I've started this topic instead of responding to a comment elsewhere on the Cornwall green show.

Firstly, this show is also on today as well as yesterday, so there is still time to go.

I spent a morning yesterday visiting a number of stands. I didn't bother with the presentations as I wanted tailored information.

I was particularly interested in the Green Deal Assessment as it will probably apply for the RHI (if that ever sees the light of day!). Information from various people suggested that an announcement was imminent.

I asked various companies about battery backup systems for storing electricity generated during the day and using that overnight. Still a costly technology but worth putting your name down to be kept informed of developments.

Perhaps the most interesting time was at the stand of Western Power Distribution. I was after any Cornwall electricity usage stats (unfortunately not available as the companies are concerned with the instantaneous power demand and that the supply is over a region rather than the County boundary.

The discussion then turned to their various research projects, which are funded out of a pot from the various energy companies and the results disseminated amongst those companies. Not surprisingly there is a lot of research, inter alia, into the effects of distributed generation, voltage levels and the possibility of dropping the voltage down by 6 volts or so, and the effects of e.g. heat pumps. Whilst WPD didn't say anything about grid capacity in Cornwall, other companies did comment that capacity is probably being reached and that technique and policies for encouraging local consumption of locally generated supply are going to be needed fairly soon. Mention was made by one company (I've forgotten which) that Germany is introducing a tarrif to encourage usage of locally generated supply.