Almost two months after Eu ProSun, a new sustainable solar energy initiative to maintain a sustainable and vibrant solar manufacturing base in Europe, complained of unfair Chinese practices in the solar market, the European Commission has decided last 6th of September to start an investigation and to come to a decision on anti-dumping duties.
Milan Nitzschke, President of EU ProSun, the Sustainable Solar Energy Initiative for Europe said: “The European Commission took a big step today to save Europe’s green tech sector and broader manufacturing base. Chinese companies are selling solar products in Europe far below their cost of production, with a dumping margin of 60 % to 80%. This means that Chinese solar companies are making enormous losses, but are not bankrupt because they are bankrolled by the state. Such practices have led to over 20 major European solar manufacturers going out of business already in 2012 alone. If China destroys the EU solar industry where labour accounts for less than 10% of production costs, then virtually all European manufacturing sectors and jobs are under threat.”
Although solar panels manufacturing costs are dropping down thanks to technological advances, nowadays China is still capturing around 80% of the European market due to the dumping of subsidised Chinese production. If anti-dumping measures are imposed, not only Chinese monopoly would be stopped, but European solar market would also maintain, creating more jobs and helping to the growth of the European solar industry.
Nitzschke concluded: “EU ProSun calls on the EU to impose anti-dumping duties to restore fair competition and create a level playing field with China as soon as possible. If the EU acts quickly, we have a chance to maintain a sustainable solar manufacturing base in Europe.”
The UK’s biggest solar farm has just been launched on the Cadland estate in Fawley, Hampshire, with 30 acres of solar panels to provide enough electricity to power around 1,000 homes. (more…)
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has once more published and updated solar photovoltaic installations for the week ending 6th May 2012. Solar panels demand in the UK continues to drop as we could see last weeks, and overall have dropped off a cliff since the new Feed-in Tariffs started, lending support to these who say this decision was taken too fast, damaging thousands of homeowners and businesses.
An Energy Performance Certification (EPC) is a legal requirement in bought, sold or rented buildings in the UK.
Although there are some exceptions – places of worship, temporary buildings (less than 2 years of use ), standalone buildings with an area of less than 50m2 that aren’t used to provide living accommodation for a single person, industrial sites, workshops and non-residential agricultural buildings that don’t use too much energy, and holiday accommodations rented for less than 4 months or with a license to ocuppy -, Energy Performance Certificates are required for all the domestic and commercial buildings available to rent or sell in the UK.(more…)
As every week, the Department of Energy and Climate Change publishes the weekly statistics of solar PV installations all over the UK. Around 50 installations more than the week ending 15th April took place, which means that, right now, there are a total of 312,537 solar PV installations in the UK . As a result, these solar panels installations are producing more than 1 GW of energy (1,067,903 kW), that equals that when operating at peak performance, these panels could be powering up to 220,550 homes1. (more…)
Solar panel on the roof of King's Cross Train Shed
A massive £1.3m project to fit a 240 kilowatt solar system to the roof of King’s Cross station is nearing completion.
The station’s new roof captured imaginations when it opened last week and impressed many that saw it. Now the process of installing solar panels along two new curved glass roofs soaring high above the platforms and concourses is in many ways just as spectacular.
The solar PV cells are set into 1392 glass laminate units that form part of the 2,300 square metre glass roofing structure.
How Feed in Tariffs from 1st of April work? How householders benefit and how much are they going to earn with new FITs now? What does a house need for receiving 21p per kWh?
With the last changes in solar taxes, Explanimation has decided to create a video explaining how new Feed in Tariffs work, and also how much home owners could save annually thanks to solar panels and new taxes. Watch this video if you still have questions about new Feed in Tariffs, you’ll find it interesting and quite easy to understand.
One of the largest solar projects in the UK has been installed on a chicken farm in the Midlands, at a cost £1.2m.
Over 2,300 solar panels were installed on the roof of two massive building belonging to poultry farmer Edward Davies during the project, which stretched a distance of 210metres in total.
The plan includes a one hundred and fifty metre long ground array of 1,200 panels installed on the farm also.
Andy Boroughs, managing director of Organic Energy, who managed the project, said that it was one of the biggest of its kind anywhere in the UK.
“The Ludlow site is the single biggest installation ever created in Shropshire and we believe the Powys array is probably the largest in Mid Wales too,” he said.
Newcastle has been crowned the UK’s greenest city, beating off competition from Brighton, Bristol and even London. The annual survey undertaken by Forum for the Future named Newcastle at the top of its Greenest UK Cities list for a second year in a row.
The city’s willingness to accept green technology has seen it rapidly become a vibrant eco hub benefitting greatly from the blossoming green economy. (more…)
