The UK is in the midst of a race to install solar PV on its roof-tops from domestic dwellings to schools, hospitals, council buildings and agricultural sheds.  All this is being driven by the Feed- In-Tariff (“FIT”) that has been put in place since April 2010 by the UK Government, to support renewable energy generators to invest in technology such as solar PV.  The FIT provides an index-linked subsidy for power generated for 25 years, providing an ideal investment asset for pension funds and long-term investors.

Whilst roof-top solar no doubt has its place, an innovative company based in Scotland and Somerset, SolParks, has looked further afield and brought another variant of solar PV to the UK market – the solar car canopy.

The solar canopy is a structure built over a car parking space with solar PV panels mounted on its top. The canopies bring a number of direct user benefits such as shelter in poor weather, keeps cars shaded from the heat of the sun and can add further to user amenity, by adding in electric vehicle charging points (powered by renewable power, rather than mains) and using LED lighting under the canopies, which can be sensor operated, rather than large street lighting, to provide bright, safe car parking.

The power generated by the solar PV can be supplied direct to the car park owner, or can be supplied to the national grid.

The environmental and user benefits are obvious but also extend to easing legal issues between landlord and solar PV operator.

Elliot Roe of Solparks says “we researched the market for more innovative solutions for solar PV and found car park canopies in both France and USA, where the markets are far larger.   The benefits in the UK are obvious as well and we are innovating even further by using the FITs to enhance the financial benefits for users.”

Solparks is looking for installations of 12 car parking spaces up to 100.   Roe goes on to say “we can provide the installation to a site owner without any cost to them.  We undertake the planning consent, construction works, grid connection and pay for the canopies and solar PV.  The user in return receives discounted power and gains the benefits for their car park users.   The power they can’t use on site is exported to the grid.”

Using the power generated from solar PV on site can save the landowner power costs and can provide a valuable hedge against the threat of rising electricity prices. It also sends a strong, visible, message to customers about green credentials.

Roe says “ we are happy to work with any size of car park owner; however, an ideal customer would be one with multiple car parks. That way the customer achieves wide spread benefit, and the amount of power generated becomes a meaningful contribution to reducing their power bills.”

Solparks feels its solution offers much more simplicity for building owners.  The solar PV doesn’t compromise the core building, no structural surveys or reinforcements are needed and we can also accommodate re-development much more readily.

So why, given all these advantages, is the product limited to 100 spaces in any one location ?  Roe comments that “the changes in the FIT from 1 August make it very difficult, with the FIT alone, to achieve the sorts of levels of returns that are needed to fund a roll-out on a larger scale.  There are other commercial solutions that could be looked at to achieve much larger deployments however and we would be delighted to hear from any potential Solparks customer”

Solparks provides a fully turn-key service to those wanting to purchase rather than lease.  The service includes planning, grid connection, Ofgem accreditation, procurement of all materials and onsite installation. Solparks can also provide an ongoing operation, maintenance, monitoring and reporting service.

The Solparks product comes with a full 25 year warranty over the steel and PV installations plus a 2 year workmanship warranty.

And what of electric vehicle transportation ?    Solparks believes solar car parking can play a large role in the infrastructure needed for electric vehicles – both cars and scooters.    Roe says “adding charging points below the canopies, powered by the sun, is an easy next step and can provide further amenity to customers”.

Given the benefits, we expect to see many Solparks installations starting to appear, and provides large car park owners with another potential revenue stream from an asset that they already own.

For more information email elliot@solarfeedintariff.co.uk

WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE UK GOVERNMENT FEED-IN-TARIFF?

Individuals can purchase installed PV systems on UK commercial rooftops that are already generating income.

10%+ YIELDS IN YEAR 1

These systems are already generating income at known irradiation levels and government feed-in-tariffs, giving a minimum of 10% net yield per annum.

INCOME WILL INCREASE WITH INFLATION

In the UK, the government’s feed-in-tariff increases in line with the Retail Price Index. In 2011 that figure is 4.7%, however in forecasts we use an average of 3%. At that rate the Year 25 asset yield would be 16.5% per annum.

CHOOSE YOUR SIZE & LOCATION FROM £15K

Installations are already in place and connected on commercial rooftops, residential rooftops and farm land. Choose your preferred location and sites range from up to 4kW, 10kW and 50kW.

OUTRIGHT OWNERSHIP

Purchasers acquire outright ownership of the installed PV equipment and the connection and income rights for the system via the 25 year UK feed in tariff.

FIRST TWO YEARS MAINTENANCE & MONITORING FREE

The EPC developer offers immediate peace of mind to the investor by providing the first 2 years operation, maintenance, and management included.

TAX EFFICIENT ‘CAPITAL ROLLOVER RELIEF’

Depending on your situation, you may be able to claim ‘capital rollover relief’ against the total amount invested. Speak with your tax advisor.

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Having just got back from Intersolar, Europe’s largest solar trade fair, I thought I’d give a round-up of some of my highlights from the show.

Thin film solar modules

I’m particularly interested in certain thin film modules that have now demonstrated their reliability and are starting to gain market acceptance. Some thin film PV companies have been around for over 20 years and many have fallen by the wayside. The surviving companies however are now looking very strong. Their products have now proven themselves in the lab and in the field, and the companies that make them have found ways to reduce production costs and improve efficiency. Thin film has inherently lower manufacturing cost than crystalline silicon, and the potential for efficiency improvement is greater. Therefore I’m confident that over time we will be seeing more thin film get installed.

Storage

A common theme of this years show is storage. Every inverter manufacturer had some kind of energy storage product on show this year. Most solar inverter manufacturers offer back-up energy storage systems that use batteries (typically Lead-acid or Lithium Ion). These provide day/night storage so that solar energy can be used after the sun has set in the evening. Batteries however are not great for storing energy over long periods, so they don’t solve the problem that more energy is produced in summer months than during the winter.

To deal with this problem, Fronius have unveiled their ‘Energy Cell,’ a hydrogen fuel storage system for the home. During the summer, an electrolyzer uses excess electricity from the PV system to split hydrogen from water and store it in a tank. During the winter, this hydrogen is then turned back into useful electricity via a fuel cell. The system has already been a prototype for several years, but this year’s Intersolar showed the system as being almost ready for the mass market. Of course the technology will start out very expensive, but it shows that solar energy can deliver constant power, and its only a matter of time before the cost of the technology falls.

How the Fronius energy cell works

Inverters

We spent some time with SolarEdge who have strengthened their product range and now offer a wider range of inverter sizes, all fully accredited for the UK. They have also been developing their system to be used on larger installations, so people may use them on commercial jobs as well from now in. They also launched a new solar ‘tetris’ game for Xbox Kinect – has to be seen to be believed!

Racking

Hilti have just launched their new flat roof mounting system and it looks amazing. It will make flat roof installations much more secure and manageable, and mean much lower risk of damaging the laminate. Also cool is this robot, used for cleaning solar panels on large arrays. It has 20 moveable sucker pads on the bottom that allow it to hop around cleaning the panels without falling off!

Solar panels cleaning robot

The Committee on Climate Change’s Renewable Energy Review, published today, lacks detail on the technical issues that are needed to help us meet our renewable energy targets according to Europe’s largest engineering institution.

Secure, low-carbon and affordable energy requires investment of £250bn, in electricity alone, if the Coalition is to meet the target of providing 30% of energy from renewables by 2020. This target is in danger of not being met due to lack of action being taken now to invest in a future smart grid that can intelligently connect users and suppliers.

Prof. Roger Kemp from the Institution of Engineering and Technology said: “The report takes a simplistic view of the subject and plays down technical issues. It refers to offshore turbines as having ‘very low running costs’ without factoring-in the potential routine maintenance of large structures in a highly aggressive environment and the lack of significant long-term operational experience in areas like the North Sea.

“When talking about wave energy, the report assumes that the limiting factor in adoption will be economics, while we consider that technical viability could be equally important.

“Demand response will have a central role to play, but the challenge of moving from the current ambition for smart metering to a smart grid with full public involvement is only hinted at.  The need to engage the public is crucial.”

There are many engineering and social issues to be resolved before the optimistic ambitions contained within this report can be achieved.  Its publication coincides with the publication of the government’s infrastructure adaptation report and combined they highlight the extent of the engineering challenges and opportunities presented by climate change.

www.theiet.org