Nominations for 2015’s Solar Power Portal Awards are currently open. Returning for its third year, the Solar Power Portal Awards will take place on 13 October, the first evening of the sixth Solar Energy UK exhibition in Birmingham.

Following feedback from last year we've drastically streamlined the application process and allowed other parties to nominate companies who they believe are deserving of an award. We've also tinkered with the categories to better reflect the maturing UK solar market in 2015.

In the run up to the 29 June nominations deadline, Solar Power Portal is taking a closer look at each of this year’s categories.

Ground-mount >5MW

The first of this year’s categories represents the busiest segment in the UK solar sector. The RO deadline caused a huge rush of projects in the first quarter of 2015, representing some of the industry’s most innovative work with some exemplar projects energised in time to take advantage of the RO scheme. Elsewhere the UK experienced its first CfD allocation round, which saw three PV projects successfully claim funding under the new scheme. Elsewhere, the government’s move to allow commercial solar projects to share a connection with community projects means that a number of 10MW projects might be connected this year too.

Judges will look at all aspects of the project’s development from planning and community engagement, to site selection and construction and financing.

Last year’s winner

A high commendation was awarded to Lightsource Renewable Energy for its Ermine Street Solar Farm. However the overall winner was Lackford Estate Solar Park by Low Carbon. The solar farm was praised for its innovative design, with the judges noting that “the project’s innovative active power management sets a standard for difficult connections”.

Enter now

Do you have a project that you want to shout about? Enter your project now for the 2015 Solar Power Portal Awards:

How to Enter – 5 Easy Steps

  1. Click Submit your nomination

  2. Register and verify your account

  3. Login and click Submit a new nomination

  4. Select the category you would like to enter and provide additional details along with a summary of your project (limited to 5,500 characters)

  5. Submit additional nominations for other categories or projects by clicking Submit a new nomination

Shortlisted nominations will be notified by 31 July 2015 and will be asked to provide further information about their entry.