Well it was a long, hot and dusty journey but the three intrepid explorers from Beechdale Energy (Martin Jackson, Ben Bourner and Chris Dallywater) eventually made it to the school in the remote Gambian village of Sinchu N Jabo to survey the building and see the rooftop firsthand ahead of the installation of a Solar PV system next January.

With the Feed-in Tariff set to reduce from 43.3p/kWh to just 21p, most PV installers are already unable to commit to completing installations in the time available. The rate change will take effect on December 12th but installations have to be completed and certificated before then and the customer's application for the FIT has to be received by the electricity company before the 12th. As the 12th is a Monday, the application has to reach the electricity company no later than Friday 9th, so the installation deadline is Thursday 8th - 30 days away. As at today's date, November 8th, Beechdale Energy can still accept orders for installation by the deadline.