Solar Power First

As we scanned the solar industry news, we were delighted to see exciting new plans revealed that would see the installation of a major new solar farm on a 420,000sq.m site near Darlington. Darlington Borough Council has been asked for planning guidance with regards to a new solar project on land just east of Aycliffe Village. The proposed solar farm could have an export capacity of up to 31 Megawatts – which would be enough to power in the region of 10,000 average homes! The Solar Trade Association has welcomed the news, reminding the public that the UK needs to continue to increase its solar generation considerably if it is to meet its 15% renewable energy target by the end of this year, or early next year at the very least. A spokesperson for the STA stated: “Solar creates investment and local green jobs, whilst reducing the reliance on overseas fossil fuel imports.” A spokesman for the firm running the project added: “The low-lying solar development would sit within the gently rolli

Today we bring exciting news that Scottish Water, after 46 solar projects and 20 wind power projects, has unveiled plans for its first combined solar power and battery storage facility.  The £2 million project will be located close to Perth’s Waste Water Treatment Works on the River Tay and will be the largest single solar energy investment ever for the publicly-owned water company’s commercial subsidiary, Scottish Water Horizons. The project will see just over 2,500 solar panels installed on land close to the treatment works, with the two areas having a combined generation capacity of just over 1MW. Crucially it will be the first Scottish Water solar project that will also include battery storage, with the presence of four vanadium flow batteries (VFBs) that will offer the potential for storing up to 0.8MWh of energy.  The addition of battery storage to this site should allow for around 95% of the renewable energy that is generated to be used directly on the site. The project is expec

It was great to see news recently that a Shropshire hospital, in addition to all it already does to help people, is choosing to add further benefit to their community by sourcing their ongoing power requirements from solar energy. The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital is the hospital in question, and is planning to transform their energy usage through a series of projects, the first of which will be achieved through the installation of 1,760 solar panels across the hospital site. On a summer’s day, the installation will be capable of generating in the region of 2,300kWh of electricity, with more than 99.9% of this energy going directly toward the hospital’s own electricity system, which in addition to reducing the hospital’s carbon footprint, will also reduce day-to-day running costs. This level of generation is roughly equivalent to supplying 280 family homes with 100% of their electricity for an average day’s consumption. The hospital will send the remaining fraction o

Another positive announcement for the global solar industry came with the news that there will soon be two new solar panel factories opening in Algeria, built by Milltech and Zergoun Green Energy and equipped to supply around 260 MWp of solar panels per year. Algeria’s energy commission Cerefe, standing for Commissariat aux énergies renouvelables et à l’efficacité énergétique, announced the new factories in its first annual report, published recently. Cerefe stated that the factory under construction in the industrial zone of Boukherana, which is around 250 miles from Algiers, could be commissioned before the end of the year. It belongs to Milltech and is projected to produce around 100 MWp of solar panels per year.  Milltech say of their solar production process: “Thanks to our ability to produce standard and high voltage modules in monocrystalline and polycrystalline technologies, glass-glass and bifacial modules, as well as half cut cell modules, we believe that our product series,

Our team are used to covering positive stories around new solar projects and the environmental and economic benefits they can bring, but today’s story is a little different. Today we bring news of an enormous fine from the EU towards the Netherlands for allegedly evading duties they should have paid on solar imports. When we say enormous, we mean 659 MILLION EUROS enormous! The Netherlands are challenging the ruling, saying it is not justified. The charges relate to anti-dumping and countervailing duties that were allegedly avoided between May 2015 and March 2017, in relation to solar imports from  China, Malaysia and Taiwan. Such duties were introduced in 2013 as part of EU regulation on the growing solar industry.  The EU ruling suggests that the Netherlands failed to impose €824 million worth of anti-dumping  and countervailing duties on imports across the aforementioned 22 month period. They believe  an incorrect interpretation of the rules imposed by the European Commission. The

We like to keep an eye on how different regions in the UK are engaging with renewable energy targets and net zero aims, and today’s update comes from the West Midlands. Consultants have suggested to the West Midlands Combined Authority that if the region is to meet its admirable target of being net zero by 2041, there are a number of measures that need to be put in place. A recent meeting with the intention of forming a plan to be put before the WMCA board has come up with a number of suggestion for provisions that should be made by 2026, which include: A “fivefold” increase in the number of properties with solar panels 50% of homes retrofitted “to a reasonable standard” of energy efficiency Increase from less than 1% of vehicles being electric, up to 8.5% Industries using gas, oil and coal to reduce from 5TWh to less than 4.7TWh Images shown at the presentation suggest that the region currently emits in the region of 11 megatons of CO2 emissions annually. B arny Evans, presenting, sai

Kenya are set to add 80MW through the creation of two now 40MW solar plants being built in 2021, a significant increase for a nation who generates approximately 200MW of solar at present. Kenya’s energy regulator made the announcement recently, with Caroline Kimathi, who is the principal renewable energy officer at the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), stating "Private investors have received approval to build two solar electric plants at 40 MW each that will be operational in 2021." Kimathi was speaking to a forum reviewing a draft regulation on solar energy. Kenya currently imports more than 90% of the solar equipment it uses, with local production limited. Regulations being proposed  in the country will recommend various key standards for solar equipment imported into the nation in order  to safeguard Kenyan consumers. There is plenty of potential for the nation to increase its capacity even further, with Kenya an ideal location for solar energy generation

  If there’s one thing we know about Texas, it’s that it’s huge. If there’s another thing we know, it’s that it gets its fair share of sunshine. With that in mind, it makes it the perfect place for a large-scale solar project, which is exactly what Nestle are in the process of doing, a project that will prove to be their largest renewable energy investment to date. The solar project, which will cover around 2,000 acres, is making use of NextTracker components, Power Electronics’ Freesun HEM inverters and in the region of 855,000 Jinko Solar modules. The project, named Taygete I, has generated more than 300 jobs during peak construction. Over the life of the new construction, it is expected to generate tens of millions of dollars in property tax revenue for Texas. 7X Energy, who are a utility-scale solar developer, have partnered with Nestlé as the sole tax equity investor, with 7X also being the project owner and asset manager. Their CEO, Clay Butler, commented on the project, saying:

  We’re always interested to hear about the different ways that nations are making use of solar, from homes, to offices to major industry, but one area we haven’t covered much to date is tourism and hospitality. That’s why it was so interesting to us to hear recently that Saudi Arabia appears to be planning what is claimed to be the world’s largest battery storage site, which they plan to use to power a huge new tourist complex by the Red Sea. The project, which is estimated to take a decade to reach its full completion, is being carried out by The Red Sea Development Company and is going to use an eventual 1GWh-worth of battery storage to ensure that the biggest holiday complex on the planet will be fully powered by renewable energy 24/7. The first phase will include the addition of 210MW in wind and solar generation, with the aim of being in place by 2022 and powering the 12 hotels and an airport that should be up and running by this point.   By the time the project culminates in 203