Solar PV continues to be ignored by the UK government despite the world understanding that this technology will power the world in the future. Fortunately, now that solar PV can deliver sensible returns with only small subsidies, local authorities have taken its efficiencies and reliability on board. A problem remains with the unfair rating of solar PV systems where the power is consumed by the owner of the building. This either drives more complex airspace lease arrangements, or simply pushes companies away from solar, which would otherwise be a very efficient way of reducing their energy imports and reducing carbon footprints.
We will cut your electricity bill by as much as 20% – New funding available.
It’s often the case that solar investments are pushed to the back of the queue, as other projects compete for consideration. At the same time, we all know that solar PV is a sound investment, is good for the climate and enhances our social responsibility.
Now business can have solar systems and cut power costs. Our funder will offer a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) based on your site and your consumption levels. This is often as much as 20% under the standard commercial industry rates.
So if you own your suitable building, purchase a minimum of 80,000kWh a year (around £10k p.a.), and have a good credit rating, we can cut your power costs and secure a long term supply for part of your power purchases. Contact us for more information.
LEADING LIGHTS! The Solar Trade Association data shows public support for solar is at 87% across the UK.
Strong public support for solar should be used by government to prioritise the technology as the preferred source of renewable energy. With the expected massive increase in energy storage which will be required to enable fuelling a rapidly increasing UK electric vehicle (EV) parc, solar is the ideal charging solution, often giving virtually free operation of EV’s. Commercial organisations should be looking closely at the combination of solar and storage.
It’s good to see that councils are leading the way and supporting clean energy projects so actively.
You can see the full STA report on Leading Lights here.
Gravity
New, cheaper methods of storage are crucial to the UK’s new distributed energy model and here’s one that uses old technology in a clever way, and does not need expensive, mined elements to do so. We have seen flywheel storage, but energy densities and costs are still an issue.
We have seen molten salt storage which seems to have the prospect of working well at large scale. However, simplest is often best when looking at the engineering, and gravity is a powerful and free resource. The “Gravitricity” concept also redeploys old mineshafts, and may offer lower cost of storage than all alternatives, including Li-Ion batteries.
Read more about this concept here.
Oxford PV leads the world
GTM Research report that the global market will add over 100 gigawatts in 2018, a record for solar PV which has become the default renewable energy technology worldwide. However, in lower insolation countries like the UK, the holy grail is to increase output and reduce cost. One UK company is leading the world in some of these developments. Oxford PV has taken the efficiency of the new Perovskite cell from around 4% in 2010 to over 20% today. Is this the solar PV technology of the future?
Oxford Photovoltaics, was founded in 2010 by Prof. Henry Snaith, who in 2013 was named as one of Nature magazines “Ten people who matter”. The company is developing and commercialising thin-film perovskite solar cells, which can be printed directly onto silicon solar cells or glass. This could drive a huge change in the cost of solar panels of all types. The printing process seems to give good possibilities for substantial cost reductions when compared with current high cost silicone production requirements. Is this the future of solar?
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