News Article
Industrial Free Solar
New Venture promises free solar panels for industrial roofs
A new Green Energy business venture will see the installation of solar panels on roofs of large-scale commercial properties throughout England and Wales free of charge. Solar Power Direct Ltd is the creation of Wind Direct, a long established renewable energy company, which installs industrial-scale wind turbines on commercial and industrial land, using a 'fully-funded' business model.
The move into the solar energy sector will see Solar Power Direct installing PV Panels on commercial roofs, utilising the Government's feed in tariff (FiT), and providing clients with low cost, green energy on a fixed tariff basis for more than 10 years.
Far from being a carbon copy of residential schemes that have sprung up since the launch of the FiT, Solar Power Direct promises to install panels on a much greater scale, targeting roofs in excess of 4,000 square metres - a model that the company believes to be unique in the UK.
Chris Porter is a Director of Solar Power Direct. Chris said:
"We are a renewables company with a strong track record in wind, but much of the development, construction and funding process in solar runs parallel, so it makes complete sense for us to make the vertical move into this market. The government's ongoing spending reviews could have put the brakes on the launch of Solar Power Direct. It has effectively resulted in us accelerating plans and urging industry to get on board with solar power now, before the feed in tariffs change."
"Much has already been made about companies supplying free solar panels to residential properties, but we offer a fully-funded approach to placing roof-based PV panels on a much greater scale."
In order to reduce the planning requirements of large-scale solar arrays, Solar Power Direct has made a strategic decision to target clients' roofs rather than ground-space, as Chris continues:
"Placing solar panels on the ground essentially involves sterilising the land for the lifetime of the project, so we have opted to target roof-space. This is a huge untapped resource around the country and opens up our targeting to a much wider market."
Solar Power Direct has signed up a number of clients and has received a "very positive" response following an approach to its existing client base. An announcement on the first client to be energised is likely to be made in January 2011.
