Large-Scale Solar

Fronius, the Austrian inverter manufacturer, has increased customer confidence by extending its product warranty to 20 years. From July 1 until the end of October 2011 Fronius customers will receive a 20 year warranty on their inverters for the same price as a ten year one.

Just seven weeks after being granted planning permission, Conergy Group has finished installing the UK’s largest solar plant. The 5MW free-field system is located in the parish of Hawton near Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire and will feed back 4,860 MWh of electricity into the national grid.

A project to install a 40kW solar photovoltaic installation on the rooftops of Norwich City Hall looks set to be given the go-ahead, when the City Council’s cabinet meets next week.

Consumer watchdog Which? is this week calling on energy companies not to push for the hard sale when installing smart meters in the UK. This news comes after Government pledged to ensure every home in Great Britain has a smart meter by 2020, at a cost of £11.3 billion.

Marks & Spencer has become the latest victim of Government’s feed-in tariff cuts as the retail chain is forced to abandon plans for a large-scale solar system at its Bradford distribution centre.

In a bid to stop the confusion surrounding some of the UK’s energy initiatives, E.ON has reinforced its commitment to help UK customers understand and take advantage of programmes such as the Green Deal and smart metering. The move comes after reports from the Committee on Climate Change and the National Audit Office which echoed E.ON’s concern that customers remain bewildered by measures designed to help them reduce energy consumption.

Ecotricity has today completed its ground-breaking 1MW solar parkin Lincolnshire, which is expected to be among only a handful of large-scale projects completed in the UK. The huge installation of solar panels has been constructed on Fen Farm on land next to the Conisholme 20-turbine wind farm and is expected to generate enough electricity for nearly 300 average homes each year for the next 25 years.

Landmark buildings in Cambridge are soon to be recognized for their solar generating power as the council looks to cash in on the Government’s feed-in tariff scheme. By installing solar panels on buildings such as the Corn Exchange and on the roofs of Parkside pools the £430,000 project will also reduce the area’s carbon footprint.

Yorkshire-based Solar Europa has begun work on what is thought to be one of the largest free solar schemes in the UK. Under a £1.2 billion contract signed with project finance specialist AD-ECO, the scheme will see approximately 200,000 council and housing association tenants across the country benefitting from solar panel installations.

Waverley council has signed a deal with Savills Solar for the roll out of solar power across the borough’s social housing sector. A total of 3,000 homes will be checked by Savills for suitability for the scheme, which will see residents benefit from free renewable electricity.