Opinions

Solar Intelligence’s Finlay Colville delves into the UK’s utility-scale pipeline and breaks down just what it means for UK EPC and component suppliers looking to do business as the country gears up for yet another ROC rush.

NextEnergy Capital’s Abid Kazim explains why proposed changes to solar support will harm investment in UK industry as a whole, not just the solar sector as he calls on the government not to opt out of a US$3.7 trillion future.

Solar Intelligence’s Finlay Colville analyses the rush to fit-out ground-mount solar farms out to 31 March 2016, and what’s really going on at EPCs and component suppliers.

With Solar Energy UK (SEUK) having taken place this month, Jerry Hamilton, business development director of Renewables & Energy Solutions at Rexel UK explains how to harness the power of networking and fuel business growth.

This Friday (October 23) the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s small-scale feed-in tariff consultation will close and the department will use all submitted evidence to decide whether or not its proposals – labelled draconian by most of those who’ve read them through – are fit for their purpose. It’s absolutely imperative that you, the industry, respond.

This week’s Solar Energy UK exhibition brought the UK’s solar sector together at Birmingham’s NEC at a crucial time. Here are five things we learned from the three-day exhibition.

Amid a maturing solar PV market, there has never been a better time for the solar contractor to diversify. With LED technology offering one of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce energy consumption, it is an area which they can ill afford to overlook, writes Rexel’s Jerry Hamilton.

We are approaching the sixth annual Solar Energy UK conference and exhibition, hosted by our publisher Solar Media. Taking place next week amid challenging times for the UK PV industry, recognition of the potential of storage at the top level at last, and actions already underway by the industry, will be among the central topics of discussion, with more exhibitors and conference strands than ever before.

Neil Buck, managing director at Foresight’s O&M subsidiary Brighter Green Engineering, discusses the increased importance of operations and maintenance in a post-subsidy environment.

With a target to provide 24/7 electricity across India by 2019, prime minister Narendra Modi and his energy minister Piyush Goyal have put energy on top of the agenda for the subcontinent. While this requires a vast increase in coal-fired power production, it comes with the enormous ambition of installing 100GW of solar by 2022, up from just 4GW today. Commentators recently praised India for its INDC, submitted ahead of the COP21 Climate Conference in Paris, aiming to hit 40% of its energy from alternative sources by 2030, but this is by no means an outright domestic task. Government movements make it clear that foreign investment and expertise is a critical part of the strategy.