Solar Markets & Finance

In the face of the recently announced feed-in tariff review, Sharp has called on the UK Government not to negate the early success of the FiT. This move is supported by the Shadow energy minister Huw Irranca-Davies, MP.

The annual ecobuild exhibition kicked off yesterday at ExCeL, London, featuring over 1,300 exhibitors in the fields of design, construction and the built environment. As the doors opened at 10:00am, floods of visitors from all over came to see what this year’s event had in store.

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) and the Solar Trade Association (STA) are currently in the process of merging their memberships to form a 400 strong Association to champion the UK’s solar industry.

Brighton Energy Co-op (BEC), the renewable energy company formed with the vision of enabling community-owned solar power in Brighton, has revealed its plans for the region in the face of the feed-in tariff review.

NextEnergy Capital (NEC), the European Merchant Bank operating in the renewable energy and clean technology sector, has once again reiterated its commitment to the development of the UK solar PV industry with the appointment of Jannie Retief as its Managing Director for UK Operations. The company continues to concentrate on the UK’s solar market, despite the confusion caused by a surprise ‘fast-track review’ of the UK feed-in tariff mechanism.

Cirencester-based developer of solar farms and roofs, Low Carbon Solar, has launched the ‘Power to Society’ campaign, following the Coalition Government’s backtracking over funding for community-scale solar energy schemes.

Bristol-based SunShare has launched a new solar scheme on January 17th which allows UK homeowners to invest in solar panels for their home for only a part of the upfront installation costs. Qualifying UK homes that install solar panels with SunShare will benefit from free electricity while also earning more than £1,000 a year from the Government-backed feed-in tariff.

Worcester Renewables, supplier and installer of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, has launched a major project aimed at revitalising the Vale with more blossoms. For every domestic customer that orders a PV system from the company this spring, Worcester Renewables will absorb and donate the VAT to a trust specifically tasked with “Putting the Bloom Back in the Blossom Trail”.

In the wake of the Government’s decision to review the UK feed-in tariff, Tesco has reportedly put its solar installation plans on hold. The supermarket brand, which had planned to put rows of solar panels on several of its distribution centres, has apparently decided to stop all work on the projects after the Government this week…

In response to the UK Government’s recent decision to launch a fast-track feed-in tariff review, We Support Solar has composed an open letter to send to Energy Secretary Chris Huhne. The letter urges Huhne to act quickly to repair the damage done to the fledgling UK PV sector by his Commons Written Statement and press release sent out on February 7th.