Opinions

At a time when home energy bills seem to be rising by the minute, investing in renewable energy is now more important than ever. Installing green technologies such as solar panels can be relatively easy if you’re a homeowner, but not so simple if, like thousands of UK residents, you rent your property. Dealing with this very subject Tulloch Priest at Nottingham-based Priest Properties provides a helpful guide for solar installation on how best to convince letting agents that solar power is the way forward.

It’s almost one year since the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and rumours are beginning to fly around the UK solar industry as to what the upcoming Comprehensive Consultation on the feed-in tariff (FiT) holds. I decided it was time to investigate what people are actually saying, and to find out how much of what is being said…

The draft version of The guide to the installation of PV systems, edition 3 has now been published…

Following an MCS meeting on Monday, the plan is to finalise and issue the draft of guide by Monday (3rd October).

I’m not ashamed to admit that when it comes to football: I’m a bit of a girl. I don’t fully understand the off-side rule, I can’t reel off last weekend’s results and I spend most of my spectating hoping…

The focus of attention over the next few weeks will be on the feed-in tariffs review, particularly once the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) finally publishes the consultation paper.  The belief in the industry, of course, is that the rates for solar PV will be reduced. How much is anyone’s guess, but 25 % seems a popular stab at it.

August wasn’t a particularly good month for some solar PV customers and installers … as two MCS listed module manufacturers headed into bankruptcy. Evergreen Solar filed for bankruptcy earlier in the month and Solyndra announced it had suspended operations and planned to file for bankruptcy as the month closed.

Trade shows and site visits aside, I don’t often get the opportunity to unshackle myself from my desk and get up-close and personal with the subject of my daily musings, so, when I was offered the chance to learn how to install actual solar panels on a real-life roof, I grabbed it with both hands. Making our way to Trade Skills 4U’s Crawley-based head office, Solar Power Portal’s latest intern, Sam Pilgrim and I donned our hard hats and high visibility jackets…

Everyone engaged in property matters will have come across the installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, in order to reduce electricity consumption from the grid and to take advantage of Government’s feed- in tariff (FiT) scheme. Social landlords and local authorities are making moves to undertake feasibilities and to commission installations, some with a wary eye on Government’s review of the FiT tariffs in April 2012. A key issue for their feasibility thinking is whether to self-fund installations or to do so via a third party, also known as the ‘rent-a-roof’ option.

Ever since the first mention of the Fast Track Feed-in Tariff Review the question of just how many projects will beat the August 1 cut-off has been a burning one. As it turns out, Ofgem’s figures on this won’t be published for a while, so I thought I’d document exactly who has installed what and where in order to showcase…