Tag Archives: Photovoltaics

First Solar panels power Hackney estate

October 2011: Hackney Homes has installed the first solar panels as part of its Green Estate pilot in a 50 property block in Haggerston. Further information on news release here.

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Blackfriars station to install the largest PV array in London

4 October 2011: Work is due to start to install more than 4,400 solar panels – more than 6,000 square metres of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels –  into the new roof of Blackfriars station in central London. The scheme will create the biggest solar array in London, and make the new station the world’s largest solar bridge. Further detail in an article in The Guardian and from developer Solar Century here.

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Free solar PV panels for your community

September 2011: From jojusolar.co.uk: “To celebrate our 5th birthday, Joju Solar will be giving away a free solar PV system and installation to a lucky community group. The entries will be judged by leading environmentalist Jonathan Porritt.
To enter the competition download the Community Giveaway Entry Form and return to Joju Solar before the deadline date. The deadline for entries will be Friday 7th October with the judges short listing entries there after before announcing the winner at the end of October.”

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Haringey to invest £15 million in solar panels for schools and homes

25 August 2011: The Tottenham & Wood Green Journal reports that “Schools, libraries, social housing and council offices, which could include the Civic Centre and River Park House, both in Wood Green, will be set up with the photovoltaic panels in a move that could double London’s current solar power capacity. The council will plough in £8.5 million of its own cash into buying panels for council buildings and rent out the rest of its rooftops to third-party providers to raise the remaining £7.5 million for the scheme. Read the full story here.

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Landlord to test green technologies

17 August 2011: Interesting article posted at Inside Housing:
“Greenfields Community Housing is fitting photovoltaic panels to 1,000 of its 8,000 homes and testing ways to improve the energy efficiency of the remainder.
The housing association, which is based in Essex, is starting trials of 10 different energy-saving technologies. These will run for a year to test their effectiveness before a decision is made on which should be rolled out more widely.
One thousand south-facing homes will also be fitted with photovoltaic panels. This work will be funded through a roof rental scheme and is due to start next spring.

Lynn Thomas, asset manager at Greenfields, said: ‘We are very keen to work with our contractors, including Higgins Construction, Apollo and Worcester Bosch, to maximise opportunities to try new green initiatives, with the ultimate aim of reducing energy use and our residents’ energy bills.’”

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Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor

July 2011: This month the Mayor answered London Assembly questions in relation to energy efficiency funding of Mayoral programmes RE:NEW and RE:FIT; an update on the forthcoming Renewable Energy Capacity study; the number of solar panels installed on London Underground properties; the amount of carbon emitted by the lights at Piccadilly Circus; and whether the New Bus for London meets the ‘Low Carbon Bus’ standard.

Previous questions to the Mayor can be found here.

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Community projects impacted by the feed-in tariff review

July 2011: Friends of the Earth have provided a really interesting update on a number community energy projects using renewable energy technologies, whose viability has now been threatened as a result of the Government’s FIT review and its reduction in the tariff rates for >50kW photovoltaic projects.

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Green Streets, Strong Communities

July 2011: Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) report evaluating the British Gas Green Streets community energy challenge in which 14 groups from communities in England, Scotland and Wales were selected to compete for a prize of £100,000. Each was given a share of a £2 million injection of capital, as well as technical advice from British Gas, to spend on a variety of microgeneration (or ‘microgen’) and energy efficiency measures in community buildings and surrounding households. Two London schemes were included amongst the communities involved: Ham and Petersham (Richmond) and Hyde Farm Climate Action Network (Wandsworth).

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Which guide to photovoltaics

24 June 2011: A Which? undercover report shows how some solar panel companies are using dodgy sales tactics and are giving poor advice to people looking to buy PV panels. Further information on their survey as well as  Which’s online guide on how to buy solar panels, which includes information on solar PV costs and payback times here.

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Bexley gives go ahead to large solar project

10 June 2011: News report from solarportal.co.uk that “the Business Academy Bexley has been given the green light for the installation of a 558.6kW system that will generate around 45% of the electricity used by the Academy, cutting an estimated £46,790 off its annual £104,700 electricity bill and reducing its carbon footprint by 457 tonnes a year. The unanimous decision by Bexley Council’s Planning Committee on 9 June followed its planning officer’s recommendation. Work on installing the solar farm, which will cover an area nearly three times the size of the football pitch at Wembley Stadium, is expected to start within days and to be completed by the end of July, meaning it will beat the upcoming feed-in tariff cuts.” Full details on the scheme are set out in  developers application to the Council and Bexley’s report to the Planning Committee (report item 7a) .

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Community initiative hopes to Energise Barnet

20 April 2011: Energise Barnet, a community initiative set up by local residents, plans to set up a network of ‘green’ buying groups in order to help homeowners and local businesses generate their own electricity and make their homes more energy efficient.

As part of this new scheme, Energise Barnet seeks to partner with installers of solar photovoltaics, solar thermal, heating boilers, solid wall insulation and providers of other green products and services. By helping local residents to realise their green potential, Energise Barnet hopes to bring down energy bills and increase carbon awareness.

Energise Barnet received seed funding after coming top in a competition to find ideas to accelerate the creation of a sustainable energy system. ‘Gatecrashing the UK Energy sector’ was a competition run by Forum for the Future. Read more here.

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A study of photovoltaics in an urban setting

15 March 2011: Abstract of a paper from research being conducted at London South Bank University’s Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Buildings (CEREB) highlighting what happens when PV’s suffer from over-shading.

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