Solar ... In the news

Martyn1981

GTM Predicts 27% Drop In Solar Prices By 2022

Hopefully in a year or two, but certainly before 2022, we'll see the MIP (minimum import price) removed too, which is holding back a price reduction of about 25% v's Asian PV prices.

So, possibly around 45% cheaper than today. Might as well slap it on everything, at half the cost, wall mounted PV at 70% efficiency (v's 30d pitch) would work fine.

This University (pretty damn north) gets half it's energy from wall mounted PV.

Martyn1981

Four in ten homeowners want solar and storage by 2020 says E.On

New research has found that almost half of those asked would like to see solar and storage installed in the their homes by 2020, signalling that the domestic market may yet recover from the hard knocks of recent subsidy cuts.

The survey of 2,000 homeowners conducted by E.On found that when asked about the types of smart technologies they would want in their homes, four in ten (44%) said they’d like solar panels and/or an electricity battery storage system by the end of the decade.

This beat out the likes of smart lighting systems (35%) and an electric vehicle charging point (13%), despite the obvious synergies between the technologies.

Not that we'll ever catch up with Australia

One-quarter of Australian homes now have solar

Martyn1981

This seems both significant and ironic.

Coal Authority to clean up its act with the help of UK solar

The times they are a changin!

Martyn1981

....... subsidy free PV?

Next year could bring us a subsidy free PV farm. There's no detailed info yet on whether this will be sold to the grid, or some sort of arrangement with a company (as a PPA), but either way it's very good news, and it's a 'biggie'.

Hive readies ‘subsidy free’ solar farm for summer 2018 build

Hive Energy has revealed it is planning to build a solar farm in the UK without subsidy support next summer.

The UK-based developer has received planning permission for a 40MW solar farm at Woodington Farm, located on land surrounding the company’s headquarters near Romsey, Hampshire.

SPP originally reported on the project back in December 2015 when plans first emerged, with Hive having made a number of concessions to receive consent. The size of the array has been scaled back from original proposals, while bridle paths have been restored and a 25-year biodiversity plan has been put into place.

But the development will be most notable given that it is planned to be developed without any subsidy support from the UK government.

Martyn1981

UK’s ‘largest solar carport’ – with additional storage – planned for St Ives Park & Ride

Cambridgeshire County Council has received planning permission for what it claims will be the UK’s largest solar carport.

The installation, which will be developed at the site of St Ives’ Park & Ride, is anticipated to be 948kW in size and combined with a battery storage system as part of a wider demonstrator project with collaboration from distribution network operator UK Power Networks (UKPN).

Martyn1981

Future forecasts for PV suggest that the incredible year on year growth rates will slow down, but still expected to exceed 100GWp pa by 2021.

Global Solar Demand Will Exceed 80 GW In 2017; 9.6 GW Awarded In Q3 Alone

The graph (near the bottom) suggests just a 5.3% annual growth in demand, but solar has always exceeded predictions, and this year was expected to be less than last year.

Also costs are still falling, which means it keeps creating new demand as it overtakes other forms of generation especially as storage costs are falling fast too now, and together they are quite a formidable solution.

Looking good.

Martyn1981

Nothing special, just saw this and thought I'd share.

1m by 1.7m PV panels from LG, 21% efficient and 360W. Not bad.

zeupater

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Nothing special, just saw this and thought I'd share.

1m by 1.7m PV panels from LG, 21% efficient and 360W. Not bad.

Hi

Expensive though, just checked it out ... looks like around a 40% - 90% premium (£/Wp) over other 300W+ panels ....

HTH
Z

NigeWick

Martyn1981 wrote: »

1m by 1.7m PV panels from LG, 21% efficient and 360W. Not bad.

But, are they as cheap per Watt as 250W panels?

Martyn1981

PV has won some auctions in Spain, finally making a return after all the anti-PV policies. And it's a big return 4GW by 2020.

Spanish government provides auction’s official numbers: allocated solar capacity reaches 3.9 GW

Spain awards 4GW solar and 1GW wind in auction surprise