Sadiq Khan has expanded a scheme for London residents and businesses to buy high-quality solar panels after a first phase saw nearly 4,000 registrations. Participants of the Solar Together programme can register to buy solar panels at a reduced cost from suppliers by using a group-buying model. More than 1,100 households and businesses from Brent, Ealing, Merton and Sutton accepted the offer for the first phase, which was delivered by SolarCentury and Ikea. The first phase provided an average saving of 35% on the cost of solar installations. The scheme will now be rolled out across a further eight councils, including Camden, Haringey, Havering, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Newham, Waltham Forest and Westminster.
Edie 2nd July 2018 read more »
Britain’s heatwave has helped break several solar power-generation records, and over the weekend the renewable energy source briefly eclipsed gas power stations as the UK’s top source of electricity. While new solar installations have virtually flatlined over the past year, a run of largely cloudless days has seen a series of highs for power generation by the sector. Solar broke the record for weekly output between 21 and 28 June, producing 533 gigawatt hours of power. During that period, solar generated more than 75GWh on five of the seven days, another record. In a first, solar output also hit more than 8GW for eight consecutive days. The records are largely symbolic – gas and nuclear generated much more power in recent days – but the milestones shows how far the technology has come. A decade ago, solar contributed almost nothing to UK electricity supplies.
Guardian 2nd July 2018 read more »
Scorching temperatures across the north and north-east have led to a huge surge in the amount of household electricity being supplied by solar power. Weeks of unusually hot temperatures and clear blue skies in June meant that more people were using renewable energy during the month than in years prior. Figures released today show that north-east solar panels massively boosted Scotland’s overall solar power output, with the level generated in Aberdeen and Lerwick higher than in previous years. In Aberdeen, 136% of average household electricity demand was provided by solar power alone last month, compared to 85% last June. And in Lerwick the figure was 117%, up from 95% last June.
Press and Journal 3rd July 2018 read more »
The Solar Market Could Contract for the First Time Ever. The global solar market could do something this year that it’s never done before: shrink. Solar installations in 2018 may total 95 gigawatts, down 3 percent from a year earlier, based on the most conservative of three scenarios modeled by Bloomberg NEF in a report Monday. For comparison’s sake, the typical nuclear reactor has about a gigawatt of capacity.
Bloomberg 2nd July 2018 read more »