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 »

Eight in ten people surveyed as part of a report published by the government support the UK using renewable energy scheme to generate electricity, fuel and heat and save money on their energy bills.

2,107 people were polled in December and January and just four per cent were opposed to using renewable energy.  This number has remained relatively consistent across the previous three surveys conducted by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

Solar energy was found to have the highest levels of support, with 82% favoring this type of technology, followed by offshore wind with an approval rating of 72% and wave and tidal arrays with a 71% rating. Read the rest of this entry »

MCS have announced recently that the current Feed in Tariff (FIT) rates for all non PV technology types are to remain at the same level until 31st March 2014.

It has also now been confirmed that the 15.44p / kWh rate, for eligible PV installations with a total installed capacity of 4kW or under, will apply to installations with an eligibility date on or after 1st November 2012 and before 1st July 2013.

These announcements follows Ofgem’s publication of the latest tariff tables and looks set to bring a very welcome stability to the UK renewables market this year. Read the rest of this entry »