week ending 30 November 2012
Solar Strike Price
Commenting on the setting of a suitable strike price for solar, Jeremy Leggett, Chairman of Solarcentury told Solar Power Portal: “In practice, it’s now vital that the strike price for PV is set at a level that really drives forward investment in the technology. Ministers now have a golden opportunity to make good their 22GWp by 2020 ambition.
Solar Portal 30th Nov 2012 more >>
PV Industry
If 2009 to 2011 represented an extended three-year party for the PV industry, then 2012 will definitely be remembered as a long and painful hangover: a year in which forecasts and guidance were rarely achieved, and when being able to report ‘less amount of losses’ quarter on quarter was marketed as a success.
PV-tech 30th Nov 2012 more >>
Manchester & Stockport Solar
PV contractor Nationwide Solar has completed a 78kWp installation for construction products manufacturer Hilti at both its head office in Manchester and its logistics and training centre in Stockport.
Solar Portal 30th Nov 2012 more >>
Community Wind Farm Rejected
A bid to erect the first community owned wind turbines in the East of Scotland has failed after an appeal by its backers was turned down by the Scottish Government. Newburgh Community Trust had hoped to build three 100-metre turbines on Lindores Hill, Newburgh, Fife. The trust claimed the scheme would generate around £250,000 for the local community each year, rising to more than £1m once the costs had been paid off. It was anticipated that the money could have been used to reduce residents’ energy bills and fund local projects. But the proposals, which had split the community, had been rejected by Fife Council’s North East Fife area committee.
STV 30th Nov 2012 more >>
Dundee Courier 30th Nov 2012 more >>
Solar Farms
UK firm Hive Energy has announced it is investing £72m to build nine new solar parks with a combined capacity of 60MW and has a further 108MW in planning.
Business Green 30th Nov 2012 more >>
Solar Portal 29th Nov 2012 more >>
Micro-CHP
Ceramic Fuel Cells - a leading developer of generators which use fuel cell technology to convert natural gas into electricity - reports continuing sales and installations in UK. It says micro combined heat and power (microCHP) units accredited under the UK’s Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) and commissioned on or after 1 December will be eligible for an increased feed in tariff of 12.5p per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity generated plus an additional 4.5p per kWh for electricity not used on site and exported to the grid.
Stock Market Wire 29th Nov 2012 more >>
Galloway Savings
The council is set to enter the wind turbine business in a bid to shed new light on the region’s streets. A £7.4 million spend to save scheme to replace 24,000 street lights will come up short on the race to reduce carbon emissions. So bosses see a £1.9 million investment in a 500KW wind turbine as the answer. With just one up and running, the policy and resources committee will be told, the 2019/20 target of a 42 per cent carbon reduction in street lighting should be met.
Galloway News 29th Nov 2012 more >>
Energy Efficiency
Companies and homeowners could be paid for adopting energy efficient technologies under new government plans to reduce the nation’s energy demand. Alongside today’s Energy Bill, Energy Secretary Ed Davey launched a government consultation on proposals to promote energy efficiency and reduce the need for expensive investment in new electricity generation capacity.
Solar Portal 29th Nov 2012 more >>
Business Green 29th Nov 2012 more >>
Solar Thermal
There’s no doubt that the over-aggressive selling of grossly overpriced systems gave solar thermal technology a bad name in the 1990s and early 2000s. Yet there’s clear evidence that correctly sized solar thermal systems for domestic hot water heating can outperform solar PV and other alternatives in terms of efficiency, installation cost and cost of energy generation in new build developments.
Environment Times 29th Nov 2012 more >>
Green Deal
The Grafton Group has announced it has become the first building and plumbing company to be authorised to operate as a Green Deal provider.
Solar Portal 29th Nov 2012 more >>
Zero Energy Business Park
The first zero-energy cost business park, which will see tenants free of energy bills, was launched in Greater Manchester. Located in Wigan, the £2.7m development Armstrong Point, was opened by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities Baroness Hanham who described the project as “exciting and innovative.
Edie 29th Nov 2012 more >>
Solar Aid
Not many people are lucky enough to be able to design a sustainable company from scratch with money in the bank and products flying off the shelves. My colleagues and I are in that position. SolarAid, the charity my company Solarcentury funds with 5% of our profits, has created a for-profit social venture, SunnyMoney, that sells solar lanterns in Africa, and aims to play a lead role by 2020 in replacing the deadly use of kerosene lanterns across the continent. We have made a great start: 200,000 solar lights sold already, 170,000 in the last seven months. We already hold significant market share in the four countries in which we operate: Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia. We are united in the view that SunnyMoney must be a different kind of company, one that is far from a creature of the type of modern capitalism that has brought the world to its current dark place: financial crashes, resource crunches, out-of-control climate change, mass unemployment etc. We want it to be a “renaissance company”, one that is fit to carry a flag for the return of sanity and a genuine search for sustainability.
Guardian 28th Nov 2012 more >>
Independent Suppliers
Some independent generators are concerned the new regime could make it harder for emerging energy companies to compete with the so-called “Big Six” who dominate the market. Several smaller renewable energy suppliers also believe they will be unable to manage the complex new long-term contracts, known as contracts for difference (CfD), that are set to replace the current system of renewable energy subsidies. In a bid to allay these fears, Davey will chair a summit in Whitehall with a range of independent suppliers to discuss the market reform proposals and potential barriers to new entrants into the UK retail energy market.
Business Green 28th Nov 2012 more >>
Solar Households
A SOUTH Devon lawyer has written to the Government asking for intervention to stop the banks imposing ‘impossible’ conditions on homeowners who want to generate free electricity from solar panels installed on their rooftops. Owen Hill from Wollen Michelmore, who is a specialist in the law surrounding renewable energy schemes, is calling on the Government to change existing banking industry practice, which he says is also stymying the solar industry
Herald Express 28th Nov 2012 more >>
Solar Leisure
Nationwide Solar has completed a major contract to install solar panels on the roof of one of a Nottinghamshire council’s largest leisure centres. Tankersley-based Nationwide’s installation on Gedling Council’s Richard Herrod Centre is expected to generate enough electricity to pay for itself in 12 years. The project is the council’s fifth investment in solar power.
Sheffield Star 28th Nov 2012 more >>
Aberdeen Wind
A city council’s plans to generate its own power using wind turbines have taken a step forward with the appointment of a firm to look into the feasibility of the project. Aberdeen City Council has employed Edinburgh-based Locogen Ltd to carry out a detailed study into the authority’s proposals which aim to cut its annual £6 million energy bill and reduce its carbon emissions. Three potential sites for turbines have been identified on council-owned land at the Science and Technology Park, Peter’s Seat and Coalford.
Rutherglen reformer 27th Nov 2012 more >>
STV 27th Nov 2012 more >>
PV Costs
Grid parity for residential and commercial consumers is within reach in many European countries, according to the PV Parity project consortium. The European project has assessed the evolution of system prices, retail electricity prices, and cost of financing, as well as the capacity in various countries to self-consume photovoltaic electricity produced. The group says its findings are decisive: grid parity – the moment when electricity generated from solar photovoltaics is competitive against other sources – is imminent in several countries.
PV Tech 27th Nov 2012 more >>
Energy Efficiency
The owners of three properties explain how they have slashed their energy costs. ‘I have cut my energy bills to zero - but I had to rebuild the house’: How to slash your energy costs.
Daily Mail 24th Nov 2012 more >>
Irish Co-op
WORK has begun on Northern Ireland’s first community-owned wind energy initiative. A sod-cutting ceremony with South Antrim MLA David Ford last week marked the beginning of construction for the Drumlin Wind Energy Co-operative. The event follows a successful public share offer which to date has raised £1.7 million - enough to build two of the five proposed 250kW wind turbines on single sites across the Province.
Larne Times 24th Nov 2012 more >>
Solar Funding
The STA says the increase in the LCF is welcome, it goes on to say the non-domestic solar power industry is awaiting clarity on the support it will receive from April 2013 under the Renewables Obligation. A decision is due shortly. Solar power has seen price reductions with costs dropping 70% over the past two years. Solar power is now cheaper than many low-carbon sources of energy and prices continue to fall. Mainstream analysts including Ernst & Young, the IEA and McKinsey expect solar power to be cheaper than the retail price of grid electricity before the end of the decade.
Electrical Times 23rd Nov 2012 more >>
Carlisle Jobs
Seven jobs have been created at Global Heat Source, the Carlisle-based renewable energy firm. The venture, which is only two years old, moved to bigger premises at Atlantic House, Parkhouse, earlier this month. It was previously at the adjoining Pacific House. Its workforce has grown from four to 11 this year and more jobs are in the pipeline. The company started life primarily as a wholesaler supplying solar photovoltaic, solar-thermal and heat-pump technology to public and private-sector projects and installers across the country. It is now installing solar products directly in Cumbria and southern Scotland.
Cumberland News 23rd Nov 2012 more >>
Farm Energy
In our Farm Energy Special we speak to renewables specialists about the implications of extending existing schemes and the key finance and tax issues you need to be aware of when embarking on a renewables project. We also speak to a dairy producer using solar pv to reduce his electricity bills and find out how one Scottish estate plans to develop a district heating system.
Farmers Weekly 22nd Nov 2012 more >>