The worlds first solar powered plane “Solar Impulse 2” has landed in Hawaii, completing whats considered to be the most dangerous leg of its journey.

The Solar Impulse 2 has been circumnavigating the globe this year

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This isn’t just any solar pv array…. this is a Marks and Spencer solar pv array.

The retail giant have joined the growing numbers of UK based businesses investing in to their own future and the future of renewable energy. A massive 24,000 solar panels are planned to be mounted to the roof of  Marks and Spencer’s Warehouse in Castle Donington. Read the rest of this entry »

Rolling power cuts could be seen in the future as we struggle to meet energy demands

This week the National Grid issues warnings to UK residents that over the coming winter its capacity to deliver power to UK homes and businesses will be at a 7 year low as a large number of generation plants have been closed or are foretasted breakdowns.

The grid has released figures detailing that spare electricity capacity last year ran at an average of just 4%, in 2011 that margin was 17%. Since 2012, however, 15 power plants across the UK have been fully or partially closed, leaving a shortfall in the UK’s energy generation capacity.

Predictions estimate Read the rest of this entry »

Recent studies are showing that the total cost of some conventional energy sources are far outweighing the direct cost of cleaner renewable energy sources such as solar.

The study, conducted and released by the European Commission, not only confirms the widely acknowledged fact that solar energy proves cost effective but also brought to public attention that the total direct cost implicated in conventional energy sources such as fossil fuels is significantly higher than that of renewable energy sources like wind or solar. The Support structure for solar across Europe is rapidly descending and coming into line with the huge reductions in cost we have seen over the past decade, other forms of energy like coal and nuclear power are still locked into heavily funded subsidies that they were the base rate 40 years ago.

The bottom line is that Solar has continued to prove itself despite cuts to subsides across Europe, if anything these cuts go as far as to prove how much momentum Solar has gained. As more and more solar installations, both domestic and commercial, are deployed the cost drops and more research makes panels more efficient. The subsidies per kilowatt must drop to reflect the increased production from investment.

Solar Energy has steadily become one of the best energy sources even when rivaled against conventional power and when it comes to renewable technologies it is arguably the top of the pile for the future. Due to the lessened infrastructure required ti set up solar and the variable plant size, from a small domestic system to large commercial sized arrays, Solar’s flexibility make it suitable for almost everyone.

To find out more about why solar energy is so popular and what it could bring to your business or home CLICK HERE to contact us

Rochdale Borough Council have recently broken ground on what is to be the UK’s first publicly owned commercial solar farm. In its quest to become the UK’s most environmentally green local authority, the Council have undertaken a project to develop a sector of waste ground into a 250 kWp commercial solar plant.
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Swedish Flat-pack giant Ikea started a partnership with Chinese thin-film solar manufacturer Hanergy to bring easy Solar PV to domestic properties across the UK. Following an initial trial period the scheme was rolled out to all 18 of the Nordic superstores UK locations and saw huge uptake. Read the rest of this entry »

New data released by the research firm IHS, details that up to 69% of the planned solar installs across 2014 and 2015 throughout Europe are planned to take place in the UK. Approximately 7 gigawatts of solar pv are planned to be installed across Europe of the coming 18 months. With that factored the UK can expect at least 4.8GW of solar photo voltaic power installed over the next 18 months. Read the rest of this entry »

Having just passed the Summer solstice on June 21 and the midway point of the UK’s solar-based calendar,  this would seem an apt time to reflect on how the industry is faring now that 2013 is six months old.

June has not just been bright for the PV market in terms of panel output, but the latest statistics from DECC show a healthy return in installed capacity to a rate not seen since last October.

In the week ending June 23, over 3,000 installations were registered in the sub 50kW band with a cumulative capacity of more than 13MW.   Whilst this is still a far cry from the heady days of 2011 before Read the rest of this entry »

Some customers who have had Solar PV panels installed have noticed their electricity meter runs backwards.

This means they’re receiving free electricity from their energy company.  However, while households may be reluctant to tell their supplier about this some customers have been landed with additional bills retrospectively.

The problem occurs when the electricity generated by the Solar panels is exported to the grid as part of a scheme called the feed-in tariff (which pays people for electricity they produce at home), making the meter run in reverse Read the rest of this entry »

Over a third of people think making money is not as important as protecting the environment and would install solar PV panels, regardless of the financial benefit.

A Solar comparison website surveyed 2,000 people and found 36% of people would embrace a renewable technology simply out of concern for the environment over slashing their energy bills.

A spokesperson for the energy efficiency specialists said: “The findings suggest a large proportion of people care about the environment more than money, which is wonderful. As it happens Solar panels are a great financial investment too but we suggest that if more people knew more about the environmental benefits of PV, we could see a greater interest in them. This could also provide a great boost to the industry. Read the rest of this entry »