UK small-scale solar costs tumble as competition heats up for installers
Figures for 2024-25 financial year reveal double-digit percentage drop in median price for UK small-scale solar. Falling prices were driven by increased supply and technology advancements, according to DESNZ, while installer warns new rooftop opportunities could come with tighter margins.
Novel MPPT technique uses fuzzy logic control with new inputs
Academics have developed a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm for PV systems that combines incremental conductance with fuzzy logic control. The inputs used are the sum of conductance and incremental conductance and its rate of change. It had an average efficiency of 97.7%.
UK government mandates solar panels for new homes in England
Future Homes Standard to include solar panel mandate for new homes, UK government confirms. New building regulations are expected to make PV a requirement for almost all homes, with only “rare exceptions” where impact would be negligible, according to UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
Hewer launches pre-assembled unit for heat pump retrofit, installation
The UK-based heating solutions provider has developed a pre-engineered and ready-to-install unit compatible with most of the residential heat pumps available in the market. It can be placed underneath a standard hot water cylinder and transfer heat from the pump via a plate exchanger to the central heating indirectly.
TPG buys Aurora Energy Research
TPG Rise Climate has acquired UK-based Aurora Energy Research, expanding the US investment firm’s climate analytics portfolio. The deal follows reports earlier this year that Aurora’s private equity owner was exploring a GBP 1 billion ($1.35 billion) sale.
Scientists discover new failure mode in LECO-treated TOPCon solar cells
An international research team has observed a significant increase in series resistance in LECO-treated TOPCon solar cells after temperature and bias treatment. The scientists said they now need to conduct further investigations into its impact on cell efficiency, reliability, and bankability.
Edinburgh Instruments unveils spectrofluorometer for perovskite, organic solar cells
The new FS5 v2 Spectrofluorometer is available as a benchtop system for fluorescence spectroscopy.
New UK planning rules for heat pumps come into effect, one meter rule scrapped
Change to planning law could simplify heat pump installation process for thousands of households in England. Limits on the size and number of heat pumps that can be installed have also been raised. The changes have been introduced as the UK government pursues 600,000 installations per year by 2028 target.
The Hydrogen Stream: ZeroAvia to build UK hub for HTPEM fuel cells
ZeroAvia says it will build a hydrogen-electric powertrain factory in Scotland to produce high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HTPEM) fuel cell systems, while Thyssenkrupp Nucera and Fraunhofer IKTS have opened the first solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) pilot plant in Germany to scale green hydrogen stack production.
New research shows viability of residential ice-source heat pumps
Scientists in the United Kingdom have demonstrated the feasibility of residential ice-source heat pumps in cold climates and densely populated areas. They designed a heat pump system that utilizes existing gas pipelines to transport water.
