We launch our book! 'The Solar Century'
The Solar Century edited by Jeremy Leggett ‘[Leggett has] done more to change attitudes towards the (solar) resource than almost any other individual’ Financial Times. Clean, silent, renewable and climate-friendly solar power is the holy grail of energy. And there’s no shortage of daylight out there: enough falls on the surface of the planet each day to power human society many thousands of times over. Yet there are still many myths about solar – especially the ideas that it’s prohibitively expensive, impractical for countries with cloudy skies, and will always require fossil-fuel stations on standby. In the first definitive book on the subject, Jeremy Leggett, founder and Executive Chairman Solarcentury, and the Solarcentury team debunk these myths. More importantly, they show how solar energy can be the backbone of a renaissance in which, after the current credit crunch and the impending...
Solarcentury Welcomes Government's "clean energy cash back" scheme
Solarcentury Welcomes Government's "clean energy cash back" schemeBut warns that the tariff numbers need to be higher to drive a big increase in investment in solar PV. Solarcentury today welcomed the Government's plans for a "clean energy cash back" or feed-in tariff scheme for households, businesses and communities investing in solar photovoltaics (PV). The proposed scheme, which is now subject to a three month consultation period and will launch in April 2010, is based on successful feed-in tariff models operating in other European countries. Key elements of the scheme include tariffs being paid on all generation for 20 years, an additional tariff for exported electricity, a target of delivering an investment rate of return of 5-8% "to make financing feed-in tariff installations a viable market proposition", different tariff rates for different technologies and scales of technologies, and no annual cap on the amount of solar PV that is eligible...
Solar power can deliver 100,000 new UK jobs by 2020
According to research from the UK Photovoltaic Manufacturers Association solar power could deliver 100,000 much needed jobs in the UK construction industry, helping kick start the UK’s economic recovery. The report, ’2020 A Vision for UK PV’, has been released as over 150 representatives of UK Government, Parliament, business and NGOs meet at the House of Commons today to discuss the potential for solar power to help economic recovery in the UK. Spurring this demand will be a Feed-in Tariff for solar power from April 2010 where solar producers may be paid three to four times than at present for their clean energy. Details of the much needed Feed-in tariff (FIT), as in place in over 18 European countries, are due to be announced by the Government this week. Members of the ‘We Support Solar’ Campaign wanting a substantial role for solar power in contributing to the UK’s 2020 renewable energy target include over 270 MPs who have signed the Commons motion (EDM 689) in support of sola...
