This exciting solar power project has come about as a collaboration between Tecnalia and ULMA Agricola and is now in testing in Derio in the Basque Country. Preliminary results from last summer proved successful in the growing of peppers and tomatoes (both of which require a lot of light) and simultaneously achieved a 15% increase per annum of PV production when compared with the usual standard PV systems based on the standard fixed-tilt method. They are currently testing the system for its effectiveness during winter. If the results are as expected the company aims to bring the product to market by the end of 2012.

This is a guest post by Jane, a tech and gadget writer. Jane writes about everything from clean tech to green tech, from gadgets to SEO to DVD duplication services.

The Court of HH Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has been equipped with solar power, the company behind the installation said on Tuesday. The news was released this week by the Gulf International Trading Group who were responsible for installing the solar photovoltaic panels in what, by industry standards, was record time. The installation has also been linked into the main generator of the Department of Electricity and Water Authority of Abu Dhabi.

The speed and success of the installation is a boost for Masdar, the main clean energy company of Abu Dhabi who spearheaded the project. It has also served as a sharp reminder to other nations around the world who promised much in terms of solar and have yet to deliver. Much has been made of the fact that President Obama promised a similar installation for the roof of the White House and has yet to deliver.350.0rg noted this week:

“the crown prince of the oil-rich gulf state of Abu Dhabi has beaten Obama to the punch and installed a solar array in record-time on the roof of his court. Not only are these photovoltaics fully operational, but the electricity they produce also feed into Abu Dhabi’s national grid … If oil-rich Abu Dhabi can symbolically commit to renewable energy, one is left to wonder why the White House cannot follow through with its promise?”

This is a guest post by Jane, a tech and gadget writer. Jane writes about everything from clean tech to green tech, from gadgets to SEO to where to find a good DVD replication company.

This article titled “Grassroots green projects ‘are way to low-carbon UK’” was written by Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent, for guardian.co.uk on Wednesday 1st February 2012 06.45 UTC

Community-owned green energy projects present the best chance of converting the UK to a low-carbon economy and should receive more government support, civil society groups representing 12 million people said on Wednesday.

Giving local people a stake in energy generation often overcomes planning objections to structures such as wind and solar farms, and dozens of communities across the UK have seized the opportunity to create their own power. But the move has not been fast enough, according to the coalition of community groups, which adds that many places are missing out on the chance to produce their own low-carbon and low-cost energy, supported by government subsidies.

The civil society groups include some of the leading non-governmental organisations in the UK, including the Co-operative, the National Trust, the Church of England and the National Federation of Women’s Institutes.

Representatives of all the groups were set to meet Chris Huhne, the energy and climate change secretary, to press their case.

Community energy received a serious setback last year when the government first introduced plans to restrict the subsidies available for solar power to small-scale domestic projects, then slashed solar subsidies across the board in a move the High Court subsequently branded unlawful. Though ministers have had to rethink their plans, the outlook for community solar projects has been dimmed, and the Guardian has uncovered numerous examples of community-scale projects that have been shelved as a result.

The setback came despite pre-election promises from ministers to give people more of a stake in their local energy generation.

The civil society coalition wants ministers to come up with new ways to ensure that community energy is prioritised, for instance by letting local people share in the profits from renewable energy projects.

Patrick Begg, director of rural enterprise at the National Trust, said: “Many other European countries are way ahead of the UK, as we found out when visiting German communities last year. Germany produces over 20% of its electricity from renewable sources, with communities generating about a quarter of this. In the UK, less than 1% is generated by our communities, a figure this [civil society] coalition wants to dramatically increase by 2020. We are asking the government to support us in this.”

Ruth Bond, chair of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, said the organisation had a long history of supporting low-carbon energy generation, and that allowing local people greater ownership of energy production would help to overcome the objections to many projects. She said: “The WI has been active on renewable energy since the 1970s. We see community energy as people working together, not having schemes imposed on them. This is a great opportunity for our 7,000 WIs across the UK to tackle climate change and leave a legacy for the next generation.”

Their call came as the Co-operative launched its “community energy challenge”, a competition under which six communities will be supported to set up their own energy generation, with some of the £1m the Co-operative plans to spend this year on community energy projects.

Paul Monaghan, head of social goals at the Co-operative, said: “We want nothing less than a clean energy revolution, with communities controlling and benefiting from their own renewable energy. Talk of a new dash for [shale] gas, which could see up to 3,000 wells installed across the UK, highlights the choices we face – more and dirtier sources of fossil fuels or clean energy owned and controlled by communities.”

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First Solar had failed to win any US loans to cover the costs of construction and their shares rose 12.5% as news of the sale surfaced. The plant will produce 550 megawatts at capacity, equal to their other large scale project in California, known as Desert Sunlight, and according to Frank DeRosa, the Senior Vice President of First Solar, represents then next step in the growth of the solar industry pointing out that “the fact that Topaz was financed without a DOE loan guarantee is a major milestone in the industry’s maturity and evolution.”

Greg Abel, the CEO and Chairman of MidAmerican Energy agreed, noting that the deal “demonstrates that solar energy is a commercially viable technology without the support of governmental loan guarantees”.

If you plan on a standard roof installation, then you need to firstly check that your roof is facing to the south or at least in a South, South West or South East direction. Anything other than this will mean a lesser output and lower earnings. Your roof will ideally be sloped and that slope will be between 30 and 35 degrees. It is possible to use a flat roof, however these require planning permission.

It is also possible to go for something called an In Roof Installation. An In Roof installation involves taking the solar panels and integrating them into the roof covering or roof tiles. This will give your property an added aesthetic benefit but will also add a significant amount of money to the cost of the installation. If you do decide on this option however, you can have pv tiles and large panels elegantly fitted into your existing roof.

If you have a flat roof it is still possible to have solar panels installed and indeed flat roofs allow a higher degree of flexibility when it comes to the orientation of the photovoltaic panels and the angle of their installation. However, because collectors sit far higher over the roof covering than an angled installation, flat roof solar panel installations will require the property owner to apply for planning permission.

Finally, one other option that is available to property owners is to install wall mounted solar panels. Solar pv panels are also able to be installed on walls at an angle. As with flat roof solar installations, wall mounted panels will also most likely require planning permission.

9to5 Mac this week reported that the plans lodged with Cupertino City Hall also reveal that over 500,000 square feet of the building’s roof will be covered in PV panels which should produce something in excess of 5MW for the main building. In addition the roof of the car parking area will also be covered with 32,000 square feet of panels. In total this will likely give the Apple HQ one of the largest pv panel roofs in the USA and possibly the world.

In addition the building is also aiming for 90% reduction in asphalt as well as an increase in trees of 60-70% which combined will produce a reduction in the building’s carbon footprint of approximately 30%.

The Size of your Roof – Firstly, you will likely need a roof that is at least 12m square in size. That 12m square should also be clear of any vents, velum windows or chimneys.

The Orientation of your Roof – The closer your roof is to the south, the greater the amount of electricity it will be able to generate, so obviously the ideal rooftop is one that faces SE / S / SW and the least effective will be one that faces NE / N / NW.

The Angle of your Roof – The first thing to check is whether your roof is sloped or flat. A flat roof can still have photovoltaic panels but will most likely need planning permission. The best kind of roof is a sloped roof. If you have a sloped roof the optimum angle is somewhere between 30 to 35 degrees with a minimum angle of 15 degrees so that the panels can self-clean. ON the flip side the maximum angle is about 50 degrees – go any steeper than this and there is significant performance loss.

The Shading Around your Roof – It is ok to have a bit of shade but if trees or other buildings cause too much shading then naturally you are not going to earn as much money.

The Freehold on your Roof – Lastly, it is important that you are the sole freeholder of the property and roof so that the electricity generated and the responsibility for that electricity are down to you.

Friends of the Earth Director Andy Atkins noted of the challenge that:

“We strongly believe Government plans to abruptly slash solar subsidies are illegal … In a time of economic gloom, the solar industry has been one of the UK’s brightest success stories… It’s short sighted for Ministers to move the goalposts and prematurely pull the subsidy.”

The green group has recently calculated that the proposed cuts will cost the country in excess of 29,000 jobs as wells bankrupting a number of new businesses and cutting income to the treasury by more than £230 million per year. Consequently Friends of the Earth and the two solar companies are requesting that the High Court declare the illegality of the cuts. They are also requesting that the High Court caps the costs of the court case, something that is allowed under international law for environmental cases which are in the public interest.

Firstly, the FiT or Feed in Tariff is a scheme that was introduced by the previous labour government to encourage the use of renewable energy in private homes and businesses. The scheme was extremely successful and it had been hoped that the coalition government, which promised to be the ‘greenest government ever’ would extend the scheme. Typically, they are doing quite the opposite. The FiT was designed to pay you for the energy you made when you installed Solar Photovoltaic Panels (PV Panels) on your property. For every kWh that your panels produced, the scheme would pay you 43.3 pence, and this figure was guaranteed for 25 years, meaning you could recover the cost of the installation, get cheap electricity and make a healthy profit on the cost of installation.

The government has recently announced that from the 12th December they will be significantly reducing the Feed in Tariff and this will mean that the amount of money you get in return for your investment will be a lot less. That is not to say that they will not be a worthwhile investment after the 12th December, just that at the moment the returns are much better.

It is still possible to get on board before the 12th – some companies have announced that they can still supply contracts to fit the panels in time – but it is unlikely.

Meanwhile, the best industry estimates are that the FiT rate of 43.3 pence per kWh will be reduced to approximately 21 pence per kWh after the 12th December.

Today’s protest has been organized by the “Cut Don’t Kill Campaign” and is an effort by the solar industry to convince the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to change their mind when it comes to the proposed slashing of the renewables budget.

Starting in the morning workers from the solar industry will carry solar panels across Westminster Bridge to represent the 25,000 jobs in the renewables sector that they claim will be lost if the changes in FiT are approved. Then in the afternoon Green MP Caroline Flint will give a speech from the Emmanuel Centre to a large assembly of environmental and green campaigners as well as workers and representatives from the solar industry in which she will appeal to the government to abandon the cuts.

Lastly, later in the afternoon representatives from the Cut Don’t Kill Campaign will try to meet with their various MP’s en masse in order to once again convince them to vote against these FiT cuts.

In addition, a representative of the Cut Don’t Kill Campaign also noted that there is currently a petition being put together which anyone with an interest in the renewable energy industry in the UK (and that should probably include every UK citizen) should sign before it is then presented to Parliament at a later date.