Solar Energy UK

British wholesale distributor Midsummer has teamed up with solar mounting system manufacturer Solarport to integrate ground-mounted arrays into its solar design tool.

Effective Feb. 1, the UK government has exempted retrofitted battery energy storage systems (BESS) from the 20% value added tax (VAT).

Recent data published by Great Britain’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) show the country’s solar PV cumulative capacity was 15,292.8 MW at the end of July, with newly installed capacity for the first seven months of this year reaching 643 MW. Although Gareth Simkins of Solar Energy UK said these figures were ‘relatively low’, he explained that several utility scale PV plants may have not been included in the statistics so far and there was cause for optimism.

With copper prices rising, inflation driving up the cost of living, and organized criminal gangs stepping up operations in the United Kingdom and across Europe, solar project owners need to be more conscious than ever of security.

With the last incumbent to enter and leave the revolving door of UK prime ministers having caused alarm by reportedly preparing plans to effectively ban big solar on farmland, Harald Överholm, CEO of clean energy company Alight, says politicians need to put discredited arguments behind them and get on with the urgent business of shoring up energy security.

Solar Energy UK members have made positive noises about a plan to shift historic, fixed-payment incentive contracts over to contracts-for-difference deals, which would limit the profits they would receive from soaring energy prices.

The results of the latest survey conducted by the UK government show solar maintains its high level of affection among the public, even when respondents were asked their feelings about having a solar field installed nearby.

Last year’s figures marked the first time the market saw sustained, subsidy-free growth across residential, commercial and utility scale projects, according to trade body Solar Energy UK.

The government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy surveyed householders and small businesses and was told the prospect of firms having to pay higher taxes after installing PV prompted fury – just as the national solar trade body has been telling Whitehall for years.

Solar Energy UK today called on the government to provide it with the same kind of support that has been extended to offshore wind companies.