Blogs

The REA has just issued some analysis that shows that the UK solar sector now employs around 25,000 people.

I can’t quite decide if we have the new procedure for estimating the annual performance of a solar PV system totally sorted (as detailed in the draft of the PV installation guide – Edition 3). I am aware that a number of people are now looking at it in some detail, so I thought it would be useful to describe the thinking behind the revised procedure.

The cost of a 50kW commercial solar photovoltaics (PV) system in the UK has now reached a price range of £100k to £130k. With the UK feed-in tariff set at 32.9p/kWh generated, I would argue that UK solar PV is currently in a bubble — one that serves up a golden opportunity for businesses to add solar PV to their property. David Owen’s excellent blog post on the new FiT, prices and the future for solar in the UK: Part 1 only serves to underline this point. In my opinion, it is unlikely that there will ever be a better time to act, so my advice would be: fill ‘yer boots!

At a time when home energy bills seem to be rising by the minute, investing in renewable energy is now more important than ever. Installing green technologies such as solar panels can be relatively easy if you’re a homeowner, but not so simple if, like thousands of UK residents, you rent your property. Dealing with this very subject Tulloch Priest at Nottingham-based Priest Properties provides a helpful guide for solar installation on how best to convince letting agents that solar power is the way forward.

It’s almost one year since the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and rumours are beginning to fly around the UK solar industry as to what the upcoming Comprehensive Consultation on the feed-in tariff (FiT) holds. I decided it was time to investigate what people are actually saying, and to find out how much of what is being said…

The draft version of The guide to the installation of PV systems, edition 3 has now been published…

Following an MCS meeting on Monday, the plan is to finalise and issue the draft of guide by Monday (3rd October).

I’m not ashamed to admit that when it comes to football: I’m a bit of a girl. I don’t fully understand the off-side rule, I can’t reel off last weekend’s results and I spend most of my spectating hoping…

The focus of attention over the next few weeks will be on the feed-in tariffs review, particularly once the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) finally publishes the consultation paper.  The belief in the industry, of course, is that the rates for solar PV will be reduced. How much is anyone’s guess, but 25 % seems a popular stab at it.

August wasn’t a particularly good month for some solar PV customers and installers … as two MCS listed module manufacturers headed into bankruptcy. Evergreen Solar filed for bankruptcy earlier in the month and Solyndra announced it had suspended operations and planned to file for bankruptcy as the month closed.