We previously discussed the top 10 Global Solar Panel manufacturers as a safe choice when selecting your best solar panel. The rationale was that reputable companies will survive for the next 5-10 years hence you as a consumer can actually claim your warranty if needed. However, the share price of the top 10 global manufacturers has been dropping by a huge 80% since the start of 2011. Continue reading
With the UK solar panel Feed-in-Tariff arguably in quieter water now the Supreme Court appeal is rejected and the EPC ratings just came into place, it’s time to look forward. The general expectation is a further Feed-in-Tariff subsidy cut in July 2012 from 21 towards 16.5 pence, due to limited installations in March and July. However, the first three days of March could cause a more severe drop towards 13.6 pence – which could mean a cut of another 35%! Continue reading
Global solar panel installations will grow by between 4 and 21 percent in 2012, according to a new report from IMS Research. Global solar panel installations will grow from 27 GW in 2011 to 28-33 GW in 2012. These growth expectations are lower that previous years, and hence the solar panel manufacturer overcapacity situation will remain. Continue reading
The number of solar installers in the UK has grown dramatically since the introduction of the Feed-in-Tariff in April 2010. According to the MCS website (the UK accreditation required to be a solar installer) there were more than 4.150 installers at the end of March 2012. This compares to just over 200 accredited solar installers early 2010, when the Feed-in-Tariff was due to get started, which is a twenty-fold increase! However, going forward this may be going down.. Continue reading
DECC has released their latest Energy Trends statistics earlier today, which now include provisional data for entire 2011 (up to Q4). The general trend is that we use less energy. Domestic electricity consumption in the UK dropped more than 5% in 2011, the biggest drop ever! It continues the trend of declining electricity usage since 2005, and currently electricity usage is about the same as it was 12 years ago in 2000. Continue reading
Looking for the Best Solar Panels we have previously identified large global manufacturers and popular UK manufacturers as key selection criteria. However, solar panels do also differ on technical characteristics. Therefore to help consumers find the best solar panel we present 7 Criteria of High Quality Solar Panels. Continue reading
This is a copy of a guest blog by CompareMySolar for the SolarPowerPortal, which has been ‘most read’ for over a week now. The price of residential solar panel installations has dropped by 50 percent since early 2011, according to research by CompareMySolar. Therefore, consumers can achieve a similar financial return as before – despite cuts in the feed-in-tariff from 43p to 21p. Building more awareness around this can help drive demand, following recent negative news about subsidy cuts and court cases. Continue reading
According to data released this week by the UK government Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) the number of residential solar panel installations dropped dramatically after the 3rd of March deadline. While in the last week before the deadline there were almost 20.000 residential installations, in the week after there were just over 1.000, which represents a demand drop of 95%. Continue reading
In our search for the best solar panel, we previously looked at the largest solar panel manufacturers in the world. But within the UK there are different brands that are also very popular, for example the most used brands by solar installers, or the most requested brands for quotes by consumers. It appears that although the top 10 global brands represent about a third of consumer quote requests, the 10 other popular UK brands represent a larger 40% of consumer quote requests. Continue reading
Every year IMS Research publishes a list of the 10 largest global solar panel manufacturers. When picking your ‘best solar panel’ it is important to choose a large manufacturer, since your panel warranty often is valid for 25 years. Top 10 companies are more likely to be around in 25 years time than small ones, so this list is important in picking your best solar panel: Continue reading