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/

Milford Haven Port Authority Granted Planning Permit for 5 MW Solar Park

The Milford Haven Port Authority just obtained the planning permission for the usual twenty five years term in order to build the proposed 5 MW photo voltaic installation, as the Pembrokeshire County Council approved without objections the solar project yesterday.

Milford Haven Port Authority is the manager of the Milford Haven Port, the most important port and the biggest in Wales, applied for the permit since September 2012.

The solar installation will require 10 ha of land and the location will be at Liddeston Ridge in Milfor Haven. There will be required over 20 000 solar panels for the job, each and every one of them is capable of producing up to 250 watts. The photo voltaic panels will be installed on aluminium mounting structures and the timetable for the project is expected  to take three months since the project receives the green light.

A spokesperson for the local authorities told us :

 “There are still commercial considerations to be considered including the cost of the connection to the grid, but I would say that its positive at present and I expect the project move to construction in 2013.”

When the project will be completed and connected to the national power grid, it will be able to produce 5GWh of solar energy every year.

This solar project is one of the latest steps in the local authority's renewable energy plan, the previous ones already managed to  install 2500 solar panels on buildings in Milford Marina and Pembroke Port.

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

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

Mr. Stephen Lovegrove is the New Permanent Secretary at DECC

The Department for Energy and Climate Change building in Whitehall. 

Even if "change ain't good", to paraphrase the classics, the Department for Energy and Climate Change has appointed a brand new permanent secretary, enters Mr. Stephen Lovegrove, ladies and gentlemen.

Mr. Lovegrove served until now as the Chief Executive of the Shareholder  Executive, and now he will replaced the former DECC permanent secretary, Moria Wallace, who left the building in October 2012.

Initially, Mr. David Kennedy,   the current Chief Executive of the Committee on Climate Change was appointed for the job, but the Prime Minister intervened, this move created some controversy as the Prime Minister blocked the appointment of Mr. Kennedy, as the new permanent secretary at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Mr. Kennedy's appointment as the new permanent secretary at DECC was strongly supported by senior civil servants and some of the ministers, but the Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron had other ideas in mind, he stated that the permanent secretary at DECC must be a person with serious corporate experience in his resume.

Exits Mr. Kennedy, enters Lovegrove, who was the head of the European media team of Deutsche Bank for ten years in a row (Deutsche Bank is one of the biggest players in the financial market today),  before joining the Shareholder Executive position.

He also had a position as a board member of the The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in the summer of 2012.

Mr. Ed Davey made the following remark about the appointment of Mr. Lovegrove as the new permanent secretary at the Department for Energy and Climate Change:

 “We need to attract billions in private sector investment to build new power stations and to upgrade the energy efficiency of the nation’s homes.  Stephen and I worked together for nearly two years when I was a Minister at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, not least on the reform of Royal Mail, so I know he will be a huge asset to DECC.”

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

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

Anglesey Council Gives the Go-Ahead for Wales’ Largest Solar Installation

The Council of Isle of Angsley just approved the plans for what is going to be, at least in theory, Wales's largest photo voltaic park, a 15 MW solar array located at Tai Moelion Farm on Bodorgan Estate in Anglesey.

The local council authorized the  project for 25 years of operation only after the solar developer New Forest Energy  promised to continue to work with the Gwynedd Archeological Planning Service, in an archaeological work on the future solar park site.


New Forest Energy is a wood fuel producer group and was established in 2009,located  in the south west corner of the New Forest National Park, situated within 15 miles of Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and Southampton.
The founder members of the producer group are 3 forest owners located around the Hinton estate.


The solar developer told us that the proposed solar park will be raised on 30 hectares of pasture land and it will become the Wales's biggest photo voltaic installation when it will be operational.

The project consists of 6 large fields with a total of 64 000 solar modules, with large areas left between the rows of PV-panels, in order to enable grazing to continue, as the site will be used for both generating solar power as well for agriculture.

 The timetable of the project is 3 months, upon completion the project will connect to the national power grid  via the 33kv overhead lines already installed, the solar array will produce enough carbon free energy to power 4500 households every year.

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

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

UK's Largest Solar Farm Will Be Developed by Science Museum and Swindon Council

There are certain plans from the Science Museum to install the biggest solar farm in the United Kingdom, at its object store in Wroughton, Wiltshire.

 If the project gets the required approval, it will become the biggest solar array in the country, overtaking the current largest solar farm in the United Kingdom, which is the Lark's Energy proposed 32 MW solar park at Wymeswold Airfield, in Leicestershire.

 The Science Museum intends to install a 40 MW solar array on 80 ha of land at its Wroughton facility, working closely with Swindon Commercial Services, a company which is the property of Swindon Borough Council.

The well known Science Museum, located in London, can only make available to the general public just a small fraction of its collection at one time, for storing the entire collection they use the now obsolete airfield in Wroughton. The project will install over 160 000 photo voltaic modules across the airfield's land and also will allow the group to be as green as it gets, effectively carbon neutral, at least that's what the Science Museum predicts, regarding their large scale solar installation.

The Wroughton campus is a minor consumer of electricity, yet the Kensington base of the museum is a heavy  power user, and Mr. Matt Moore, the Sustainability Manager for the Science Museum told us that the solar installation will showcase British engineering capabilities.

Mr. James Owen, Swindon Commercial Services’ Project Manger, stated that out of service airfield at Wroughton  was an excellent location for developing a solar park, thanks to the combination of light industrial and low quality  agricultural land, and the public will be consulted about the project for the first time on January 26, the current year.

 Mr. Owen has high hopes for the local community to embrace the high tech development in the near future, he told us:

 “There’s no point in it being one way; I want people to support the park. The land will stay in agricultural use: currently it is used for grazing sheep and I want to keep it that way.”



Actually, Mr. Owen has a surprise for the local farmers, as he intends to graze a local breed, the very rare Cotswolds sheep on the land, a long forgotten sight to the local community.
 This breed of sheep is farmed for the wool, not for the meat and Mr. Owen's plan is to use the wool produced from the Cotswolds as insulation for the local residences.

Regarding the large scale solar market, Mr. Owen thinks that a few projects made compromises on quality, in order to be able to connect to the grid, to meet the time deadlines, yet he is pretty sure that the troubles of the solar industry are now a thing of the past, he told us confidently:


“With the new RO rates up till 2017 you will be left with a sustainable return on investment which will get rid of dubious suit-wearers from the City that don’t know anything and want too much return – leaving the rest of us to develop a sustainable, sensible part of the UK energy mix.”

  “I think the industry needs sensible investors looking for sensible returns on a par, or better than, a government bond.”


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

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

Green Deal Just Added 15 New Measures

The full launch of Green Deal is near the corner and is rapidly approaching, hence the Department for Energy and Climate Change also known as DECC made an announcement, regarding the list of eligible measures.

The list which initially contained 30 measures now has 45, so much for bureaucracy, so DEEC, after extensive consultation, included them in the scheme. You may take a closer look at the full document here .

 In January of 2013 we are expecting the publication of the final draft of  the PAS 2030 specification, regarding the installation process, the process management and service provision. Let's take a closer look:


Energy efficiency measures covered in PAS 2030:2012

• Condensing boilers, natural gas-fired and liquefied petroleum gas-fired (domestic and non-domestic)
• Condensing boilers, oil-fired (domestic and non-domestic)
• Heating controls
• Under-floor heating
• Flue-gas recovery devices
• Gas-fired warm-air heating systems (domestic and non-domestic)
• Electric storage heaters (domestic and non-domestic)
• Cavity wall insulation
• Loft insulation
• Pitched roof insulation
• Flat roof insulation
• Internal wall insulation
• External wall insulation
• Hybrid wall insulation
• Draught proofing
• Floor insulation
• Heating system insulation (pipes and cylinders)
• Energy efficient glazing and doors
• Lighting fittings
• Lighting controls (non-domestic)
• Ground and air source heat pumps
• Solar thermal
• Solar PV
• Biomass boilers
• Micro-combined heat and power (CHP)
• Micro- and small-scale wind turbine systems

 Quoting from the document, these are the new measures which are to be eligible in the future, under the Green Deal :

• Chillers
• Duct Insulation
• HVAC Controls
• Hot Water Showers
• Hot Water Systems
• Hot Water Taps
• Roof Lights, Lamps and Luminaires
• Radiant Heating
• Sealing improvements
• Solar blinds, shutters and shading devices
• Transpired Solar Collectors
• Variable speed drives for fans and pumps
• Water Source Heat Pumps

 When the National Solar Centre was launched recently, as I covered it in a previous post on my blog,the Energy and Climate Change Minister, Mr. Greg Barker asked the solar industry leaders to operate outside its silo and, let me quote, "use the Green deal to market solar PV as an energy saving option”.

 The Green Deal is the most important policy of the United Kingdom's coalition government and it will be supported in the near future with great aplomb, with the new Green Deal cashback scheme, a 2.9 million pounds  marketing budget and the full attention of the UK's Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron.

 Of course, there are critics and skeptics of the Green Deal project, they are doubting that the scheme will persuade the general public to engage with energy efficiency.

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

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

Knapp solar park Soon to be Launched

Biodiversity is the word, as the Higher Knapp farm in the Somerset Village of Knapp, Somerset, is one of the United Kingdom's latest solar installations, they will produce in no time enough solar, this means carbon free energy, to provide 442 local homes. The plans for the 1.5 MW solar park have been approved, soon enough another green spot will appear on the map.

Lightsource Renewable Energy, a well known solar developer was chosen for the project, they closed an agreement with the land owners in order to run the solar array for the next 25 years. A major part in closing the deal was the Taunton Deane Borough Council, the local authorities, they were the ones who had to approve the project and gave the final green light, after extensive consultations on the matter. In the end, everything worked just fine, they addressed the local concerns but in the end, the deal was signed and permissions granted.

There were some disagreements from the local farmers, regarding the visibility of the proposed solar installation, due to the geographical conditions, the future solar site slopes upwards at the eastern border and the local community was concerned that the solar park will be strikingly visible. In order to address the well founded issues, Lightsource had to take a bold step, they went back to the drawing board and redesigned the project, choosing a site in a lower area of the county. And further, they planned a screen of hazel coppice trees, in order to mask the view of the future solar installation.

As Mr. Connor McGuinan, the Business Development Director at Lightsource Renewable Energy explained us:


“When we develop a new solar farm, we are entering into an agreement with the landowner and council for a period of 25 years. Therefore we are required to demonstrate that the land we build on is protected and used correctly to its fullest potential in order to obtain planning permission”.
“We are strong advocates of optimising the opportunity that a solar farm presents to enhance site biodiversity. Higher Knapp Farm will not only benefit from a new hazel coppice, but a species rich wildflower mix will be planted beneath and between the solar panel rows, creating a more diverse habitat.”

He also made pertinent comments regarding the need for rigorous design and planning of such installations:

 “Our tenancy duration runs for a long period of time and it is imperative that we address any concerns like flooding risks upfront to ensure there will be no impact on the surrounding area. It is in our best interests to work with the council and address local concerns collectively.”

The reduction in the RO rate from 2ROCs to 1.6 ROCs in April of 2012 created a golden opportunity for the solar industry, hence the recent influx of large solar projects which took place in the recent months and also raised some concerns about the industry's choice of suitable park locations.

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

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

£46 Million Announced by DECC Supporting 132 Local Energy Projects

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) just made a lot of business people happy, as they announced that over 130 energy schemes will benefit from a share of the 46 million pounds, as they are trying to help reduce fuel poverty, increase energy efficiency and to help boost collective switching.

Both the local communities and third party organizations had been invited to bid for funding under three separate energy schemes. The first project will try to address the fuel poverty issue, by helping the local communities  to build and install more effective central heating systems and also help them insulate the households of the most vulnerable local residents.

The second scheme will try to improve the  energy efficiency for all the residents, not just the most vulnerable ones, with the help of the local authorities, with money drawn to finance the Green Deal project, which will help to identify where the energy savings are to be made. The Department for Energy and Climate Change received some criticism regarding the initial cost of the Green Deal will discourage many of its potential clients.

 In the end, the competition aimed to help encourage local authorities and local businesses, among with the third sector organizations to initiate collective groups to buy energy in their local areas, the whole concept of collective switching is to help clients to negotiate better deals and tariffs from the energy producers and suppliers.

 The total sum allocated to these projects is in amount of  £46 million and it will be split as it follows:  £31million will help reduce the fuel poverty for the must vulnerable households, £10 million will be used to help boost the Green Deal and £5 million will be used to set up collective switching schemes.

 An ample comment regarding the issue was made by Mr. Ed Davey, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary:


“We need to find new ways to help people with their energy bills, working with communities and councils across the country.
“The projects we are funding will help people save energy and save money: helping the most vulnerable to heat their homes, getting the Green Deal market up and running and encouraging people to switch energy suppliers to get their bills down.
“This £46million will help local councils across England upgrade inefficient heating kit as well as creating demand for and installing insulation under the Green Deal in homes across their local areas. 
“Funding will also be used to drive forward collective purchasing and switching initiatives at a local level, helping consumers get a better deal on their energy bills.  I am delighted so many organisations want to run new co-operative schemes to help people, especially the fuel poor, to get the best deals in the market."

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

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

Solar Park of 75-hectare planned by ADAS in Oxfordshire

Great news for the green hearted liberals in Oxfordshire, as one local farmer is planning to build the largest solar PV installation in the area, with a little help from his friends from ADAS.

The solar array will have 75 hectare and will be built on the land between Barton and Beckley, the project will be supervised by one of the United Kingdom's most important environmental consultancies, the well known ADAS, with the headquarters in Wolverhamtpon.

Even if a formal planning application is still missing in action, the pre-proposal documents had been drafted to   the local authorities from South Oxfordshire District Council, and after taking a closer look, they revealed the  detailed plans to instal the 50.600 solar panels all over the area. ADAS estimated that the solar farm will generate enough power to provide for over 3000 households.

 As usual, not everybody was happy with the new high tech solution for providing clean energy to people's homes, the locals affiliated to the Campaign to Protect Rural England had to object, as Mr. Michael Tyce, from CPRE Oxfordshire told us:


 "Oxford is surrounded by hills so even if the panels aren’t very high and could be disguised by bushes and trees it would be seen from all around from higher ground.
“The Oxford green belt is there to preserve the openness of the countryside, and you are not doing this when you cover it in panels. However you try to dress this up, it is a power station. An industrial project like this is unacceptable.”  


Anyway, the local residents, despite the Campaign to Protect Rural England objections, responded pretty well to the idea of building the huge solar farm in their vicinity, as the local media covered the issue, stating that the public response was  overwhelmingly positive.

This local project came as a consequence of he Department of Energy and Climate Change’s announcement from the last year, regarding the Renewable Obligation support levels for solar in the future. You must keep in mind that the available RO rate for ground-mounted solar projects is due to drop from 2ROCs to 1.6ROCs on April 1, 2013, the rate was raised after the industry complained that the initial plan of dropping the RO rate to 1.5 ROCs would kill many businesses.

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

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

The United Kingdom Solar Centre Officially Launched

The Energy and Climate Change Minister, Mr. Greg Barker has officially announced the BRE National Solar Centre, also known as NSC.

 The National Solar Centre will be placed in St Austell, Cornwall, and its purpose will be to help the industry  to achieve its ambitions for new renewable technologies, as they were recently published in the renewable roadmap.

 The financing for the NSC project was assured with European Union money but also with the help of the authorities, both the locals from Cornwall City Council and the United Kingdom's central government.

 The Energy and Climate Change Minister, Mr. Barker took a ferm position at the launch of the National Solar Centre, he said:


“Solar is an exciting and rapidly growing clean, green source of power and has a valuable part to play in the UK’s energy mix.
"The new Cornwall based National Solar Centre will help drive down costs, improve efficiency, catalyse growth, spur innovation and develop expertise on the ground.
“We have seen dramatic reductions in costs of the technology over the past year and that’s why we have made changes to our incentives under feed-in tariffs and the Renewables Obligation, to help put this industry on a more sustainable footing and ensure solar continues to thrive in the future."

One of the main objectives of the NSC is to work with organisations outside the traditional scope of the industry in order to educate the public about the solar energy(renewable energies generally) ever growing potential and also to make them available and well understood.

 The man behind the idea of the Centre and one of its main developers, Mr. Nick Tune, who also is the Director of the Building Research Establishment, told us:


  “The centre will help the sector deliver further reductions so solar PV can become competitive with other low-carbon electricity sources. There are significant opportunities to support the development of building-integrated PV products and the interaction of PV with commercial buildings.
”We will also look at issues around smart grids, storage, power output prediction and more – all critical factors for improving the long term performance of the technology and creating confidence in its future.”


 Looking forward to the grand opening of the BRE National Solar Centre, as it is expected for April of 2013.

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

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

BNRG Renewables will begin planning 18 Megawatt solar park

The well known Irish company, BNRG Renewables is a Solar PV project development company with headquarters in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Dublin and offices in Cheltenham, UK; and Miami, USA. The company has extensive experience in solar PV projects across Europe and the United Kingdom, they engage with local expertise and professionals in order to meet the customers demands, together with their experienced in house teams.

Since 2007 BNRG has developed a substantial pipeline of Solar Photovoltaic Projects in The UK, Bulgaria and Greece and is currently developing projects in the Caribbean Basin.

Between 2012 and 2013 the company will be developing over 30MW of solar PV plants in The UK. In Bulgaria, the Company sold over 10MW of projects to a Bulgarian investment group in early 2012. In the UK, BNRG commissioned and sold over 6 MW in early 2012.

 And now, they just obtained a 25 year planning permission from Shepway District Council's Development Control Committee, in order to build a 18 Megawatt solar park in New Romney, Kent.

 The large scale project will be raised on almost 50 hectares of land at Sycamore Farm, it will involve over 73 000 solar panels, every panel with a 245 watts capacity. Keep in mind that BRNG Renewables has not yet contracted a supplier for the solar modules yet.

Not everybody from Kent was happy with the new solar installation, the local branch of national countryside body, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, sent an objection letter from Protect Kent, in order to stop the project in its tracks.

BNR Renewables made the following comment, after they received the 25 years planning permission for their solar park:

"We are very pleased with the decision made by Shepway District Council's Development Control committee for this site.

"We have worked proactively to incorporate feedback from stakeholders and local residents into our plans and have had positive feedback on the application as a result, with fewer than 10 letters of objection. We remain committed to ensuring that as well as generating a significant amount of renewable energy, this project will also be well-screened and will increase local biodiversity.

"We hope to commence construction in the near future and will remain available to local residents throughout the construction period.”

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

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

Countdown to Green Deal launch by the UK Government

Everyone is expecting for the £125 million cash back plan of action  by the United Kingdom's Government, which is expected to restart the investors and the public's interest in the Green Deal energy efficiency programme.

Even if the details of the scheme are not to be announced until next week,  the Energy and Climate Change Minister,  Mr. Greg Barker stated that he hopes for this measure to be the first step towards instituting the "sea change", as he sees the Green Deal to engender in the United Kingdom's energy efficiency standards.

 The Green Deal will officially begin in 28 January, when the investors, both homeowners and companies will begin signing the deals under the new scheme.

 There will be over 45 property improvements for the customers to choose from, all of them designed with energy efficiency in mind. Under the Green Deal project, solar energy and thermal are among the technologies which are qualified  to be implemented and subsidized by the Government.

To make sure that the public is aware by the benefits and opportunities of the new Green Deal project, the United Kingdom's Government hired a specialized PR company, Freud Communications, in order to make waves in the media about the project and raise the awareness of the general public.

 This move is due to a report from last year, the report revealed that the public has limited knowledge about green projects and there are very few potential customers showing an interest in using the Green Deal opportunities for making their properties more energy efficient.

 There were announcements made by the Department for Communities and Local Government, about relaxing the legislation for those who want to install solid wall insulation, making their task easier.

 Before that, there were issues and doubts about such home improvements, as they would require or not planning permission from local authorities, as the wall insulation alters the outside of buildings.

 We will see in the near future how the Green Deal will work in real life starting from next month, including how businesses can become accredited Green Deal installers  and also how can you make/save money with this new project and also protect the environment.

 Also, there are expected from the Department of Energy and Climate Change the latest feed-in-tariff rates, as Mr. Barker will start the roadshows at Sandown Park Racecourse on 7 February, in Surrey, so stay tuned.


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

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

 

 

Countryside Renewables will begin the 5 MW Solar Project

Countryside Renewables, a company specialized in the development, acquisition and financing of solar, wind and natural projects (CRL), which has a great experience in the field, they financed over 1 billion euro projects in solar and wind energy projects all over Europe, just managed to get the permission to build a 5 Megawatt solar project in Exning, Suffolk.

 There were a lot of possible alternative sites for the construction in the United Kingdom, over 500 locations were screened for the project, but in the end Countryside Renewables picked the Exning location, which is surrounded by trees on all sides so the neighbors who own properties in the area will not be affected by the forthcoming project.

 Over 22 000 of photo voltaic panels are to be installed in the beginning of 2013, when the project is expected to start, yet CRL was not able yet to provide us with the information about who the supplier will be. The 5 Megawatt installation will be finished by the end of June, 2013, if everything works as planned.

 When the project will be completed and fully functional, the energy generated by the 22 000 solar panels will be enough for powering over 1200 homes, with an estimated 5 GWh of solar power produced every year. This is much more than needed in Exning village so the residents will have the capacity to be completely off the grid, and entirely fed by solar power.

 Countryside Renewables claims that the project will provide reactive power control to the grid, making it one of the first solar projects in the United Kingdom which has that feature.

The managing director of Countryside Renewables, Mr. John Dunlop told us that the project is "Well located" and the electricity produced by the solar park will be significantly cheaper than the power provided by offshore wind parks.


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

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