The UK's first working tidal power project, which was supposed to begin construction this week, has suffered a delay.
Marine Current Turbines (MCT), a Bristol-based company developing tidal power machinery, had planned to commence installation of its initial SeaGen system in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland.
SeaGen turbines are basically simple propellors, mounted in pairs on a heavy pile sunk into the seabed. The big props are driven by fast-flowing tides, generating potentially useful amounts of electricity. Underwater maintenance is expensive even in benign conditions and prohibitively difficult in fast tides, so the propellor assemblies are designed to be raised out of the water for maintenance or repairs.
MCT says the turbine blades spin slowly enough that they won't be a threat to sea life, and the company extols the zero-carbon, environmentally friendly nature of its power. The company, whose shareholders and partners include venture capitalists, offshore engineering concerns, and power companies, receives substantial government funding for its ongoing research programme, in line with the UK's aims of reducing carbon emissions.
full article
Saturday 25 August 2007
Solar photovoltaic panels
Paul Norris has the kind of power bill we all dream of - his electricity supplier sends him a cheque.
He generates so much electricity from the solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof of his three-bedroom house in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, that he not only satisfies his own needs but also exports excess supplies to the National Grid.
Since Chelsfield Solar (www.chelsfieldsolar.co.uk) installed the system in April last year, he has been able to wave goodbye to his £300 annual power bill and now receives a cheque for £200 from his electricity company, Scottish and Southern Energy (www.scottish-southern.co.uk).
Paul could also make more than £130 per annum, if he was prepared to endure the Government's convoluted support system. This involves Renewable Obligations Certificates (ROCs), which are accrued by those generating renewable energy and are purchased by suppliers so they can meet their eco-obligations.
Although the value of a ROC is set by the market, it is typically around £45 and a large PV system like Paul's can amass three a year, which should sweeten the move to renewable energy considerably.
Alas the process, which was originally designed for large-scale enterprises, is so bureaucratic it is likely to deter the average homeowner.
"I intended to register but I haven't been able to face the red tape," he says.
Even without the ROCs, Paul has estimated that his PV system - which cost him £8,500, because he received a 50 per cent grant from the Government - will pay for itself within 14 years. However, the grant has now been capped at £2,500.
full article
He generates so much electricity from the solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof of his three-bedroom house in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, that he not only satisfies his own needs but also exports excess supplies to the National Grid.
Since Chelsfield Solar (www.chelsfieldsolar.co.uk) installed the system in April last year, he has been able to wave goodbye to his £300 annual power bill and now receives a cheque for £200 from his electricity company, Scottish and Southern Energy (www.scottish-southern.co.uk).
Paul could also make more than £130 per annum, if he was prepared to endure the Government's convoluted support system. This involves Renewable Obligations Certificates (ROCs), which are accrued by those generating renewable energy and are purchased by suppliers so they can meet their eco-obligations.
Although the value of a ROC is set by the market, it is typically around £45 and a large PV system like Paul's can amass three a year, which should sweeten the move to renewable energy considerably.
Alas the process, which was originally designed for large-scale enterprises, is so bureaucratic it is likely to deter the average homeowner.
"I intended to register but I haven't been able to face the red tape," he says.
Even without the ROCs, Paul has estimated that his PV system - which cost him £8,500, because he received a 50 per cent grant from the Government - will pay for itself within 14 years. However, the grant has now been capped at £2,500.
full article
Friday 24 August 2007
Thin-layer Solar Cells
Enough solar energy falls on U.S. soil to provide 500 times the country's energy needs – but the cost of harvesting this free and sustainable resource is preventing people from using it to power their homes. That’s why scientists in the sunny U.K. are excited about the possibility of thin-layer photovoltaic cells that could bring the price of solar energy down and make solar cells a viable addition to the average home.
Current commercially available solar cells are frequently silicon-based and contain indium, a rare and expensive metal that contributes to the high cost of solar panel installations – but a new research project at Durham university in Britain aims to find cheaper and more accessible alternatives, focusing on developing thin-layer PV cells using materials such as copper indium diselenide and cadmium telluride.
It’s hoped that the development of more affordable thin-film PV cells could lead to a reduction in the cost of solar panels for the domestic market and an increase in the use of solar power, which currently provides less than one hundredth of one percent of the UK’s home energy needs.
The thin-layer PV cells would be used to make solar panels that could be fitted to roofs to help power homes with any surplus electricity being fed back to the National Grid, leading to cheaper fuel bills and less reliance on fossil fuels for energy.
Professor Ken Durose, Director of the Durham Centre for Renewable Energy, who is leading the research, said: “One of the main issues in solar energy is the cost of materials and we recognize that the cost of solar cells is slowing down their uptake.
“If solar panels were cheap enough so you could buy a system off the shelf that provided even a fraction of your power needs you would do it, but that product isn’t there at the moment.
“The key indicator of cost effectiveness is how many pounds do you have to spend to get a watt of power out? If you can make solar panels more cheaply then you will have a winning product.”
full article
Current commercially available solar cells are frequently silicon-based and contain indium, a rare and expensive metal that contributes to the high cost of solar panel installations – but a new research project at Durham university in Britain aims to find cheaper and more accessible alternatives, focusing on developing thin-layer PV cells using materials such as copper indium diselenide and cadmium telluride.
It’s hoped that the development of more affordable thin-film PV cells could lead to a reduction in the cost of solar panels for the domestic market and an increase in the use of solar power, which currently provides less than one hundredth of one percent of the UK’s home energy needs.
The thin-layer PV cells would be used to make solar panels that could be fitted to roofs to help power homes with any surplus electricity being fed back to the National Grid, leading to cheaper fuel bills and less reliance on fossil fuels for energy.
Professor Ken Durose, Director of the Durham Centre for Renewable Energy, who is leading the research, said: “One of the main issues in solar energy is the cost of materials and we recognize that the cost of solar cells is slowing down their uptake.
“If solar panels were cheap enough so you could buy a system off the shelf that provided even a fraction of your power needs you would do it, but that product isn’t there at the moment.
“The key indicator of cost effectiveness is how many pounds do you have to spend to get a watt of power out? If you can make solar panels more cheaply then you will have a winning product.”
full article
Don't scrap green housing rule, urge campaigners
A coalition of renewable energy and green groups yesterday urged the government not to scrap a key plank of local authority policy that has been credited with boosting the use of renewable energy.
The call came after the leak earlier this week of a draft planning policy statement which local authorities said would undermine their ability to insist that developers use green technologies.
The Home Builders Federation and British Property Federation oppose the so-called "Merton rule", which requires builders to obtain at least 10% of a building's energy from sustainable sources such as solar or wind power.
Sustainable Energy Partnership organiser Ron Bailey said: "The current campaign by the British Property Federation and Home Builders Federation to overturn this modest yet proven and highly successful policy in the climate change policy planning statement is nothing short of scandalous bearing in mind the urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions."
full article
The call came after the leak earlier this week of a draft planning policy statement which local authorities said would undermine their ability to insist that developers use green technologies.
The Home Builders Federation and British Property Federation oppose the so-called "Merton rule", which requires builders to obtain at least 10% of a building's energy from sustainable sources such as solar or wind power.
Sustainable Energy Partnership organiser Ron Bailey said: "The current campaign by the British Property Federation and Home Builders Federation to overturn this modest yet proven and highly successful policy in the climate change policy planning statement is nothing short of scandalous bearing in mind the urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions."
full article
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
