week ending 6 April 2012
Isle of Wight Solar
The Isle of Wight, located off the southern coast of Great Britain, has a new 1.6MW solar plant to thank for helping to contribute to its electricity grid. The project was completed using 80 strings, each with 88 solar modules, and outfitted with SunMaster CS20 inverters from Mastervolt. The company advised that this is one of the largest systems with sting inverters in Britain.
PV Tec h 5th April 2012 more >>
Naked Energy
A cleantech start-up out of the UK, Naked Energy, has created a technology that’s a little over my head, but that looks quite cool.Basically, one of the key challenges of solar photovoltaics (PV) is that their efficiency drops if they get too hot. Naked Energy, in response, has created a hybrid solar PV and thermal panel that it claims improves efficiency at high temperatures by 50% or so.
IB Times 5th April 2012 more >>
Ploughcroft
At the recent Homebuilding and Renovating Show at the NEC, business woman and investor Deborah Meaden, took time out from her role on BBC TV’s Dragons’ Den by taking part in a solar roofing demonstration with renewables company Ploughcroft .
Energy Management 5th April 2012 more >>
Hot Solar
Alternergy, one of the UK’s largest solar PV distributors, has been crowned top of the Investec Hot 100 thanks to its rapid growth in the burgeoning solar market. The Investec Hot 100 is a ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the UK and analyses compounded annual growth rates measured over the past 4 years to determine the results. In order to qualify for the list, a company needs to have sales exceeding £10 million and EBITDA greater than £1 million.
Solar Power Portal 5th April 2012 more >>
Smart Meters
The government has today launched a flurry of consultations in support of its ambitious smart meter rollout, setting out proposals on how to build public support for the scheme, address privacy concerns, and effectively manage the deployment of real-time energy management technologies.
Business Green 5th April 2012 more >>
Consumers Views
Nearly half of UK consumers would consider installing renewable energy technologies such as solar panels and heat pumps on their properties if offered by their electricity provider, but far fewer would be prepared to pay a premium for the service. That is the headline conclusion from a major new global report launched today by consultancy giant Accenture, which sought to address what services consumers want from energy suppliers and how they want to interact with them.
Business Green 4th April 2012 more >>
Feed-in Tariffs
A large coalition of businesses will today urge the government to set a fairer cost-control mechanism for solar subsidies, including setting an “under-deployment trigger” that will raise feed-in tariff rates for solar electricity if less than a quarter of the expected capacity is installed in a year. Over 10 organisations, including Friends of the Earth, the Renewable Energy Association, the TUC and The Federation of Small Businesses, were planning to file a joint response to the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) consultation on proposals for a new cost control mechanism designed to ensure the solar electricity feed-in tariff scheme remains within budget.
Business Green 4th April 2012 more >>
Green Deal Providers
Housing association Gentoo and social housing contractors Willmott Dixon and Keepmoat are set to be among the first to offer Green Deals, after signing an agreement with the Government. They have joined a group containing 22 organisations, which will work on developing key Green Deal systems and processes that will need to be fully functional to ensure the scheme works for consumers when it goes live.
24 Dash 4th April 2012 more >>
Three of the Big Six energy companies, Marks & Spencer and Tesco are missing from the initial list of companies offering home insulation under the government’s flagship green deal scheme.
Guardian 4th April 2012 more >>
British Gas, Carillion and Kingfisher are among 22 companies named today as the first providers of the government’s flagship scheme to improve the energy efficiency of UK homes and offices.
Business Green 4th April 2012 more >>
DECC 4th April 2012 more >>
Solar Power Portal 4th April 2012 more >>
Muck
The need to ration electricity to nine hours a day on the Isle of Muck is set to end after residents secured funding to install renewable energy schemes. The 38 islanders rely on diesel generators and are given slots when they can run washing machines. Isle of Muck Community Enterprise Ltd has been awarded £978,840 from the Big Lottery Fund for renewables projects that would supply power 24 hours a day.
BBC 4th April 2012 more >>
National Trust Hydro
Plans have been unveiled for a hydro electric scheme in Snowdonia which could create enough power to run the National Trust’s Welsh properties. The charity aims to build a small weir to channel water down an underground pipe to a 650kw turbine. The turbine will be housed in a building on the trust’s Hafod Y Llan farm near Beddgelert.
BBC 4th April 2012 more >>
Solar Growth
In the lead up to April 1 the UK solar industry continued to install at top speed, with more than 32MW completed between March 25 and April 1. This increased capacity has pushed the market well beyond the 1GW mark and now, leading research analysts are predicting that global solar PV installations will grow by at least 3.5 percent and up to 21 percent in 2012 – despite feed-in tariff (FiT) cuts across the board. IMS Research, which was recently acquired by IHS, forecasts that despite FiT cuts in most of the world’s largest solar markets, global installations will grow from 26.9GW in 2011 to between 27.8GW and 32.6GW in 2012.
Solar Power Portal 4th Apr 2012 more >>
DECC & FiT
The buzz at the recent EcoBuild Conference at London’s ExCel was all about what the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will do next about renewable energy Feed In Tariffs (FiTs)? With its consultation on the future of Solar FiTs due to close imminently, and little time left on the consultation for other FiT-eligible renewable technologies, there is significant speculation over DECC’s next move. The future of FiTs is intrinsically tied to the levy-funded budget, and when viewed against the Impact Assessment prepared by DECCs own economist, the Government is likely to need to implement all of the measures it has alluded to, and perhaps even more.
Renewable Energy Focus 4th April 2012 more >>
Farmers Funding Pot
The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has today revealed a new £20 million funding pot, which will help UK farmers, foresters and horticulturalists develop green projects. Announced today by DEFRA’s Farming Minister, Jim Paice, the Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme will pay out grants of up to £25,000 that can be used to invest in sustainable business ideas. The Scheme will fund new profit-boosting green schemes that save energy, reduce carbon emissions and save and recycle water
Solar Power Portal 4th April 2012 more >>
External Wall Insulation Installers
In anticipation of the Green Deal rollout, E.ON has revealed a £100,000 funding package to help with the recruitment of 100 energy efficiency apprentices. This commitment follows Government‘s £3.5m fund to train 1,000 apprentices in relevant Green Deal skills. The scheme aims to attract out-of-work 16-24 year-olds across England and Wales. The programme will mainly involve training to become an external wall insulation installer.
Solar Power Portal 4th April 2012 more >>
Solar Renting
I have contacted lenders to see if there is any truth to the rumours that they are rejecting customers who are are remortgaging to them from another provider, and who have already leased their roof to solar panel companies. Lenders have been quite accepting of solar panels being installed on their existing customers’ roofs, provided they get to agree the lease terms and the installation and maintenance meets certain standards. However, on trying to remortgage to another lender at the end of a mortgage deal, at least one such customer has had a problem, according to a press report. When I asked lenders about this, 16 out of 20 got back to me within my deadline. Here’s what they said.
Love Money 4th April 2012 more >>
Whitbread
National energy efficiency solutions company, Anesco, has successfully completed a major contract for leisure giant Whitbread, to bring ‘green’ power to ten of its sites across the southwest of England. Whitbread, Premier Inn’s parent company, is to become more sustainable by using the sun’s energy to help power a number of its hotels and restaurants. The initiative is part of Whitbread’s strategy of achieving a 26% reduction in its carbon emissions by 2020.
Anesco 3rd April 2012 more >>
Energy Efficiency Call
Ed Davey might have adopted energy efficiency as his cause c l bre when he took office at DECC, but now a coalition of green businesses have warned the Energy and Climate Change Secretary that he risks undermining his ambitions by failing to support a binding EU energy saving target. Nineteen organisations, including Knauf Insulation, Schneider Electric, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, yesterday published a letter requesting a meeting with Davey to discuss the UK’s position on the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive (EED).
Business Green 3rd April 2012 more >>
Technology Guide
The National Skills Academy for Environmental Technologies has published a new guide for those interested in learning how various environmental technologies work. The booklet, which covers a range of renewable technologies including solar thermal and photovoltaics, also outlines each technology’s suitability for different applications.
Solar Power Portal 3rd April 2012 more >>
Gloucestershire Solar
ENVIRONMENTAL campaigner Jonathon Porritt has officially unveiled what it is believed to be the largest single commercial rooftop solar panel installation in the county. He was joined by Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood and other guests at the HQ of independent business services group Commercial at Liddington Park, Leckhampton, Cheltenham.
Gloucestershire Echo 3rd April 2012 more >>
Will the Green Deal Work?
Can the Green Deal deliver? The government has big expectations and has taken a drastically different approach to the previous administration. Ironically just when things have started to improve and the insulation companies are at or above capacity - the plug will be pulled, the schemes will stop and the Green Deal will be announced to a huge fanfare. Currently the jury is out on whether it will deliver. What is certain is that the abrupt change of policy will significantly hit the UK’s insulation sector and as a result a growing programme of activities benefiting households’ through-out the UK will suddenly cease.
Business Green 3rd April 2012 more >>
GreenDeal.net, a newly-launched website, will ensure installers and customers get higher quality products at more competitive prices. GreenDeal.net was set up to help promote the wider deployment of renewable energy products by giving installers support, training, branding and new products to help build a successful business.
Solar Power Portal 2nd April 2012 more >>
Dorset Energy Partnership
Local Dorset councils and associated partners are to reveal the renewable energy strategy for the county. Dorset County Council put together the strategy as part the Dorset Energy Partnership, which includes local councils from across Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole as well as other partner organisations. Dorset currently only produces 0.95 per cent of total energy demand by renewable means – a third of the UK national average of 3 per cent. The new strategy, which builds on existing plans, sets out six priority areas for the partnership to work towards by 2020. These are: Supporting community renewable energy projects; Making sure the local area and economy benefits from renewable energy; Creating a more supportive planning system for renewable energy; Encouraging renewable energy that is appropriate to Dorset; Increasing understanding about renewable energy and its role in Dorset; Working in partnership to deliver projects.
H&V News 2nd Apr 2012 more >>
Brixton Solar
A 100 percent community-owned solar project went live on Friday on the roof of an inner city estate. Brixton Energy Solar 1, which is the UK’s first inner city solar power project, was funded by a community share issue. Installed on the rooftop of the Loughborough Estate in Brixton, the 37kWp project was delivered by Southern Solar on behalf of Repowering South London.
Solar Power Portal 2nd April 2012 more >>
Green Geordies
Newcastle has been crowned the UK’s most sustainable city, beating off competition from the likes of Brighton, Bristol and London. The annual survey undertaken by Forum for the Future named Newcastle at the top of its Sustainable Cities Index for a second year running, widening the gap with its peers.
Solar Power Portal 2nd April 2012 more >>
Westminster Solar
This solar PV installation on a London housing estate comprises 114 panels with an output of up to 21. 6 kW. It is on the roofs of the Amberley Estate in west London and will help residents reduce their services charges by supplying electricity to communal areas to power lights, lifts and door-entry systems. It is part of a wider programme to help residents to make savings on their communal bills. The £1.5 million project is funded by Westminster City County in partnership with housing provider CityWest Homes for 10 Westminster estates. Revenue generated by the solar panels will be re-invested to improve the quality of housing.
Modern Building Services April 2012 more >>
Construction Improvement Club
The Construction Improvement Club (CIC) is a joint project of seven Scottish universities who collaborate with small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) operating in the construction sector in Scotland in developing, testing, applying and disseminating innovations for sustainable building design and refurbishment. The project is funded by European Regional Development Fund and Scottish Government’s SEEKIT programme through Scottish Funding Council. The project started in September 2009 and will end in February 2013. It is led by Glasgow Caledonian University in collaboration with Edinburgh Napier University, Heriot Watt University, Robert Gordon University, The Glasgow School of Art, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde Glasgow. The project has funded 50 feasibility studies and 20 academic consultancies undertaken by researchers for the benefit of Scottish SMEs. The outcomes of these studies are disseminated through free interactive webinars and then saved on the project website. See Feasibility Studies.
CIC Start Online April 2012 more >>
Academic Consultancies
CIC Start Online April 2012 more >>
Homes Behaving Badly
An innovative project run by Transition West Bridgford, Nottingham called Homes Behaving Badly has produced a report that shows householders how to slash energy bills. Eco champions Dr Tina Holt, Penney Poyzer and Gil Schalom ran the HOBBS project to help householders become their own energy experts. The aim of the project was to produce an in-depth report to help people living in a range of homes to cut energy bills and reduce carbon emissions.The team, who are all national experts in different aspects of household sustainability,won a £40,000 bid through the Local Energy Assessment Fund (LEAF), run by The Energy Saving Trust on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The Fund which closed after two rounds, financed projects that help communities to become more energy efficient and to take up renewable energy technologies.
West Bridgeford in Transition 31st March 2012 more >>
Solar Spud Chiller
A potato supplier is using more than 600 solar panels to help chill thousands of tonnes of its prized spuds. Branston Ltd, based near Lincoln, has installed the technology on the roof of one of its storage buildings.
Lincolnshire Echo 31st March 2012 more >>
Waitrose
Waitrose has opened the first of two low carbon energy centres that will power its stores using locally sourced woodchip biomass in a bid to cut total emissions by 15%. The first centre on the Isle of Wight will provide heat and power to the retailer’s East Cowes store, providing the vast majority of its energy needs making it almost independent of the national grid.
Edie 30th March 2012 more >>
Social Housing prepares for FiT cuts
Local authorities and housing associations seeking to develop more than 25 solar electricity schemes will recieve a 20 per cent cut in the feed-in tariff from next week, under government plans to ensure the popular incentive scheme does not exceed its budget. The government will introduce a “multi-installation” tariff rate for photovoltaic from April 1, meaning any organisation which is already receiving payments for 25 or more other solar PV installations will only receive 80 per cent of the standard tariff for new projects.
Business Green 30th March 2012 more >>
Good Energy
Good Energy is pleased that the solar dispute has come to a close, and that there is now a proposal for a clear path forward on future support levels for FiT technologies. Whilst the scope of the FiT is limited to smaller-scale renewable generation, it is still the best vehicle we have for encouraging a more decentralised energy market. The importance of a more decentralised energy market is indisputable – if we want to grow renewable energy in the UK, then we need to take a different approach to the way we generate our electricity. To make the most of the resources we have, we need to use a mix of different technologies spread across a wide number of locations – so we are taking advantage of the best weather conditions in the best places. This also ensures the economic benefits are spread as far and wide as possible. Broadening the ownership of the UK’s energy infrastructure provides the potential for an energy market that is practical in its delivery of renewable power, and democratic in its breaking of the hegemony of the Big Six energy suppliers.
E2B Pulse 30th Mar 2012 more >>
Solar Barn
Strutt & Parker has developed an innovative solution for new agricultural buildings that incorporates solar PV right from the initial construction. The solar barn was developed by the company’s newly-created energy division, which has been working closely with a number of rural landowners to develop agricultural buildings that incorporate solar PV to lower utility costs and benefit from the feed-in tariff (FiT).
Solar Power Portal 30th March 2012 more >>
Solar and boilers
With the April 1 2012 deadline upon us, solar power installations in the UK must now abide by the EPC requirement to access the full solar feed-in tariff rates. One of the pivotal aspects with domestic homes reaching the ‘D’ banded EPC rating is the presence of a condensing boiler. This is because in combination with a solar power system the condensing boiler lifts the majority of properties into the required EPC band.
Solar Power Portal 30th March 2012 more >>
Dorset Power
Leading energy efficiency solutions company, Anesco, has helped to create a renewable power station in Dorset, which will generate all of the energy needed by a nearby industrial estate. It is the third time Anesco has been appointed to work with renewable power generation company, Farm Power, who commissioned the project. In just four weeks Anesco has installed and powered up a total of 1,076 solar panels on farmland at a site in Piddlehinton, Dorset. Covering almost two acres of land, the ‘green’ power station can generate up to 250 kilowatts of energy, and will generate around 250,000 units (kilowatt hours) per year - the equivalent of the power used by 100 UK households in the same period. All power generated is to be delivered and used by the nearby Bourne Park Industrial Estate.
Anesco 29th March 2012 more >>
Solar Legal Action
Laura Sharman interviewed Friends of the Earth energy campaigner, Donna Hume, to find out why it took legal action against the Government over cuts to solar incentives.
Local Gov.co.uk 29th Mar 2012 more >>
Local Energy Companies
COUNCILS should be involved with locally run public energy companies to help meet renewable energy targets, Green party co-leader Patrick Harvie told MSPs today. Mr Harvie challenged all of Scotland’s 32 local authorities to get on board after the local elections in May, saying it should be considered “bizarre” if they do not.
Scotsman 29th Mar 2012 more >>