Peter Hain, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, and the secretary of state for Wales has taken advantage of a government grant to install photovoltaic panels on his constituency home.

“I decided to put my money where my mouth is. It’s not cheap.” Mr Hain and his businesswoman wife, Elizabeth Haywood, paid £8,000 – with another £8,000 coming from the grant – to place photovoltaic panels on the roof of the barn conversion they refurbished in the summer.

He hopes the investment will eventually pay for itself. Any surplus electricity generated is sold back to the national grid.

“When we are not using it, when we are away, then it generates electricity which goes back to the grid. So we save on our bills when we are at home, and when we are not at home it basically goes back to the grid and we get paid for it,” he added.

It’s also good to see that the Welsh Assembly’s attitude to nuclear is more sensible- there is not yet a case for it because energy saving and more cost effective renewable sources should be utilised first.

Technorati tag: Solar power, Photovoltaic, Peter Hain, Wales