DESPITE being told that grants are available to pay for solar panels and the like, one local group has discovered that actually getting your hands on the money is not straight sailing. Two years ago a study carried out by Devon Association of Renewable Energy identified substantial opportunities for wind, solar, hydro and biomass power in Chagford. With its strong community spirit, it was not long before a community group, Chagford Action for Sustainable Energy, sprung up to drive forward the renewables agenda. As a partly-retired electronics engineer, chairman Perran Newman is excellently qualified to get to grips with the technical detail and make things happen. 'My approach is to try to do practical things. Our first big initiative has been to organise a bulk purchase scheme for solar heating,' he said. The group chose an installer – Eco-Exmoor – and 35 households signed up, pretty impressive considering it costs £2,000-£5,000 per household. Mr Newman set about getting a £400 Clear Skies grant from the Energy Savings Trust available to anyone installing solar heating – in theory. He said: 'It is an absolute farce because every month they have a pot of money to allocate on a first-come first-served basis. People sit up to midnight because the only way you stand a chance of getting it is to put in an on-line application at midnight on the first day of the month. All the money goes within a few hours and that is the whole of the allocation for the month. 'The government is putting peanuts into these grants. We're living in an increasingly warm climate with lots of sunshine and there is still only a tiny penetration of solar panels. Government officials need to be embarrassed into doing something about this.' Things were no better when he approached the Energy Saving Trust for a community grant. He said: 'We were assured that although we were a set of individuals because we were applying as a community we were eligible. We were looking to apply for £30,000, which is worthwhile going for. 'I spent a frustrating amount of time filling in forms and then all the rules changed. 'The grants were now administered by a different organisation and only three installers have been approved in the whole of the UK. Ours isn't one of them. Absolute farce again.' Faced with the choice of going through the whole tendering process again with another installer he has opted to apply to the Dartmoor National Park Authority Sustainability Fund. 'We're currently polishing our application. We're going to ask them to match the £400 and waive the £150 planning application fee,' he said. The need to apply for planning permission is another bone of contention. First it was not necessary, now it is. And while no one argues that thatched cottages and listed buildings should not be disfigured with solar panels, many are put off by the expense. Mr Newman thinks the requirement merely adds another hurdle. He is confident that, as demand increases, prices will fall. 'At the moment most of the equipment comes from China. If this takes off our local industry will get involved and it should get cheaper. We have to get the ball rolling.' A DTI spokesman said that the Clear Skies programme had come to an end and that now householders should apply to the Low Carbon Building Programme. It received a cash boost of £6m in the budget bringing the budget to £18m. Because of problems meeting demand the scheme had been suspended while it was being redesigned and would be relaunched this month. Phase two of the Low Carbon Building Programme, with a £50m budget, is aimed at schools, not for profit and public sector buildings to install renewables. The spokesman said seven companies had been approved to introduce price and quality controls. From now, community groups will also have to apply through this programme. He blamed alternative energy companies for suggesting that more grant assistance was available than was actually the case. 'The companies as part of their marketing are raising expectations too high. It is unfortunate.'