead.

“Thankfully there are no exit penalties, so even if you have already been moved onto the fixed price plan it’s not too late to change your mind. All you have to do is let your supplier know.”

Via EPR Network
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Clean Energy, Electricity, Electricity Generation, Energy, Energy Saving Appliances, Green Energy, Solar Power

Concentrated Solar Power: No Breakage Issue for Untempered Solar Mirrors

Field tests from the project „Nevada Solar One“ indicate a breakage rate of 0.027% for FLABEG’s solar mirrors: In the course of three years only 50 needed to be replaced from a total 183.400 installed mirrors. This erases the erroneous fact that tempered glass is necessary to mitigate breakage. However, there are no commercially available mirrors for parabolic troughs that are able to match the precision of curvature that FLABEG manufactures.

FLABEG redefines mirror bending precision by achieving FDx≤10 mm (measured by DLR). This is equivalent to a hit rate of 99.95% (focal line d=70mm). With this quality parameter FLABEG has achieved a unique standard of excellence and technical preeminence.

FLABEG’s parabolic mirrors are produced by a special sag-bending process, which results in the highest possible degree of precision. On the other hand, tempered glass can only be press bent, which does not allow to come to the same outstanding precision of bending as the sag bending process can provide.

Via EPR Network
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