week ending 19 August 2011
600 Nottingham solar homes
TRAINEE electricians from Notts have taken part in free training sessions as part of a renewable-energy project between E.ON and Nottingham City Council. E.ON’s building services academy hosted 10 trainees, aged 20 to 55, for courses on working at heights and manual handling. The scheme is part of a project between the firm, the council and Nottingham City Homes to install solar panels in up to 600 homes in the Aspley area. Local electricians were taught how to install and maintain solar panels. Tenants of the homes involved could see their energy bills fall by as much as £1,201 a year.
Nottingham Post 19th Aug 2011 more >>
Solar Grid Parity in China by 2015
A Chinese study suggesting solar power could achieve grid parity by 2015 has reignited calls in the UK for the government to bolster its own support for the renewable energy technology. By the end of this year, China is expected to have more than doubled its solar capacity to around 2GW, up from 900MW at the end of 2010. The country will also have met 80 per cent of domestic demand for polysilicon in 2011, the think tank said. Howard Johns, chairman of the UK’s Solar Trade Association (STA), said the report showed solar power “is not a technology anyone can afford to ignore” and he urged the government to boost its backing for solar. The STA urged the UK government to take notice of mounting evidence about the potential of solar, and to reconsider their assumptions that solar is a technology that is too expensive to deploy in the UK. The technology has the potential to readily generate 30 per cent of the UK’s electricity needs, and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
Business Green 18th Aug 2011 more >>
Hampshire Solar
A TEST Valley farmer could soon be tapping into the sun to power industrial units at Broughton. Anthony Jepson-Turner, who farms at Broughton and Nether Wallop, is behind the scheme at Broughton Down Farm. Mr Jepson-Turner intends to install 260 solar panels on the roof of a former farm dairy on land south of the A30 and west of the B3084 at Broughton. His agent, Philip Denee, of Braden chartered surveyors, said: “The proposal provides 332 square metres of PV photovoltaic panels, providing a nominal 49.4kw generating capacity and the plans will make better use of the south-facing roof of the building.
This is Hampshire 18th Aug 2011 more >>
Cornwall Debate
The renewable energy sector and its opportunities for Cornwall were up for discussion recently in the big debate, sponsored by chartered accountants Bishop Fleming and held at Cornwall Marine Network’s offices. the Government effectively whipped the rug from under the feet of many business plans, by slashing the tariff for larger projects installed after August 1 by over 70%. Tim German, renewable energy and partnerships manager at Cornwall Council, conceded that the Council saw the FIT as a huge economic opportunity, not just for the solar industry in Cornwall, but for itself as well. At a time when the Council was having to make deep public spending cuts, it was planning a 5mw installation of its own in Newquay. “Literally hundreds of sites were being looked at,” said German. “30 applications had been granted in Cornwall with many more in pipeline.
Business Cornwall 18th Aug 2011 more >>
Exeter Solar
EXETER-based property and construction consultants Welling Partnership have launched a new photovoltaic (PV) service aimed at local authorities and housing associations. It comes amid the growing popularity of PV technology as a method of generating safe, pollution-free electrical power from solar energy, due in large part to the Government paying households who generate energy in this way through the Feed-in Tariff scheme.
Exeter Express & Echo 18th Aug 2011 more >>
Queen Margaret University
Queen Margaret University has been recognised for its green credentials by a national award. The state-of-the-art Musselburgh site has been shortlisted for two categories in the Green Gown Awards 2011; Space Efficiency and Green ICT. Opened in 2007, the new campus is regarded as one of Scotland’s most sustainable building projects, exceeding current environmental standards.
STV 18th Aug 2011 more >>
Oldham goes solar
SIXTY new jobs are up for grabs in Oldham as a start-up company seeks to corner the market in solar energy. Working with recruitment partner The Oldham College and NatWest Bank, Solar Energy4Free Ltd, which has offices in Delph and a warehouse in the new units at the Wellington Business Park, Greenfield, expect to have a staff of 85 when the business begins installing panels on properties around the North-West.
Oldham Evening Chronicle 17th Aug 2011 more >>
Wakefield solar
Buxton energy company The Energy Alliance has been awarded its first contract to provide a solar energy system for Ossett Academy and Sixth Form College in Wakefield. The £30,000 contract will see the installation of 50 x 200W panels installed at the Academy during the summer holidays. When fully functional, the system will produce enough energy to power the equivalent of 150 computers per year.
Buxton Advertiser 17th Aug 2011 more >>
Dunfermline Eco-School
The First Minister will mark the start of the new school year across Scotland this week by opening a state-of-the-art eco-school. Alex Salmond will be in Dunfermline to welcome children to the new Carnegie Primary School, thought to be among the most environmentally sustainable in Scotland. The £7m school, built as part of Fife Council’s Building Fife’s Future programme, has its own wind turbine, rainwater harvesting and a combined heat and power plant.
STV 17th Aug 2011 more >>
Grimsby Installer
A SOLAR panel instalation firm has added to its growing portfolio of renewable energy as it prepares for an expected spike in demand from domestic customers. Binbrook-based 4eco, formerly 4solar, was set up in 2007 to provide solar thermal heating to homes in the region. It has since diversified into air source and ground source heat pumps, and most recently into electricity-generating solar PV panels. The re-branded firm has seen the biggest demand come from the commercial sector. But it believes that Government-funded incentives for renewable heat generation due to be introduced later this year will prove a welcome shot in the arm for the domestic market.
Grimsby Telegraph 16th Aug 2011 more >>
Ford Turbines
Ford’s latest venture into wind energy was completed last week, as the blades on its largest and most powerful wind turbine were lifted into place at its Dagenham plant.
Green Car website 16th Aug 2011 more >>
Fleet World 17th Aug 2011 more >>
RE Focus 18th Aug 2011 more >>
Ford Dagenham has completed the installation of its largest, most powerful wind turbine, adding to the two already on site. The 120m tall turbine is now helping to maintain 100% wind-powered engine production in the Ford Dagenham Diesel Centre (DDC), and will double the annual CO2 saving from 2,500 to nearly 5,000 tonnes per year.
Money AM 16th Aug 2011 more >>
Proven Certificate
The small wind turbine manufacturer has seen MSC certification of its third small wind turbine, the Proven 11, for the UK market.
RE Focus 16th August 2011 more >>
Leicester Solar
After dramatic Government cuts to the feed-in tariff for larger solar energy installations, I count myself lucky to be one of the few to have moved quickly to benefit from the scheme. We took advantage of what was an opportunity of a lifetime to invest in renewable technology by creating a business which installs solar panels on factory roofs. We had to turn so many projects away it was saddening, we just couldn’t get them installed in time. The volume of industrial roofs being surveyed for generating free green energy was immense and this will now continue to be dead roof space when it could have been generating green energy. Even though we have shifted our focus on to the smaller domestic market, as yet unaffected by cuts, we have found people’s confidence in the long-term validity of the feed-in tariff scheme has been damaged.
Leicester Mercury 16th August 2011 more >>
Crown Estate Solar Investment
A £500,000 investment into an innovative new roof for a Portland stone factory is set to save thousands of pounds a year on its electricity bills. The 800 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the Albion Stone building are the largest solar project in which The Crown Estate has invested
Dorset Echo 15th Aug 2011 more >>
Solar Jobs
A UK solar power specialist has hit back at suggestions that the government’s continuing support for developing renewable energy technologies will cost thousands of British jobs. “The supposition that Britain’s gradual transition towards renewable, low-carbon methods of generating energy will result in a net loss in jobs is, quite frankly, ludicrous,” said Lee Summers, director of solar generator, EOS Energy.
Heating & Plumbing Monthly 15th Aug 2011 more >>
Solar PR
Hanover is to spearhead a campaign to boost the adoption of solar technology by the UK public. The agency will support solar technology company HomeSun and its campaign to promote the boost that Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) provide to solar panels at residential properties.
PR Week 15th Aug 2011 more >>
Solar Rush
The rush to get large-scale solar projects completed before the 1st August reduction in feed-in tariffs has meant almost 90MW of agricultural solar has been installed.
Farmers Weekly 15th Aug 2011 more >>
Hull Solar Plan
An office building in Hull could soon be one of the greenest in the city if rooftop solar power plans are approved. The owners of Strand House in Beverley Road have applied to install no fewer than 121 panels on the building’s roof. Formerly the base for the city’s employment tribunal service, the office block is currently the home of Hull Council For Voluntary Services.
Hull Daily Mail 15th Aug 2011 more >>
Renewable Heat
Social housing tenants will be able to gain access to green forms of heating, such as wood-fired boilers, solar-powered hot water systems and heat pumps, under plans unveiled . The heating should help to save households money and cut carbon dioxide emissions. It will be paid for from a £3m fund for social housing, ring-fenced as part of the £860m renewable heat incentive. Households will also be encouraged to take up insulation, to be offered at no upfront cost from late next year under the “green deal”, in the form of loans that are paid back in instalments through additions to household energy bills. However, green think-tanks have calculated that under the current rules, the “green deal” is unlikely to work, as the interest charged on the loans will be too high to deliver sufficient savings to attract people.
Guardian 15th Aug 2011 more >>
DECC Press Release 15th Aug 2011 more >>
Social housing landlords have today been invited to enter a £3m competition to install renewable heat technologies, such as solar thermal panels and ground source heat pumps, in the homes of tenants. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) formally launched the £3m social housing element of the Renewable Heat Premium Payment Scheme (RHPP), after unveiling the general £12m pot for all homeowners at the start of this month. Landlords have one month from today to bid, with applications closing on 15 September. Successful landlords will then need to install the technologies by March 2012, after which they will be reimbursed for their investments by DECC.
Business Green 15th Aug 2011 more >>
Thames Solar
Thames Water’s Desalination Plant at Beckton is to be part of Britain’s biggest on-site solar power producer and industrial user. A ground-breaking deal has been signed to install photovoltaic systems large enough to cover 15 football pitches at three key sites around the capital. Under a £7m, 25-year contract, Ennoviga Solar Ltd, a specialist photovoltaic developer, has created an investment company. The company will own and maintain the solar arrays, repaying the investment by selling all the clean electricity produced to the water company at a market-competitive price. The scheme will shave £100,000 a year off Thames Water’s electricity bill. It will also be providing some of the energy required for pumping 2.6bn litres of water a day and 2.8bn litres of sewage a day to its giant treatment works also at Beckton.
London 24 14th Aug 2011 more >>
Equestrian Solar
A HORSE-RIDING centre in Renfrewshire has completed what is thought to be the biggest solar power installation in Scotland, and is now looking to expand it by a further 50% over the next couple of months.
Herald 14th Aug 2011 more >>
Wind-powered cars
Ecotricity Rolls Out the World’s First Wind Powered Car Charger/
Inhabitat 13th Aug 2011 more >>
Solar Farming
Ever since the first mention of the Fast Track Feed-in Tariff Review the question of just how many projects will beat the August 1 cut-off has been a burning one. As it turns out, Ofgem’s figures on this won’t be published for a while, so I thought I’d document exactly who has installed what and where in order to showcase just how many projects made it in time. For the sake of sanity, I have not pulled together every single case study over the 50kW mark as I would be here until the Comprehensive Review just noting them all down. Instead I have used 500kW as a rule – but a rule that has been broken in exceptional cases. These projects combined total over 75MW, which will be added to Ofgem’s latest figure of 151MW. At present, 141MW of this total can be attributed to residential installations, placing the UK on a path to reach almost 300MW of installations by the end of the year.
Solar Power Portal 11th Aug 2011 more >>
Solar Parliament
Parliament could eventually be powered by solar panels, according to an official commission. Liberal Democrat MP John Thurso, who represents the House of Commons Commission, suggested that green/sustainable options were being looked at by the Parliamentary Estates Directorate. If green power was brought in it could help MPs debate long into the night and power the computers upon which a lot of their work is done. Mr Thurso added: “The Parliamentary Estates Directorate continues to investigate the potential for both low and zero carbon generation on the Parliamentary estate to help deliver the House’s target for reducing carbon emissions from energy use.”
Specifinder 14th July 2011 more >>