DESNZ Launches Call For Evidence For Solar Carports In The UK
The title of this post is the same as this article on Solar Power Portal.
These three paragraphs introduce the article.
The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has launched a call for evidence to help increase the number of solar-powered carports in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The likely result of this will be a mandate that car parks have a solar PV installation, as has been the case in France for some time.
Mandating solar on car parks has multiple benefits, which DESNZ is keen to emphasise. It says that a mandate would be a “better deal for motorists and businesses”
I may not be a fan of electric cars, but I’m certainly no fan of spreading solar panels over large areas of quality farmland.
There are some interesting statements.
Take this one.
DESNZ cites estimates that supermarkets, retail parks and offices could save up to £28,000 annually by installing solar carports (this figure calculated for an 80-space car park—the size that France mandates must be covered by solar PV) if all of the electricity generated by the solar array was used onsite.
£28,000 a year is not to be sneezed at!
And this one.
Earlier this year, Norwich-based RenEnergy, a solar carport provider, revealed that installing solar carports in more than half a million suitable parking spaces owned by UK businesses could generate 1.57GW of solar energy.
They do suggest that this figure only scratches the surface.
And then there’s this story from Bentley.
In 2019, Bentley Motors installed a solar car park at its headquarters in Crewe. The site’s 10,000 solar PV modules have a capacity of 2.7MW and cover an area of 16,426m². Along with other installed solar arrays and 6.6MW of battery energy storage, the car park enables all of Bentley’s manufacturing operations to be powered by solar or certified green energy.
How many other businesses could do that?
This Google Map shows the Bentley Motors site at Crewe.
Note.
- It appears to be a large site.
- Bentley employs over 4,000 employees at Crewe.
- In 2023, Bentley delivered 13, 560 cars.
- The solar car ports appear to be at the Western end of the site.
- There would appear to be a lot of scope to add more solar car ports at the Eastern end of the site.
Running along the Southern edge of the site is the North Wales Coast Line, which runs between Crewe and Chester and then on to North Wales.
I would have thought, that a case could be made out to have a station at the Bentley site for employees and visitors.
There also doesn’t seem to be the infrastructure, so that cars to some destinations can be delivered by train, like these from Toyota, which I photographed at Denmark Hill station, which were on the way to Europe, through the Channel Tunnel.
Perhaps sending luxury cars to their future owners by train is the wrong image.
Shawton Energy Joins Up With The Co-Op For Rooftop Solar
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Solar Power Portal.
These two paragraphs describe the agreement.
Renewable technology developer Shawton Energy has signed an agreement with the Co-Op group to help support the retail giant’s rollout of rooftop solar PV.
Working with Sol PV as a delivery partner, Shawton Energy will design, develop, fund, and manage rooftop solar PV systems at key Co-op locations using a power purchase agreement (PPA) model. This allows Co-op to make significant energy and cost savings without having to put forward any upfront investment. Co-op will now purchase the power from Shawton Energy at a flat, discounted rate. While this rollout currently only covers some of the Co-Op’s over 2,500 retail locations, there remains potential for expanding this partnership in the future.
This looks to me to be a deal, where all parties benefit.
- Co-op have thousands of locations, that could have solar roofs, which would be good green publicity.
- I suspect that the Co-op own a lot of their properties, so the collateral is there, if the deal goes wrong.
- I suspect many buildings are very similar, so design and installation costs could be reduced.
- Co-op get reduced-cost electricity.
- Shawton Energy can add other technologies like batteries and rooftop turbines to the deal.
From my experience of both sides of the leasing of multiple systems, I believe, that this would be the sort of deal, that reputable banks and finance houses would be very happy to fund.
It looks like the sort of deal that can be replicated.
Especially, as Shawton Energy have already done a deal with the Bannatyne Group, according to these two paragraphs from the article.
This is not the first significant deal with a well-known British chain that Shawton Energy has agreed this year. The company announced in March of this year that it had made an agreement with health and wellness club operator the Bannatyne Group, which has installed solar panels on the rooftops of a number of its health clubs, hotels and spas under a similar PPA agreement to that Shawton Energy has made with the Co-Op.
According to the Bannatyne Group, the installations, which consist of 967 panels and 11 inverters across eight sites around the UK, have already provided significant energy savings to the group. Since their completion, each of the eight sites has reportedly secured energy savings of up to 25%.
Savings of 25 % are worth having.
E.ON, Superdielectrics Develop Polymer-Based Battery Tech For Residential Storage Applications
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Solar Power Portal.
These two introductory paragraphs outline the deal.
Energy supplier E.ON and energy storage technology firm Superdielectrics have joined forces to promote and develop a new battery technology for stationary storage applications.
The new BESS technology takes a unique approach by using a polymer-based technology, with the main component being a membrane similar to contact lens materials. According to the two companies, these polymer batteries are both more affordable and more environmentally friendly than their lithium-ion counterparts.
I believe that this battery could be a game-changer. Especially, for those like me, who have solar panels on their roofs.
Check out the Superdielectrics web site for more details.
I First Spotted Superdielectrics In 2019
I wrote about them in Is Cambridge Going To Save The World From Global Warming? in 2019.
This was my conclusion in that post.
I have been observing technology since the 1960s.
This is either one of those scientific curiosities , like cold fusion, that appear from time-to-time and then disappear into the scientific archives or become a game-changer.
I suspect we’ll know in a couple of years.
But even if it is isn’t the solution to affordable and massive energy storage,, that will save the world, I believe that one of the teams of men and women in white coats, somewhere in the world will crack the problem.
It looks like they’ve taken longer than I thought they would.
Note though, that in the linked post, they have a link-up with Rolls-Royce.
Conclusion
This is one of the great energy breakthroughs of my life-time.
AI Forecast To Fuel Doubling In Data Centre Electricity Demand By 2030
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
International Energy Agency predicts that artificial intelligence could help reduce total greenhouse gas emissions
These are the first two paragraphs.
Data centres will use more than twice as much electricity by 2030 than they do today as artificial intelligence drives demand, the International Energy Agency predicts.
The agency forecast that all data centres globally will use about 945 terawatt-hours of electricity each year by 2030, roughly three times as much as the UK’s total annual demand of 317 terawatt-hours in 2023.
I am very much an optimist, that here in the UK, we will be able to satisfy demand for the generation and distribution of electricity.
- Our seas can accommodate enough wind turbines to provide the baseload of electricity we will need.
- Roofs and fields will be covered in solar panels.
- SSE seem to be getting their act together with pumped storage hydro in Scotland.
- I am confident, that new energy storage technologies like Highview Power with the packing of companies like Centrica, Goldman Sachs, Rio Tinto and others will come good, in providing power, when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.
- Hopefully, Hinckley Point C and Sizewell C will be online and soon to be joined by the first of the new small modular nuclear reactors.
- Hopefully, Mersey Tidal Power will be operating.
- There will be innovative ideas like heata from Centrica’s research. The economical water heater even made BBC’s One Show last week.
The only problem will be the Nimbies.
Centrica Business Solutions Powers Gressingham Foods Into A Sustainable Future
The title of this post, is the same as this press release from Centrica Business Systems.
This is the sub-heading.
Centrica Business Solutions has partnered with luxury poultry supplier, Gressingham Foods, to decarbonise its operation and unlock significant energy savings, with the installation of a 3.27MW solar array
These four paragraphs detail the project, its operation and the thinking it.
The energy solutions company will deliver a 5,100 solar panel array to Gressingham Foods’ main food processing site in Redgrave, Suffolk capable of providing more than a quarter of its total energy requirements – enough energy to power 111 homes.
The project will break ground in March and is expected to be fully operational by September 2025.
Once live, the solar project will accelerate the decarbonisation plans of the famous Gressingham Duck producer, by reducing more than 670 tonnes of carbon in the first year alone. The chosen site for the project is part of the original Gressingham duck farmland on the property – with low agricultural land grading, solar represents a great solution to make sustainable use of the space.
The solar project is part of a flexible Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that will see Gressingham Foods purchase the energy generated by the solar installation from Centrica Business Solutions over the next 12 years, with no upfront capital cost to Gressingham Foods. During this period, Centrica Business Solutions will own and maintain the solar site, guaranteeing its optimal performance.
I have posted this, as I feel the project is a good example of how this type of business can be partially decarbonised.
Certainly, with my rooftop solar installation, I now have the knowledge to have managed the energy on the stud farm, I owned with my wife, in a more efficient manner.
More Than Four In Ten New Homes In England Built With Solar Power
The title of this post, is the same as this press release from Solar Energy UK.
These two paragraphs add some more detail.
The introduction of more stringent rules on energy efficiency for new homes in England has driven a surge in solar panel installations.
The proportion of new homes and buildings that come with solar photovoltaic panels included has risen by more than three times in the last twelve months.
It certainly appears that solar is now an essential part of a new house.
The article calls it a dramatic jump.
That is a dramatic jump compared to only 5,731 of 44,310 newbuilds sporting solar panels in the last quarter of 2023 – only 13%.
Will the next product to be installed in houses, be batteries for individual houses?
I’m certainly thinking of one to complement my solar panels.
Solar Farms And Biodiversity
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Solar Power Portal.
This is the sub-heading.
A number of academics around the UK are researching the impact of solar farms on biodiversity, and major studies have all drawn the same conclusion: when well-managed, solar farms are not harmful to biodiversity and can actively support the growth of nature in an area.
Research at the Universities of Cambridge, Exeter, Keele and Lancaster is covered in the article.
This is the second post, I’ve written with the same title of Solar Farms And Biodiversity. in the other post, I talk about hares, which were not talked about in today’s post.
On this page on the lightsource bp web site, this is said about brown hares at Wilburton Solar Farm.
According to the Hare Preservation Trust, the population of the Brown Hare in the UK has declined by more than 80% over the last 100 years, and in some areas may even be locally extinct. But at Wilburton Solar Farm, the Brown Hare is thriving. Before the installation of the solar farm, the local gamekeeper had only observed three or four Brown Hares on site, but since the solar farm has been established, he has regularly seen more than 50.
From my observations of hares over the years, I suspect that solar farms could be an ideal habitat for hares.
Will 2025 Be A Bumper Year For Solar?
The title of this post, is the same as that of a sub title of this this article on Solar Power Portal, which is entitled Two Solar NSIPs Granted Development Consent.
This is the sub heading of the main article.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has granted development consent orders (DCOs) to the Heckington Fen Solar and West Burton Solar solar PV power plants.
This paragraph, gives a brief description of the two projects.
The two developments, both located in Lincolnshire, England, are classified as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Developments (NSIPs) as their proposed generation capacity is over 50MW. Combined, the Heckington Fen Solar and West Burton Solar projects will have a generation capacity of almost 1GW.
But it was the prominent sub-title in the article, that prompted me to write this post.
These were the three paragraphs, the author used to answer their question.
This year so far has already seen significant movement on several large-scale solar projects, with more to come throughout 2025.
Last week, international renewable energy developer Ørsted announced proposals for a 320MW solar PV power plant in East Yorkshire, the Kingfisher Solar Farm, for which public consultations are set to begin on 3 February. Meanwhile, Elements Green has opened the second phase of statutory consultations for its 800MW Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park, which will run until 20 February.
Plans for another proposed 800MW development, EDF Renewables UK’s Springwell Solar Farm, will be examined by the planning inspectorate following the successful submission of a DCO application for the project.
I also wrote UK Solar Deployment Poised To Increase 50% YoY, Following Rapid Growth In The Second Half Of 2024, just over a week ago, where I predicted a large growth in steel aolar panels on industrial and architect-designed buildings.
Conclusion
There may be a lot of new solar power generated in the UK in 2025, but because some of it will be roof-mounted and structural, we won’t see as much as we have in the past.
UK Solar Deployment Poised To Increase 50% YoY, Following Rapid Growth In The Second Half Of 2024
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article from Solar Power Portal.
This is the sub-heading.
Josh Cornes, analyst at Solar Media Market Research, looks at what 2025 might hold for the solar industry.
The first four paragraphs give some interesting statistics.
The UK is forecast to add between 3-3.5GWp-dc of capacity in 2025, just shy of the huge numbers seen in 2015 and huge growth on 2024.
The UK added around 2.3GWp-dc in 2024, exceeding original expectations with the help of a push in ground mounted projects toward the back end of the year. This equates to around 20% growth on the 1.9GW that was added in 2023.
Approximately 20% of the 2.3GW deployed in 2024 came from residential rooftop installations, continuing the boost in this sector, first highlighted by the near 200% year-on-year (YoY) increase from 2022 to 2023. Commercial rooftops also contributed 20% of installations in 2024 with a slight increase of 10% YoY.
Large-scale ground-mount installations in 2024 saw the largest growth, making up 60% of the annual capacity. This uptick has continued to be driven by projects with Contracts for Difference (CfD), with rounds AR4 and AR5, and even AR6, accounting for nearly 850MW of the 1.3GW added.
It is a well-written article, that should be read in full.
Summarising 2024
In 2024 solar installations broke down as follows.
- Ground-mounted -1.38 GW
- Residential rooftops – 0.46 GW
- Commercial rooftops – 0.46 GW
Which adds up to the total installed solar capacity of 2.3 GW.
3.5 GW of total solar is scheduled to be installed in 2025, which at that rate until the end of 2030 would add 21 GW of total solar power.
But the UK will get help from what I think is one of the best solar ideas, which surprisingly comes from The University of Swansea in Wales.
This Google Map shows the three large solar roof panels on Denmark Hill station in London.
Note.
- The three large panels are flat.
- The panels are built on a steel substrate.
- Two provide shelter for three platforms.
- The third panel provides shelter for entering passengers.
These pictures show the panels from various angles.
So often, a small improvement opens up a large opportunity.
This page on the Kalzip web site which is entitled Modernisation of Denmark Hill Station, gives more details of the station project.
Over the years, I put up a few steel-roofed buildings in my time and I helped design a few with a client in the 1970s, that could have benefited from solar panels like these.
Project Fortress
Project Fortress is described like this in its Wikipedia entry.
Project Fortress (formerly Cleve Hill Solar Farm) is a photovoltaic power station under construction on the Graveney marshes between Faversham and Whitstable, Kent in the UK.
Once operational, it will be the largest solar farm in the UK, generating 373 MW of electricity from 900 acres (360 ha) of vertical solar panels and will also include 700 MWh of battery storage. Because of its size, it is a nationally significant infrastructure project so outside the standard local planning procedure.
Electricity will be exported from the project via the 400 kV National Grid substation at Cleve Hill, constructed to serve the London Array offshore wind farm that lies to the north. Here, a battery array will be placed, that will charge from the sunlight during the day and release the energy at night when it is needed.
It is one of the very few co-located solar farms and lithium ion batteries that are co-located with a wind farm in the UK.
We need more of these to balance our power supplies and improve their quality.
The Anonymous Widower 