Lightsource Renewable Energy has announced that it will create a new commercial rooftop division in order to capitalise on the ‘huge potential’ the company sees in the sector.
The move follows the company’s acquisition of assets from Renewable Resources, which claims to have developed the largest portfolio of commercial rooftops in the UK.
Commenting on the development, Nick Boyle, CEO, said: “The experience we have acquired is extensive, with the Renewable Resources team having installed over 770 rooftops installations to date. Having a fully integrated engineering, procurement and construction team in-house means we can deploy at scale and speed, guaranteeing a quality service to our clients.”
Boyle added: “This step demonstrates our ability and we believe it will influence and drive market change. Up to now, the commercial rooftop photovoltaic market in the UK has been slow to mature and our announcement today demonstrates our commitment to realise the huge, unrealised potential of this sector.”
The company has decided to bring the installation of commercial systems in-house due to the unique complexities associated with large-scale rooftop installations. “We now have the most experienced roof-top design team in the UK, in-house, to deliver the highest performing solutions to our clients,” claimed Boyle.
The company is aiming to deliver a ‘one-stop-shop’ for roof-owners by offering both self-funding options and ‘free’ solar options through power purchase agreements. Boyle explained: “They [roof owners] can choose between self-funding solutions where we are able to make an attractive offer on design, installation and maintenance or a fully-funded, ‘Lightsource pays for everything’ solution that would fix their electricity bill for 25 years through a PPA. Either way we target to ensure our rooftop clients achieve at least 20% percent savings on their electricity bills.”
At the end of last year, the minister for energy and climate change Greg Barker pledged that mobilising the commercial market was his number one priority for 2014. There are a number of particular barriers facing large-scale rooftop solar in the UK and the Solar Trade Association is currently working with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to feed-in relevant evidence.
In the latest edition of Solar Business Focus UK, the STA’s head of external affairs, Leonie Greene, dissects the myriad of barriers that are currently blocking deployment and gives thoughts on what can be done to address them.