One Thousand Residences in South Wales Fitted with PV Panels

The well known solar panel installer/developer Nationwide Solar, which have installed over ten thousand domestic and commercial systems until know, being one of the most experienced installation company in the United Kingdom,just won a bid to instal solar photo voltaic panels in over one thousand homes across Rhondda Cynon Taf Council. The main purpose of the project was to reduce the region's fuel poverty situation, thanks to high tech and a few good people.

An agreement was signed with Nationwide Solar by RCT Homes, the manager of local authority homes, representing the Welsh council, the deal was to install free solar panels on over one thousand of its rented residences.

Apparently, both the local authorities and social housing providers view solar installations as a win-win situation, as Mr. Russ Cowan, the Managing Director at Nationwide Solar told us:

“It means that there is no financial outlay for them, but their tenants benefit from savings on their energy bills, reducing the number in fuel poverty.” 

Not everybody in the solar industry shares his views, there are many critics of the free solar model, and Mr. Malcolm Wilson, RCT Homes Deputy Chief Executive stated on behalf of the free installations:


“When the feed-in tariff was reduced last year, solar PV became less attractive to some people.  But for us, it was never about the money, as we are more interested in attacking fuel poverty.  NWS has the expertise in fitting solar PV systems for tenants and we are delighted to be partnering with them on this project.”

 Mr. Wilson also told us that:

“The most important thing is that tenants will make savings of around £120 per year on their energy bills.  The fact that we have made a deal that works, despite all the constraints, shows that large-scale solar PV for social housing is definitely back on the agenda.”


Along with reducing their carbon footprint substantially, the tenants who will benefit by the free solar power will also have their energy bill cut dramatically, helping them out of fuel poverty, as the companies who developed the project hope.

Mr. Cowan remains very optimistic regarding the future of social housing and solar power, stating that:

“The fact that we are investing in providing free solar PV for thousands of tenants’ homes across the country just goes to show that solar PV is still a very viable and worthwhile investment.  We have the expertise in partnering with local authorities, ALMOs and housing associations to ensure we deliver the right solution for tenants. Our installation teams have extensive experience in working in tenants’ homes to ensure a smooth and straightforward installation.”

For more information and news about solar energies in the UK, you may visit here anytime:  

http://www.solar-energy.co.uk/

81% of British public Never Heard about the Green Deal

The Green Deal project was launched yesterday, yet, according to a survey commissioned by USwitch.com,  only 19 percent of the United Kingdom population have even heard about this cool scheme.

Announced emphatically as the "“biggest home improvement programme since the Second World War”, the Green Deals is the most important green policy project of the UK's government in order to address the country's energy inefficient housing stock.

YouGov conducted a poll, commissioned by USwitch.com, which revealed that less than two consumers in ten are aware of the existence of such a programme, i.e. the Green Deal scheme.

Even if the public is not aware about the existence of the Green Deal, they are pretty concerned when it comes about energy efficiency, 67% being very interested in making their residences more energy efficient and 86 percent of the general public see lower heat/energy bills as the main benefit of such an improvement.

The Director of Consumer Policy at USwitch.com, Ann Robinson, made the following comment:


“The high cost of energy today means that Green Deal has to deliver - there is a lot at stake here for consumers. Household energy is rapidly becoming unaffordable and reducing the amount we use will protect us from higher bills. This is why consumers need to have a simple, well-designed and well-communicated scheme they can trust, if they are to feel the benefits in their pockets and on their bills.
“In the face of higher prices there are two simple steps to lowering bills: use less energy and pay the lowest possible price for what you do use. The Green Deal should hopefully help many more with the former, and I would urge consumers to help themselves now with the latter.”

This poll underlines the importance of the almost  £2.9 million spent by the Government in a marketing campaign, promoting the Green Deal scheme. Over sixty percent of the survey respondents showed interest in the advice, reassurance and support that the Green Deals scheme will offer after its launch. 54 percent of them also showed interest in receiving a report that will help them understand better what are the main benefits of the Green Deal scheme and what improvements are to be made in order to make their residences more energy efficient.

Almost half of them liked the "Golden Rule" concept, which states that you may repay the cost of these improvements through energy bill savings.

As the Department for Energy and Climate Change is working closely with the Public Relations Agency Freud, in order to help make these issues of public interest more popular, the Minister Greg Barker stated that:

"We now have funds for a communications campaign that will build further understanding of the Green Deal, helping to create a real buzz. When you add our fantastic cash back into the mix, it's clear that the Green Deal is building momentum and will be a brilliant offer for people."

For more information and news about solar energies in the UK, you may visit here anytime:  

http://www.solar-energy.co.uk/

TGC Renewables Grants Planning Permission for 3.4 MW Solar Installation

The well known renewable energy developer, TGC Renewables, just managed to get permission to start planning a 3.8 MW solar park near Hyle, Cornwall.

 Originally called The Green Company, TGC was founded by Ben Cosh and Rob Denman, their goal was to have an impact on climate change and energy security for the future, by making solar/wind energy financially viable and accessible to everyone, in order to preserve their way of life, without making radical changes.

The company was backed by a leading UK investment house, established in the UK for over 125 years, the Constantine Group, with a huge international experience in finance and investments, they now have offices all around the United Kingdom and a lot of experts which offer the full range of skills  and expertise to cover all the stages of any solar project.

TGC works mainly with farmers and landowners, who have diversified their venues by investments in renewable energies of their own or they lease their land for other people developments/projects.

 This new project will take place on a 6.2 hectares of local class 3b agricultural grazing land, the land owner, a farmer, will get a guaranteed rental income for the usual 25 years and TGC estimated that the 3.8 MW solar farm will be able to provide almost 800 local residences with renewable energy for the decades to come.

Mr. Roy Amner, the director at TGC Renewables commented about the planning permission, he stated that:

“We are delighted that after detailed consultation with all interested parties, our planning team secured the full support of the Strategic Planning Committee for this development.”

The solar farm will use about 1200 solar photo voltaic modules and 20 racking tables, the project will allow the farmer to graze its livestock across the park while in operation.

For more information and news about solar energies in the UK, you may visit here anytime:  

http://www.solar-energy.co.uk/

UK Solar Capacity is Increasing by Increment

The latest statistics released by the United Kingdom's government reveal that the solar photo voltaic capacity continued to grow in 2012, by increment, slowly but surely, in the first three quarters of the year, the main reason being the high uptake of the feed in tariff, at least that's what the official figures told us.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC for friends) released the statistics at the end of 2012, they reveal that the total photo voltaic capacity installed in the United Kingdom in the Q3 of 2012 reached 1.6 GW, a pretty impressive figure.

This means that 11 percent of all renewable electricity generated in the UK comes from solar power alone, and this is an increase of 169 MW over the previous quarter's total.

 If we compare the figures to the same quarter last year, the solar power capacity in the United Kingdom more than tripled, in 2011 the capacity installed was a mere 489 MW.

The documents claim that the increase was facilitated by the uptake of the United Kingdom's feed-in tariff.

Anyway, the growth was pretty slow between Q2 and Q3 in 2012, if we compare with the same period of 2011, the increase was only 170 MW compared to 277 MW in 2011.

Bottom line, according to DECC's figures, from the total capacity of the UK, renewables were 11.7 percent, an increase of 2.4 percent on the same figure at the end of Q3 of 2011, when the renewables represented just 9.1 percent of UK's capacity.

For more information and news about solar energies in the UK, you may visit here anytime:  

http://www.solar-energy.co.uk/

The Green Deal launched in UK, despite some criticism

Today was a big day for the solar/renewable industry, after a soft-launch which took more than it should, at last, the Green Deal scheme was officially launched to the general public.

There will be many beneficiaries of the coalition's most important energy scheme, almost all the residences in England and Wales will be allowed to install energy efficiency measures without paying anything in advance.

The costs are to be paid for by the savings resulted on utility bills, and also the cost of repayments will be no bigger than the savings created by the installed measures, a consequence of higher efficiency etc.

Mr. Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, spoke today about the scheme's potential, which is able to help “thousands of homes stay warm for less”. He also stated that:

"The UK green sector is a success story – it is the sixth largest in the world and has a crucial part to play in building a strong economy. The Green Deal will support thousands of jobs – not just over the next few years, but in the long term.”

Not everybody was happy with the Green Deal scheme, actually it came under heavy criticism, there were allegations about the  "rip off interest rates", as they were revealed Friday to the general public.Indeed, the Gren Deal Finance Company (TGDFC) announced that the initial interest rate will start at 6.96 percent and it will be up to 7.96 percent for a ten year loan.

As Luciana Berger, the Labour’s Shadow Climate Change Minister explained:

"The whole point of the Green Deal is that households are meant to save money on their energy bills - but with rip off interest rates, hidden charges and penalty payments the Green Deal could end up costing people more than they save. With sky-high interest rates it’s hard to see how the Green Deal will be anything other than a bad deal for the public." 

The Green Deal launch suffered from a lack of attention from the general public, as a research showed that over 80 percent of the British public has no idea and never heard about the Green Deal scheme.

The United Kingdom Government invested heavily in a communications campaign, in order to combat the issue, over  £2.9 million were spent in this regard, and it is live as I write this article. The whole purpose of the campaign is to convince the population that the Green Deal is there to help them lower  their bills  and also keep their residences warmer.

The Department for Energy And Climate Change (DECC) Minister, Mr. Greg Barker commented about the Green Deal launch:

The Green Deal will transform the energy efficiency market and puts consumers in charge. It’s a fantastic new scheme that will allow people to make their homes warmer and save energy at the same time. And it’s not just consumers who will benefit. The Green Deal is also great for business, creating a new market and new jobs. I’m truly excited about the potential the Green Deal has to transform Britain’s buildings.”

For more information and news about solar energies in the UK, you may visit here anytime:  

http://www.solar-energy.co.uk/

Tigo smart modules available in UK after Upsolar partners with Ecolution Renewables

Good news for the green tech aficionados in the United Kingdom, after Upsolar, a well known company in the PV technology solutions, founded in Hong Kong by Zhe Jiang in 2006 and rapidly expanded throughout the world, partnered with the distribution company Ecolution Renewables, also a very well known solar PV installer. After the joint venture, the smart modules powered by Tigo Energy technology will be available to customers in the United Kingdom.

Tigo Energy designs the best solar optimisers, with the SmartModule technology, which is a  patented impedance matching technology enabling 25% more power density and efficiency on any roof or utility project, uneven string lengths and different orientations. Installers and system owners achieve the highest ROI by increasing energy production and maximum system up-time for new systems and retrofits, and the smart modules enhance the flexibility of the whole system, makes them easier to install and also optimizes the  costs/benefits.

The Photo Voltaic systems using this high tech, smart modules, also have real time monitoring capabilities, and the customers are able to visualize and analyse performance data at each and everyone of the modules,  via Tigo Energy's in-house module-level monitoring software and applications.

As Mr. Richard Jenkins, Managing Director for Ecolution Renewables told us:

“Upsolar is known for its meticulous attention to product quality and customer service—characteristics we hold in high esteem for both our partners and ourselves,”

“We’re proud to offer our customers Upsolar’s full product suite, including smart modules, as we strive to make solar power available to all.”

For more information and news about solar energies in the UK, you may visit here anytime:  

http://www.solar-energy.co.uk/

£54.4 Million Photo Voltaic Refinancing Deal Approved for Lightsource and Octopus

The well known solar projects developers Lightsource Renewable Energy and Octopus Investments have just closed a deal, securing a £54.4 million refinancing package in order to build six solar parks, capable of generating 23 MW of solar power combined.

These solar parks will be built across the South East and West of England in the following locations: Wilburton (5.0MW), Howton (5.0MW), Hawton (4.9MW), Marston (4.5MW), Benbole (1.7MW) and Sandhill (1.9MW).

There were two major Banks from Holland and Scotland involved in the refinancing deal in amount of  £54.4 million, we are talking here about the Dutch bank NIBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland Corporate & Institutional Banking (RBS CIB),the latter one contributed with  £37.4 million.

With this new deal, the Royal Bank of Scotland is expanding its presence in the United Kingdom solar market. Until now, they financed 50 MW of solar capacity and this latest investment represents the third completed solar transaction in the last year or so, good news for the solar industry, don't you think? Let's hope this is not the new bubble...

He have a statement from Mr. Andrew Buglass, the Chief of Energy,Structured Finance at Royal Bank of Scotland:

“We are delighted to support this project which represents a significant deal for Royal Bank of Scotland, and further endorses the expertise of our team. We have a pipeline of deals in the project finance UK solar space that we are currently working on. While we continue to see refinancing opportunities under the feed-in tariff regime the majority of current opportunities are larger scale projects under the Renewables Obligation.” 

Also, from Lightsource, Mr. Nick Boyle, the company CEO told us:

 “We are delighted to have received this funding package from RBS and NIBC, which is another fantastic milestone for Lightsource and which will hopefully lead to many more similar financings for our solar development portfolio.”

For more information and news about solar energies in the UK, you may visit here anytime:  

http://www.solar-energy.co.uk/