Solar Markets & Finance

British Gas Community Energy has acquired PH Jones Group, the provider of central heating services to the social housing market, for £30 million in cash. This deal marks a major step in the company’s strategy to build its social housing energy services business and help social housing providers across the UK to cut their residents’ energy use, carbon emissions and fuel bills.

Prime Minister David Cameron has made an agreement on emissions that extends past the 2020 boundary, it has been reported. Expected to be announced in full tomorrow, the decision will extend the UK’s carbon budget beyond the existing 2020 deadline up to 2027, and call for a shake-up in the way the country’s energy…

Commercial and public organisations who want to generate their own electricity from solar power can now benefit from a new partnership formed between ethical banking specialist Triodos Bank and Solarcentury, the UK-based solar energy company. Through the affiliation, Triodos Bank will own solar installations, making it easier for more people to take advantage of the sun’s power.

A selection ‘green’ UK companies have been shortlisted for this year’s Business Commitment to the Environment (BCE) Environmental Leadership Awards. Having been through the rigorous judging process and visited by an expert assessor, the 13 finalists demonstrate that UK companies can demonstrate environmental initiative, according to BCE Awards president Sir Anthony Cleaver.

This morning the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) published its much-anticipated report on renewables. Outlining the potential green energy has in the UK, the research identifies several possibilities, including solar photovoltaics and solar thermal, and discusses what role each one can play in increasing the energy mix on the…

Cambridge-based Enecsys has secured £25 million (US$41 million) in equity financing to help further develop its micro inverter systems technology.

Despite the furore surrounding feed-in tariff review, employment in the UK solar industry has increased by 32% in the first four months of 2011, according to figures from Capital Green UK. While the majority of the 951 new positions came in the sales sector, there was also a significant rise in the number of technical jobs.

The fate of a solar power project in Dorset will be decided today as planning officers from North Dorset District Council meet with the project developers to make a verdict on whether the plant should go ahead or not.

As part of its continuing expansion in the UK, EvoEnergy has appointed Nick Offer as Managing Director of its commercial business. Offer joins the team from Arup, where he led the team that developed the design for the 2012 Olympic Village. He was also the director in charge of the creation of the Shard, located at London Bridge.

UK-based building contractor, Prater, has launched a solar division specializing in energizing the building envelope in order to maximize sustainability credentials. By offering an integrated version of solar photovoltaics, the company provides UK customers with a more aesthetic approach to renewable energy generation, as well as another way of taking advantage of the country’s feed-in tariff.