Some might think, given our less than tropical climate, that UK solar power is a concept destined for failure as surely you need plenty of sunshine to generate electricity using the power of the sun. In fact, this is far from the case and the UK solar power industry is already big and continuing to grow in light of increasing concerns about fossil fuels.
UK solar power is a reality because the intensity of the sun is far greater than people realise. We might recognise its power in the hot summer months when metal objects become too hot to touch if left in direct sunlight, but we certainly wouldn’t acknowledge that we get much energy from the sun during the rest of the year. In fact, UK solar power is as much as 60% of that at the equator with energy available to harness from the sun all year round.
In order to harness this energy it is necessary in this country to tilt the collection area towards the sun, but, as luck would have it, the average tilt of a UK house roof is about optimum to receive the sun’s energy. There is a greater amount of energy to be collected in the south of the UK, but there is also plenty in the north. And the energy can even be harnessed on overcast days.
Over 1.5MW of building-integrated solar photovoltaic is already installed in the UK with this set to increase. And the energy of the sun can also be used to heat water as well as produce electricity.
For further information on Solar Power click on the links below
