Solar Media Staff

A year after 7,000 solar panels were fitted to the roof of Promens Packaging’s plant in Beccles, Suffolk, the installer behind the project has announced the generation of the array’s millionth unit of green electricity.

Exeter-based installer SunGift Solar has appointed management specialist Neil Durno as its new Head of Business Development. The new appointment will see Durno take responsibility for the South West solar specialist’s commercial projects, customer experience, and supplier development activities. 

So here we go again. Government has announced that feed-in tariff levels for solar PV installations are to be reduced again effective from the August 1. At first sight, this would appear to make installation of a solar roof unviable. But that isn’t the case, for two key reasons.

The beginning of August marks the first day of the revised feed-in tariff model for solar photovoltaics in the UK. From today, FiT rates will once more be revised downward along with the tariff lifetime as part of a new degression model.

In a bid to remove some of the barriers preventing UK consumers from installing solar panels Sharp has teamed up with Hitachi Capital (UK) to offer a range of financing options for private investors and business customers looking to go solar.

Lloyds Banking Group announced in its half-year results that it plans to invest approximately £333 million in renewable energy projects over the next 18 months as part of Government’s £1 billion infrastructure strategy.

The Solar Trade Association (STA) has moved to reassure industry that customers will still enjoy decent returns on a domestic solar investment ahead of the reduction in feed-in tariff (FiT) rate on August 1.

Traditionally, homeowners interested in solar have had two options: purchase a system outright and benefit from the feed-in tariff scheme or apply for a ‘free solar’ scheme and benefit solely from the free electricity. London-based Engensa is hoping to provide one more option, its newly-launched SolarLoan.

The first of the tri-monthly degression cuts to the feed-in tariff (FiT) is almost upon us. From Wednesday, all <4kW systems installed will receive 16p/kWh – a 63 percent drop in subsidy level since December 2011. Under the new framework, FiT rates will continue to tumble at regular intervals. To the casual observer, solar is getting less and less attractive.

Cheshire-based solar installer, the Green Electrician, has announced the launch of a new renewable heat division.