PV

Humans have always made use of solar energy. When man’s earliest ancestor realised that a patch of sunlight was warmer than the shade, or that rocks heated all day by the sun remained warm long into the night, solar energy was being used.

Mitsubishi Motors’ UK head office has now become a solar-fuelled power plant thanks to the successful installation of a 50kWp solar array on its roof in Cirencester, Gloucestershire.

So here we go again. Government has announced that feed-in tariff levels for solar PV installations are to be reduced again effective from the August 1. At first sight, this would appear to make installation of a solar roof unviable. But that isn’t the case, for two key reasons.

The first of the tri-monthly degression cuts to the feed-in tariff (FiT) is almost upon us. From Wednesday, all <4kW systems installed will receive 16p/kWh – a 63 percent drop in subsidy level since December 2011. Under the new framework, FiT rates will continue to tumble at regular intervals. To the casual observer, solar is getting less and less attractive.

Almost 150 solar modules now sit atop Taunton’s swimming pool after the local council commissioned the installation of a solar PV array to help the centre combat climbing energy bills.

The aerodrome at Dunsfold Park in Surrey is infamous as the home of BBC’s Top Gear test track and studios. However, the park now has another claim to fame; Dunsfold Park has become one of the nation’s only business parks to be fed entirely on ‘green energy’.

The fallout from the FiT fiasco last year saw many solar PV projects cancelled. However, after PV costs reduced by 50 percent last year and a further 30 percent this year, have you been too quick to cancel the project?

Warwick Independent School’s new sports centre extension will now be home to a renewable energy power plant, thanks to a solar PV installation by Williams Renewables Ltd.

Alan Scott, a gadget fan from Catcliffe South Yorkshire, has invested in his latest toy – a solar power plant for his semi-detached house.

After local Sustainable Parish Energy Partnership group, eCoton, organised a bulk purchase of solar PV modules last year, Cambridge-based solar installer Upbeat energy was able to offer a free solar PV system to a local school as a gift.