Solar 54
The seventh annual Renewable Energy Association (REA) Awards ceremony took place in London last night recognising the UK renewable energy industry’s achievements over the past 12 months.
The British Photovoltaic Association (BPVA) is to create a documentary-style film and television advert to engage viewers and promote the PV industry.
In just over three months’ time, Solar Power UK 2012 will open its doors to the global PV industry.
Conergy has launched its first quarterly Solar Returns Tracker today to highlight the long-term returns available to UK property owners, despite the 1 August changes to government incentives for solar power.
This year’s Solar Future UK conference (London – 26 June) will outline options available to installers and investors looking to fund PV installations.
PV installers Solarlec has reported a significant rise in large scale installations this month compared to this time last year.
In a boost for Scottish renewable heating options, Aberdeenshire-based AD Heating has opened its training centre and showroom.
According to PV manufacturers Sharp, it has achieved the world’s highest solar cell conversion efficiency of 43.5 per cent using a concentrator triple-junction compound solar cell.
Panasonic Eco Solutions Energy Management Europe (PESEMEU) has announced the release of a new black back sheet solar module designed for domestic properties.
British firm Crosskase has combined backpack and solar technology to develop the Solar 15 backpack – a versatile accessory which the company says is ideal for those who can’t live without their essential gadgets and need them to stay charged and protected away from the home or office.
Key Features of the Crosskase Solar 15 backpack:
* Integrated 3 Watt solar panel on the front of the bag soaks up natural light and stores the energy generated inside the internal battery.
* High capacity battery can charge most handheld devices on-the-go (phones, music players, GPS, pocket consoles)
* Speedy 2 hour charge time for many devices i.e. iPhone 4, iPod nano 6G, Samsung Galaxy, HTC, Nokia N95, Blackberry Curve.
* Stores enough power to charge most devices twice over and can be used again and again, as the battery will recharge from:
* Solar power (8 hours)
* Mains power (3 hours)
* USB power connection (4 hours)
Energy minister Greg Barker, called for more community-funded solar projects across the country as he visited one of the first schools in the UK to generate its energy from a community-funded solar project.
PV installers Cleaner Air Solutions have put together a new PV training course in association with Renewable Energy Academy.
Global PV manufacturer Trina Solar has announced a collaboration with Germany-based E3/DC to develop next generation energy storage solutions for homes and small businesses.
Canadian Solar has successfully launched its Authorised Reseller Programme in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region.
Reports have surfaced that Sharp Solar is set to move its German HQ to its existing manufacturing site in Wrexham handing the UK PV sector a welcome boost.
UK solar mounting manufacturers REDtip has launched a stainless steel roof anchor it says is purpose-designed for UK roofs.
Phono Solar has launched its latest product – the Enercube – which it describes as a new residential energy storage and management solution.
PV manufacturer Canadian Solar has supplied modules to a German research and testing facility to measure the designed efficiency increases of its ELPS technology.
Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) has launched what it says is the first commercially-available multicrystalline product based on cells with backside passivation technology.
Azur Solar has been awarded the Plus X Award for “Best Product of the Year 2012” and “Most Innovative Brand of the Year 2012” for its product the Azur Independa.
Ploughcroft has marked receiving Cskills accreditation with a special event at Eco Roof Visitor Centre/training facility in Brighouse, Yorkshire.
Mechatron has launched two new solar tracker systems which, it claims, increases the energy yield of modules by 40 per cent.
Thin film PV module manufacturer Solar Frontier has announced an upgraded product lineup spanning 140 – 160W modules – the S series – now commercially available from its 900MW capacity Kunitomi factory in Japan.
Inverter manufacturers Power-One has unveiled its second generation of micro-inverters – the improved AURORA MICRO-0.3-I and AURORA MICRO-0.25-I.