Opinions

There seems to be a bit of a dichotomy around solar energy in the marketplace at the moment. On the one hand, research suggests that consumers want more solar solutions with a recent YouGov survey saying that 72% of respondents still favoured solar power. But on the other hand, deployment figures seem to suggest that people aren’t opting for solar.

It has been 50 days since DECC closed its consultation over proposals to slash the available Renewable Obligation (RO) rate for large-scale solar to 1.5 ROCs. Yet it appears that industry is still no closer to knowing what the RO rate will be from 1 April, 2013 to 31 March, 2017.

More than a third of people think making money is not as important as protecting the environment and would install solar PV panels, even if there was no financial benefit.

The long-awaited Energy Bill was finally presented to parliament today. The bill included a number of factors that are set to significantly impact on the UK solar market.

The Cambridge University Eco Racing team (CUER) has unveiled designs for its latest solar powered racing car. Codenamed ‘Daphne’, the prototype is being developed to take part in – and with any luck win – the 2013 World Solar Challenge, an arduous 3,000km road race from north to south Australia in cars powered by the sun.

After suffering four potential knockout punches, solar (arguably the UK’s most resilient industry) is staggering slightly. Following the latest feed-in tariff (FiT) cut, installations plummeted by over 75%. Such a dramatic drop was expected but the market bounce-back hasn’t been quite as quick as many hoped.

In light of the new Solar PV guide, Martin takes a look at the various methods installers can record a horizon or shade line onto a sun-path diagram.

Set up in 2010, Solar Solutions has gone from strength-to-strength despite the recent troubles facing the solar industry. Solar Power Portal caught up with the company’s Managing Director, David McCann to find out what’s been driving the success.

“What regulations do I need to study when designing a grid connected PV system?” is a question I get asked fairly regularly. The answer isn’t completely straightforward, but the following documents are good places to start.

The latest installation figures show that the residential market is beginning to show serious signs of recovery, but is it enough to support the 4,500 MCS-registered solar companies?