Blogs

Sarah Hitchcox, development and policy director at Anesco, sets the record straight over the developer’s famed Clayhill project – the UK’s first subsidy-free solar farm – and discusses the company’s vision for the future.

West Sussex County Council recently followed up Anesco’s completion of the UK’s first subsidy-free solar farm in September last year with its own, deploying 7.4MW alongside a battery to make the project viable. While some have argued the project offers little in discussions of the future solar landscape in the UK, local authority projects are being completed now and could bridge the gap in deployment until private investors get moving.

As the tariff and potentially export payment regimes comes to an end, never before has it been more important to look at alternative means to ensure rooftop solar continues to play a part in national decarbonisation. However, international comparisons raised at an event yesterday demonstrate how more needs to be done to move the conversation on from tariffs to planning, with the government far from off the hook.

Finlay Colville, head of market research at Solar Media, reveals precisely how and where subsidy-free solar in the UK is to get underway next year.

As the UK storage market continues to evolve and old business models prove challenging, flow energy storage machines are beginning to find a place alongside solar. Scott McGregor, chief executive of redT energy, explains how the technology is ready to take the place left by battery technologies.

Lior Handelsman, VP of marketing and product strategy and founder of SolarEdge, discusses what constitutes best practice when selling inverter upgrades.

With the Republic of Ireland finally giving the green light to the country’s Renewable Electricity Support Scheme, solar developers that have waited years for their opportunity are gearing up for delivery. Lauren Cook, analyst at Solar Media Market Research, outlines the current state of the Irish market and what kinds of projects are in with a chance of support next year.

Tim Humpage, head of EPC at British Solar Renewables, discusses some of the key lessons to be learned from the firm’s work on the 49.9MW Pelham battery completed on behalf of Statera Energy late last year.

Leonie Greene, director of advocacy and new markets at the Solar Trade Association, analyses what the government’s future of small-scale renewables holds in store and what steps must be taken next.

​Halfway through 2018 and large-scale battery storage in the UK has reached over 450MW installed capacity, with around 250MW being completed this year alone. Solar Media Market Research analyst Lauren Cook looks back at how we got here, and what we can learn from the rapidly growing large-scale pipeline.