Andy Colthorpe

Andy Colthorpe with a video comment on how the Lib Dems are seeking to appeal to the ‘green vote’, talking up the benefits of investing in renewable energy and making encouraging noises about solar, while the coalition government they are part of seems less sold on the idea.

DECC secretary of state for energy and climate change Ed Davey has said that he is “absolutely convinced” the falling costs of solar will make it the cheapest form of energy available in the coming years.

Energy storage-themed sessions at Solar Energy UK were extremely well attended and discussions were by all accounts lively and fascinating. Andy Colthorpe took the opportunity to go into some of the topics in more depth with some of the speakers.

Sharp, ABB, SMA and Bosch are among the big names readying new energy storage products for the UK PV market. Andy Colthorpe caught up with them at the Solar Energy UK show to find out what tech fits best for the UK’s nascent storage sector.

East-West orientation of commercial rooftop systems can be a good fit for the UK market, according to two mounting systems manufacturers.

The head of community energy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said yesterday that the government wants to see an “upsurge” in community generated energy projects, while acknowledging serious barriers exist in policy.

Suntech’s parent company Shunfeng and its partner Greenfield Solar International have signed youmex to finance the PV project pipeline they are developing in the UK.

A new report funded by the fuel cell industry claims that over five million fuel cell smart power units could be installed in the UK by 2030, driving a “revolution” in distributed energy.

The UK division of Chinese PV manufacturer ReneSola has sold 40 domestic energy storage units to an installation company in Essex, England.

The fate of the UK’s PV market over the next five years is likely to be determined to a large extent by a budget announcement which is expected by October, according to analyst Finlay Colville of NPD Solarbuzz.