The UK are the first nation in Europe to have announced and launched a dedicated solar strategy.  The Department of Energy and Climate Change announced in early April 2014 that their solar strategy would be published, this is the first dedicated document to solar energy strategy by a European government, and is a testament to the massive level of growth that the solar sector has bared witness to over the past few years.

The newly published strategy has placed a particular emphasis on encouraging the deployment of rooftop solar systems including the currently slow but steady growth of the commercial sized systems. The document also confirms the government’s goal to reach one million solar powered homes by 2015.

Energy Minister Greg Barker said “we have managed to put ourselves among the world leaders on solar and this strategy will help us stay there” 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 »

UK Solar installers predict that the majority of installations that take place across the country in 2014 will be installed on the roofs of large commercial buildings. Warehouses, delivery depots and factories usually have large flat or shallow pitched roofs, making them an ideal candidate for solar PV mounting.

In addition to this commercial buildings are perhaps one of the best suited to Solar PV in the UK. Through the Governments Feed In Tariff scheme the owner of a building / solar PV array can be eligible to receive regular payments for generating their own electricity. Once the electricity has been generated then the producer will receive their payment no matter what, most businesses then find that they can dramatically cut down on their energy bills by using the electricity they have just generated to power lighting, computers or machinery; thus lowering overhead costs and increasing the profits and sustainability of the Read the rest of this entry »

Ole!

Think of Brazil,  Beaches, Football, Food and SUN!   Well now the South American giant is set to make Solar PV energy a viable and sustainable energy source to provide power to the country.   As the worlds eyes shift to Brazil ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics, Brazil are expanding their use of renewable energy across the country.

Currently wind power has proved the most popular across Brazil, but in the countries national energy auctions held at regular intervals the potentials of Solar PV are being unlocked as peak prices come into an accessible range. Read the rest of this entry »

SSE have announced a freeze in their domestic electricity and gas prices until 2016.  Following on from the controversial price increase seen across the Big 6 energy suppliers, SSE have taken a leap and frozen their tariffs from further increase for the next 2 years.

The decision has been welcomed by energy secretary Ed Davey, especially as it should prompt the other large players to do likewise. SSE have stated that the price freeze would lower profits but that they were taking steps to “streamline” the business to cover shortfall. The move has echoes of the popular labour policy of price freezing for energy companies and whilst popular with consumers, SSE’s choice has been criticized by many in the industry. Read the rest of this entry »

Getting solar panels installed onto your commercial real estate is going to be a much smoother process if you know what to expect. The various solar energy companies out there will have their own unique approach, but when it comes down to it the outline of what you can expect is the same

The On-site Survey

To begin proceedings the solar panel installation service needs to make a visit in order to provide you with an accurate quote of what the job will cost, or even give you a proposal for what the job will cost. Getting an upfront proposal where you get to pay in advance might be to your benefit, because it means there will be no nasty surprises in the form if unexpected fees. Some companies might even offer you a free on-site evaluation, and this is what you ideally want because that will allow you to get evaluations from several companies without any investment. Read the rest of this entry »

Following on from an announcement that SSE would be freezing domestic energy prices in the UK until 2016.  Today the news has been announced that the larger Energy providers in the UK the “Big Six” are to be the subject of an investigation with regard to preventing effective competition with the UK energy Markets.

British Gas, Eon, Npower, SSE, Scottish Power and EDF combine to make up the “Big 6” of energy providers who account for around 95% of the market in the UK.

The published Ofgem report does not make any accusations of the group having colluded over pricing. Ofgem have referred the case to the Competition Markets Authority (CMA) and the CMA will conduct an Read the rest of this entry »

Your aim as a business must be to make as much money as you possibly can, but you need to do so while keeping your carbon footprint to a minimum. One of the ways both objectives can be met with one investment is to opt for solar energy solutions, which will be used to power your businesses processes and buildings.

Operating Costs Are Lowered

Did you know that you can get tax breaks when you use renewable energy sources to run your business such as solar energy? Anything that you can do to increase the figure of your bottom line is surely a good thing, and by opting for solar energy you can get as much as 15-25% back off your tax forms by making the investment. Read the rest of this entry »

If you own commercial property with a lot of open space on the roof then consider investing in commercial solar panels. They have benefits that will not only cut energy operating costs, but will also go a long way towards improving the environment.

Picking A Company

You need to find commercial solar panels that have very high energy efficiency ratings. This means that they need to be able to convert as much of the incoming solar rays to electrical energy as possible. The more efficient the solar panels are the bigger the energy savings will be, and that is why you need to select a company that is known for high quality products. Read the rest of this entry »

The application process for a G59 can vary from area to area.

A G59 application is required in order for your business to feed electricity back to the grid and add another revenue stream to your returns from Solar PV. The organisation that process and approve G59 is called a DNO or Distribution Network Operator. DNOs operate on a area basis and cover the country between them, each DNO will have slightly different rules regarding the G59 application process and it is advisable to establish which Distribution Network Operator you will need to apply to and check their procedures.

Read the rest of this entry »