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/

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/

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/

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/

UK Confidence in Green Energy boosted by the Updated Renewable Energy Roadmap

After the update of the UK Renewable Energy Roadmap, the solar industry received an important boost, after being called an essential technology in the United Kingdom's fight to solve its environmental problems caused by the low-tech, obsolete mainstream industry and energy production facilities.

 The solar energy works together now as a key technology, along with onshore and offshore wind, tidal energy, heat pump and green transportation technologies, in a project set by the DECC ( Department of Energy and Climate Change) to achieve the legally binding emission targets until 2020.

 The  Department of Energy and Climate Change provided a document with a significant update on the deployment of the renewable energies in the United Kingdom's markets, between July 2011 and July 2012. In this one year period of time, there has been a major increase of 27 percent in the electricity generated via renewable technologies, bringing the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources at more than 10 percent of all electricity production in the United Kingdom.

This was a significant milestone in achieving the 15 percent target of electricity generation from renewable sources until 2015, the UK's solar industry seems to be back on track for now.
 The same period of time from 2011 to 2012 revealed an increase of 40 percent in the United Kingdom's renewable capacity, mostly from the 60 percent increase in offshore wind capacity, to 2.5 GW and the huge increase in solar Photo Voltaic capacity, an impressive 500 percent.

 Let me show you the most important data from the document released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change :

Onshore & offshore wind

• Overall generation and installed capacity both increased by 34%
• Offshore wind increased by 944MW to a total of 2.5GW of installed capacity. Generation hit just over 6TWh for the period July 2011-June 2012.
• Onshore wind increased by 1.1GW to a total of 5.3GW of installed capacity. Generation rose to 11.2TWh for the period July 2011-June 2012 – an increase of 2.3TWh from the previous year.  

Bioenergy

• Bioenergy installations increased by 900MW over the same period, reaching a total installed capacity of 3.4GW. Generation rose to 14.6TWh, an increase of 1.6TWh from the year before.

Hydro

• Hydro-generated energy increased by 30% during the period July 2011-June 2012 thanks to increased rainfall from the previous year.

Solar PV

• Solar installations in the UK saw a 466% increase between June 2011-June 2012 with 1.2GW of capacity installed in the period.

 The same document shows that since April 2011, the amount of investments in renewable energies reached a peak of  £12.7 billion and the industry announced that  22 800 jobs were created, due to the massive investments in the renewable infrastructure.
  The document from DECC also states:


“The renewables sector (covering electricity, heat and transport) currently supports around 110,000 jobs directly and in immediate supply chains, with another 160,000 jobs supported further along the supply chain. By 2020, the sector could support around 400,000 direct and immediate supply chain jobs and many more further along supply chains.”


 Mr. John Hayes, the Minister of State for Energy made the following comment on the updated Renewable Energy Roadmap:

“Energy is crucial to our economic well-being, bringing in major investment and supporting jobs across the country. I firmly believe that a diverse energy mix is the best way to ensure our energy security. It is extremely encouraging that we have made such positive steps on renewable energy as part of that mix.”


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

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

 

60 MW of Solar Parks announced by Hive Energy

Things are getting shiny in the UK Solar Market, with the new announcement from the Hampshire Based company, Hive Energy, a well known solar developer. The good news is that Hive Energy just completed pre-construction of nine solar parks with a total power output of 60MW, the parks being located across the United Kingdom.

 The solar parks are located in Hampshire, Northamptonshire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset and Devon, the capital expanditure on the projects will be around  £72m, with 73% of funding generated overseas and each park will have an installed capacity of 3MW -15 MW. The project  will be completed hopefully before April 2013, when the parks will be connected to the national power grid. The dead-line is important, because after that date, the available support for large-scale solar under the Renewable Obligation will be slashed and we don't like missed opportunities, do we?

Hive Energy chief executive Mr. Giles Redpath stated:

 “The Government has set a challenging opportunity for the delivery of 22GW of solar PV generation by 2020 and I am pleased to announce Hive Energy’s contribution to this target.”

He continued:  

“As we are at around only 1.3GW of solar PV now, I urge the Government to be cautious about reducing the Renewable Obligation Certificates incentive too quickly or deeply so that we can continue to drive towards their 22GW target in a sustainable, planned and deliverable way.”

 This project will add about 5% to the current solar power capacity installed across the United Kingdom.And that's not all folks, the green-hearts from Hive Energy have further projects in site, they are planning six more solar parks, with a capacity varying between 10 to 25 MW, located in Suffolk, Essex, Wiltshire and Devon, with a total power output of 108 MW, these new developments are set to take place by February 2013.

Hive Energy’s full list of announced projects:

• Tavells Lane Solar Park, Marchwood, Hampshire, 30 acres, 5MW

• Raglington Solar Park, Shedfield, Hampshire, 30 acres, 5MW

• Shacks Barn Solar Park, Silverstone, Northamptonshire, 37 acres, 5MW

• Higher Hatherleigh Solar Park, Wincanton, Somerset, 40 acres, 3.5MW

• Steventon Solar Park, Steventon, Oxfordshire, 57 acres, 10MW

• Knockworthy Solar Park, Torrington, Devon, 20 acres, 5MW

• Whitchurch Solar Park, Radstock, Somerset, 34 acres, 5MW

• Rodbourne Rail Solar Park, Corston, Wiltshire, 41 acres, 6.5MW

• Pentylands Solar Park, Highworth, Oxfordshire, 91 acres, 15MW

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

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

 

Eco2Solar chooses Acorns for charity of the year 2012

The well known solar panels installer Eco2solar just made a public announcement about this year's nominee for the charity event of 2012, the Acorns Children's Hospital which will benefit from a generous subsidy.

 Eco2Solar will make a donation in sum of £10 for each solar panel that will be installed on the Hospital's premises by the company. The benefit will run until November 2013 and there will be a monthly fund raising event organized by Eco2Solar in the local community which is expected to contribute also for supporting the project.

Mr. Ryan Mee, the Sales and Operations director of Eco2Solar commented on the event:

"We have donated a significant amount of money for a range of charities through regularly fundraising activities since the launch of the business in 2007,”

 He also mentioned:

 “By adopting a chosen charity each year, we will be able to make much more of a difference.

Acorns is a fantastic charity and the funds we raise will directly help life limited children and their families throughout the region by paying for vital care and support services.”

 Eco2Solar has high hopes for this project, they expect to raise £5,000 from donations, the money will be used to subsidy three more hospitals in the area which are also run by Acorns, I am talking here about Birmingham, Black Country and Three Countries. 

The Corporate Fundraising Officer at Acorns Children’s Hospice, Ellie Griffiths, made the following statement regarding the event:

“Acorns relies heavily on fundraising, donations and the support of businesses like Eco2Solar to provide care for life limited children and support for families, including those that are bereaved. Families do not pay to the charity’s services but it costs £750 per day for each child’s care.”

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

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

  

Community Energy Plus Offers Free Solar PV

In case you never heard of them, Community Energy Plus is a social enterprise that provides complete energy answers for the community in Cornwall, helping them to enjoy warmer, energy efficient homes and a better life in general. The good news is that they recently re-launched the very successful Solar Communities project, this social project helps reducing the carbon footprint in homes and businesses by offering them free solar PV.

In 2011, there were 22 buildings that benefited from this initiative, the total amount was 177kW of free solar panels.
The event took place in Camborne, Cornwall and was made possible by local investors and installers in order to fund the solar PV on the roofs of the building which took part in the project.
In the project were involved commercial and domestic buildings as well as public/community premises.

The total installations of PV panels were in amount of 50 KW and Community Energy Plus said that the good people from Camborne will save £2,500 on their electricity bills each and every year, not to mention the carbon foot print reduction and the energy independence solar panels provide as an additional benefit.

 In the near future, Community Energy Plus expects that a larger number of people will come around and take advantage of this free offer, based on the fact that several large organizations were already interested in this green project.

 The Sustainable Energy Projects Manager at Community Energy Plus, MR. Neil Farrington made the following statement:

“Having been overwhelmed with interest last year, it’s fantastic that we are able to now continue with the project, allowing more buildings to take advantage of free solar energy without the barrier of raising capital to fund their own installations. We’re hoping to install a significantly larger amount of solar PV, and that as many buildings as possible come forward.”He added: “Cornwall has the best solar resource in the UK, so we want to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the feed-in-tariff and retain the economic benefits of it locally.”

The Manager at the Lobster Hatchery in Padstow, who already installed 9 KW of free solar panels, through the first phase of the scheme that took place in May of 2012, made the following comment:

“Since installation in the spring the panels have performed well, reducing our energy bills by approximately 10%. This combined with an approximately 10% reduction in energy requirements through raised awareness amongst the staff and volunteers has made a significant difference to our carbon footprint and have reduced our carbon emissions by approximately 6 tons."

The Managing Director at Plug into the Sun, Mr. Andy Tanner whose company was part of the project stated that:

“Given that energy prices are on the rise yet again, we want communities, home owners and businesses to come forward and take advantage of this offer to allow their buildings to receive free electricity. We’ve been installing solar panels for over seven years, and we’re really pleased to again be part of this scheme to continue the spread of renewable technology across Devon and Cornwall”.

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

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

 

China Sunergy to Develop Solar Parks in the UK

China Sunergy (CSUN), the well known Chinese manufacturer of solar cells and modules made a public announcement which made me feel all warm and fluffy inside : they will soon develop their first two solar parks in  the United Kingdom, each solar park will have a capacity of 5 MW.

 These events were somehow expected, since in early October the Chinese from CSUN signed a 50 MW Memorandum of Understanding  which revealed their firm intentions to invest in the UK's solar power market.

 The China Sunergy's manager for the UK, Yolanda Qin disclosed the future locations of the two solar parks, one will be located in Devon and the other one in Cornwall, these locations were selected due to the fact that they receive a high sun light irradiation of ~1.000kWh a year per square meter.

China Sunergy will take care of the projects and construction of the two sites and they will also operate them when ready, as an owner, the construction is set to begin in the next few weeks and the deadline is set for April 1 2013 when they are expected to be ready for delivering power to the grid. The technology used in these 2 solar plants will utilize CSUN's own patented polycrystalline modules, the date of 1 April 2013 is set in order to qualify for 2 ROCs.

 China Sunergy believes that the UK's solar power market shows great potential for future investments, they already have an installed PV capacity of 1.3 GW at the end of last month in the United Kingdom  and they are looking forward for future investments in the renewable energy sector.

 The CEO of China Sunergy, Mr. Stephen Cai stated that:

 “We will continue our downstream strategy, which is to increase the investment into solar projects globally. These two solar parks in the UK are just starting points for us and we look to expanding across Europe, including France, Germany, Romania, and Spain, etc., where we can achieve a healthy return rate on our projects.”

 He also mentioned:


"We are confident that our investment into these two solar projects in the UK will be a great success, based on China Sunergy’s capability to construct and operate solar projects with high returns. This investment not only marks our first official step into the downstream solar business, but also shows that China Sunergy always stays true to its commitment to bringing more clean energy to the world. We possess a solid pipeline of over 50MW by April 2013 for our downstream project business with sufficient project financing in place, demonstrating China Sunergy’s strategic shift in resource allocation amid current industry turmoil.”

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

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