More Businesses Are Going Green

It is possible to use Solar Power as an energy source as it converts sunlight into electricity. The benefits of solar power are that it's pollution free and less costly than using fossil fuels.

In 2006, the UK was only representing 0.3% of the European total of 3.4GWp and had only installed 12.5 MWp of photovoltaic capacity.

A new programme, which included a feed in tariff, was created in June 2008 to encourage homeowners to generate their own electricity. This was due to an EU agreement to create 15% of electricity from renewables by 2020.

Building of the largest solar park in the United Kingdom was realized in Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, on 13 July 2011. The 5 MW free-field system was built just in seven weeks after being granted planning permission. The system will create an estimated 4,860 MWh of electricity (an average power of 560 kW) into the national grid each year. There are various other example solar facilities in the UK, including the 5MW Langage Solar Park, the 5 MW Westmill Solar Farm, the 4.51 MW Marsten Solar Farm and Toyotas 4.6 MW plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire.

Some of the most powerful companies in the world are starting to implement solar power into their organizations and promote the use of alternative energy. Over 50% of energy is gained from renewable technology at the Global technology company, Intel. Dell (provider of IT systems and services) uses 100% green electricity at its headquarters and some of its smaller facilities. Johnson & Johnson believe that Green power benefits the environment and also provides the company with a trustworthy and stable supply of energy so they make use of wind power and Solar PV where they can. HSBC, Dannon, Kohl's and Deutsche Bank also believe in renewable energy. The UKs biggest single ownership on-roof Solar PV solution has just been installed at Body Shop International head office in Littlehampton, West Sussex.

100 schools across the UK will be provided with solar panels due to the Green Energy for Schools programme. The 1st school in Wales was the Tavernspite School, near Whitland, which received panels worth 20,000, sufficient to produce 3,000 kWh of electricity each year.

Following a trip to the Antarctic to understand the effects of climate change, a primary school head teacher in Walton-on-Thames started an ambitious programme of sustainable energy work which included the installation of high performance Alwitra Evalon Solar roof panels from ICB on a new teaching block.

The Ashley Primary School is providing a lesson in sustainability with Evalon Solar roof panels providing electricity, energy efficient lighting, a biomass boiler providing heat, and eight solar thermal panels warming the water for a small swimming pool and the hot water system, and is on track to receive a BREEAM outstanding rating,

As more and more architects and building professionals gather experience in the integration of Solar PV systems into the built environment, this relatively new technology will begin to intermix, almost unnoticeably, into the nation's urban and rural landscapes.