News

Last year we reported that Prince Charles had finally won the battle to install solar photovoltaic panels on the roof of his London residence, Clarence House. The Grade II listed building, which already covered almost a quarter of its electricity needs with renewable energy, now features 30 solar PV panels on its south facing roof.

The Royal Bath & West of England Society has announced that it plans to carry on with work on its 14ha (approximately 5MW) solar photovoltaic park, despite Government’s recently announced feed-in tariff review.

This residential installation was completed by Evo Energy for Mr. Lindsay, who wanted to generate clean electricity and reduce the cost of living expenses.

UK solar integration company Solar Fusion has today announced a £52 million multi-year framework agreement with Surface Power, the solar thermal systems manufacturer. The contract, which has been signed under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), is set to kick-start the next stage of solar development in the UK.

Since the launch of the fast-track feed-in tariff review I have had several meetings with fairly disgruntled industry members. Most of these gatherings however, have been constructive, and none more so than this morning’s get-together with local authority members at Eversheds in London.

Centrosolar UK has introduced its ‘54-cell Excellent’ module to the UK solar market. From April this year UK customers will be able to take advantage of solar panels containing four more cells than the former 50-cell panels of the ‘S-Class Excellent’ series.

With all of the latest policy adjustments, feed-in tariffs reviews and threatened cuts causing such a huge amount of uncertainty in the UK, it is no wonder that IMS Research is now questioning the viability of the country’s solar industry. By proposing to reduce the tariff levels for PV systems over 50kW, the research company is concerned about the success of the UK’s solar future.

Regen SW’s annual renewable energy report has revealed a rapid growth in the number renewable electricity projects in the south west of the UK over the past year. The majority of these installations were dominated by domestic solar photovoltaic installations. However, the report also highlights that Government’s recent policy reviews have the potential to put a stop to this growth.

Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham has received planning permission for what will be one of the largest solar photovoltaic roofs in the UK. Rotherham-based WS Systems, which rents land and roof space in order to install solar power, will lead the project.

Molecular Solar, the spin-out of Warwick University, is working with Imperial College London and several other firms to develop prototype high-efficiency multi-junction organic solar cells. In order to help with the commercialization of this next generation technology the consortium as received a total of £1.4 million in funding from the Technology Strategy Board and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.