Blogs

The Court of Appeal’s decision may open the door for another surge in orders for the UK market, but can the global market meet the demand?

I have recently Just come across PV module that’s marketed as 235Wp +7% to +12% To me that’s a 251Wp module with 0-5% variation in output At first I was thinking – perhaps this is just marketing hype – but on reflection I am not so sure it isn’t more significant…

One thing is certain about the Feed in Tariff at the moment – there is currently a lot of uncertainty!

Yesterday morning we uncovered the news that Government was set to lock in the future of the UK solar industry by publishing what feed-in tariff rates will look like until at least April 1, 2012. Offering some much-needed, long-awaited, certainty to our extremely frustrated industry, the announcement has brought a welcome…

The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) is used to assess the energy performance of dwellings and includes a section to estimate the annual performance of a solar PV system. PV installers should be very familiar with the PV – SAP calculation as it is the method currently proscribed under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).

A low afternoon sun is shining on our office PV system just now – and the back row has a small amount of shading on it (was predicted in our modelling).

Looking at comments on the draft of Edition 3 of the PV guide … bit surprised we didn’t get more comments on the AC module part of section 2.1.13 – d.c. isolation and switching…

As soon as DECC announced its intention to reduce feed-in tariff payments by more than 50 percent, with a cut-off date of December 12, the UK solar industry sprung into action. Some begun campaigning against the proposal, claiming it would damage the future of UK solar beyond repair, while most others prepared to work 24 hour days to complete projects before the cut-off point. Now, with more than 126MW added in on week alone, we face…

As New Year arrived I’m sure many of you reading this will have joined me in a collective sigh of relief as we left the turbulent UK solar industry of 2011 behind, looking forward to a more positive and (with any luck) stable market in 2012. But, at this time of great uncertainty, what really lies ahead?

Today Friends of the Earth and two solar companies have won their case against the unforeseen December 12 cut-off point – but is this really a “victory” for the UK solar industry, or have we been plonked between a rock and a hard place?