Solar electricity panels, also known as photovoltaics (PV), capture the sun’s energy and convert it into electricity that you can use in your home. By installing solar panels, you can generate your own renewable electricity. How do solar panels work? A solar PV panel consists of many cells made from layers of semi-conducting material, most commonly silicon. When light shines on this
Just over half of Europe's single family homes could technically be fully energy self-sufficient with a combination of solar energy and storage systems, according to a report by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Already today, 53 percent of about 41 million buildings included in the analysis could theoretically go off-grid and have a fully
The Energy Act 2023, which has been called the “biggest piece of energy legislation in the UK’s history”, received Royal Assent yesterday (26 October). The Act, which has now become law, includes a number of major changes aimed at creating a more efficient energy system that can uphold the growing number of electrified technologies being
Renewables are set to contribute 80% of new power capacity to 2030 in the stated policies scenario (STEPS), with solar PV alone accounting for more than half of this, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). In its flagship World Energy Outlook report, the IEA expects solar manufacturing capacity to exceed 1.2TW of module nameplate capacity
Despite significant clean energy growth across the globe, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that under today’s policy settings, emissions would remain high enough to increase global average temperatures to around 2.4 °C. Bending the emissions curve onto a path towards a 1.5 °C maximum increase, the IEA’s flagship World Energy Outlook (WEO) report
Solis Inverter Overnight Charging Lots of our customers who have a hybrid solar inverter or a home battery system also have access to a cheap time-of-use electricity tariff (for example Economy 7 or Octopus Go) that has a cheap rate overnight. It is then possible for them to charge up their battery on this
The UK has installed more solar power systems in 2023 than in all of 2022, according to data from the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), which accredits PV, wind and micro-CHP installations up to 50kW. Trade body Solar Energy UK (SEUK) said the data showed a new annual record for 2023 with 138,336 solar PV installations since
The cost of solar power has fallen by 87%, and battery storage by 85% in the past decade, according to a new study – here’s why. Berlin-based scientific think tank Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) has released a new study in the journal Energy Research & Social Science in which the researchers compared
Delaying the ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles by 10 years is likely to have less of an impact than scrapping plans to make rental homes more energy efficient by laws, which would have saved on tenants' energy bills, experts tell Sky News. The cost of living crisis has seen Rishi Sunak go
Octopus Energy has announced a number of initiatives to support EV drivers, including a new 15p per kWh export tariff, and a community energy EV charging partnership with Co Charger. Octopus EV is partnering with Co Charger to “unlock the potential of community charging”, by making it easier for people with private home chargers to