Large scale Solar power could be the best option moving forward

Could the world be run on solar power?

It’s widely acknowledged that the vast majority of currently used fossil fuels are running out, so much so that some scientists predict that we will be bereft of these fuel sources inside a century.

Its time to look at other forms of power, everyone agrees on that. One of the most viable long term solutions to the forecast power shortfalls is the widespread implementation of Solar Power.

As a comparison , the Solar Energy that hits a square mile in a year is the energy equivalent of over 4 million barrels of oil.

To match current energy demands the amount of area required to be tuned over to solar PV  would be around 0.2% of the total earth land mass. Read the rest of this entry »

Rolling power cuts could be seen in the future as we struggle to meet energy demands

This week the National Grid issues warnings to UK residents that over the coming winter its capacity to deliver power to UK homes and businesses will be at a 7 year low as a large number of generation plants have been closed or are foretasted breakdowns.

The grid has released figures detailing that spare electricity capacity last year ran at an average of just 4%, in 2011 that margin was 17%. Since 2012, however, 15 power plants across the UK have been fully or partially closed, leaving a shortfall in the UK’s energy generation capacity.

Predictions estimate Read the rest of this entry »

Recent studies are showing that the total cost of some conventional energy sources are far outweighing the direct cost of cleaner renewable energy sources such as solar.

The study, conducted and released by the European Commission, not only confirms the widely acknowledged fact that solar energy proves cost effective but also brought to public attention that the total direct cost implicated in conventional energy sources such as fossil fuels is significantly higher than that of renewable energy sources like wind or solar. The Support structure for solar across Europe is rapidly descending and coming into line with the huge reductions in cost we have seen over the past decade, other forms of energy like coal and nuclear power are still locked into heavily funded subsidies that they were the base rate 40 years ago.

The bottom line is that Solar has continued to prove itself despite cuts to subsides across Europe, if anything these cuts go as far as to prove how much momentum Solar has gained. As more and more solar installations, both domestic and commercial, are deployed the cost drops and more research makes panels more efficient. The subsidies per kilowatt must drop to reflect the increased production from investment.

Solar Energy has steadily become one of the best energy sources even when rivaled against conventional power and when it comes to renewable technologies it is arguably the top of the pile for the future. Due to the lessened infrastructure required ti set up solar and the variable plant size, from a small domestic system to large commercial sized arrays, Solar’s flexibility make it suitable for almost everyone.

To find out more about why solar energy is so popular and what it could bring to your business or home CLICK HERE to contact us

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Rochdale Borough Council have recently broken ground on what is to be the UK’s first publicly owned commercial solar farm. In its quest to become the UK’s most environmentally green local authority, the Council have undertaken a project to develop a sector of waste ground into a 250 kWp commercial solar plant.
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Swedish Flat-pack giant Ikea started a partnership with Chinese thin-film solar manufacturer Hanergy to bring easy Solar PV to domestic properties across the UK. Following an initial trial period the scheme was rolled out to all 18 of the Nordic superstores UK locations and saw huge uptake. Read the rest of this entry »

Following the cabinet reshuffle, the UK’s Solar champion in government, Greg Barker replaced new Secretary of State for Energy, Matt Hancock. Mr Hancock reaffirmed his faith in the UK’s solar potential several times in a Parliament debate on renewable energy this week, the new secretary was keen to point out how Solar PV was one of the largest potentials in the UK renewables race Read the rest of this entry »

Technology giants are seeing a new area of competition with each other, sustainability.

California based household name, Apple, have made a switch to renewable energy. Currentlyall of their US data centres are run on clean energy. Their North Carolina data centre located in Maiden is currently supplied by a 400, 000 square metre solar array.

Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environmental initiatives and the former head of the US Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), told Sky News why Apple had invested in the solar array. Read the rest of this entry »

Hot on the heels of the UKs freshly launched (and pioneering for Europe) Solar Strategy, the UK government granted approval for 8 renewable energy projects in the UK for 2014. These are the first set of projects to be awarded under the government’s energy market reforms. Read the rest of this entry »

Nottingham City Council have announced a huge investment into Solar PV as part of their commitment to lower the city’s carbon footprint. Most cities are taking steps like implementing park and ride systems to lower congestion and emissions and are now following London in the use of hybrid buses to dramatically lower fossil fuel consumption.

Nottingham council have taken it a step further and implemented Solar PV projects for 2 major park and ride hubs which service the City.  The 2 park and ride facilities, located at Queen’s Drive and Colnwick Racecourse will be aiming for completion by April 2015. Read the rest of this entry »