PV

This week’s Budget announcement, in typical government fashion, posed just as many questions as it did answers. Liam Stoker runs through what the solar industry remains in the dark over.

The eyes of the UK renewables sector – and most others – will be turning to the chancellor this afternoon for his latest Budget speech. Some key decisions are expected to be announced, with the solar sector hoping for some clarity over the future of VAT rates.

It’s not often that a representative from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) shows much in the way of emotion on a subject. Last week saw that change when Andrea Leadsom lashed out against opponents of the early closure of the Renewables Obligation.

Energy secretary Amber Rudd proposed to end solar thermal subsidies yesterday as part of a wide-ranging overhaul of the RHI. Liam Stoker discusses how the government now only appears willing to support technologies that sit ‘just right’, regardless of how inconsistent that approach appears.

Finlay Colville, head of market intelligence at Solar Media, discusses why 2016 is Scotland’s year for solar PV.

From Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar-winning speech to the chief of the UK’s top energy lobbying group, a cleaner, greener message is now being told. But is it breaking through the smog?

As the solar industry continues to settle into the post-FiT announcement market, Jodi Huggett from 4eco explains why she thinks 2016 will be the year of self-consumption.

Manufacturers and distributors are offering many different forms of training in energy storage installation for residential and small commercial level all over the country. Just taking a quick look at what’s available, names as diverse and well known as inverter makers SMA and Solax, domestic storage manufacturer and energy management specialist Wattstor, distributors like Krannich, Waxman and Wind & Sun have all been offering or will offer dedicated training events in battery storage installation this year.

In 2010 Warrington Borough Council began a social housing PV programme aimed at tackling fuel poverty. Since then the scheme has delivered 3.595MW of solar PV across 3,001 social homes and three sheltered housing schemes as well as 222kW of PV on schools, a crematorium, offices and even the local rugby stadium.

The UK looks set for the arrival of energy storage in a big way this year. While high profile entrants such as Tesla are generating headlines, several energy storage systems have been deployed already on a commercial basis using a novel storage technology – the saltwater battery.