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Solar Energy

A key renewable energy technology is solar/photovoltaics (PV). Nurturing the PV sector is a key element of the UK Energy Excellence Marketing Strategy.

The UK PV sector benefits from world-leading R&D facilities, a collaborative research environment and advanced skills base. The government’s long-term commitment to the development of renewable energy and the drive to develop more sustainable, low carbon buildings supports future market growth. The UK is already home to a number of established players in the production, installation and integration of PV products – such as Sharp, Romag, Crystalox, Solar Century and Dulas. These companies and others, together, can offer a range of global services including PV module supply, grid connection, medical refrigeration, water pumping, rural electrification, telecommunications, emergency systems, streetlights and remote solar home systems.

The UK is also home to a growing group of innovative smaller firms, including G24i and Quanta Sol, whose focus is on next generation technologies. With major international PV manufacturers looking to Europe to expand production capacity and market share, this breadth of expertise puts the UK in a strong position to attract their attention and secure their confidence.

UK expertise in architecture, and Building-Integrated PV (BIPV) are combining to confirm our global leadership in this field, and create some of the world’s most inspiring buildings. Leading examples in the UK include Manchester’s CIS Tower, which has one of the largest PV façades in the world; the award-winning Environment Agency headquarters in Oxfordshire; and the thin film façade at Technium OpTIC in North Wales.

Leading UK development consultancies like Ove Arup, Halcrow and Mott MacDonald can be found working on beacon PV projects at home and abroad. Ove Arup, for example, provided expertise for California’s Academy of Sciences project which has a ‘living roof’ incorporating 60,000 PV cells.

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