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Free tool launched to maximize UK opportunities


CONERGY has launched its ‘Conergizer’ tool in the UK to coincide with the start of Green Building Week. The online systems planning tool helps users work out the best solar solution for any roof – aesthetically, financially and in terms of pure kilowatt power generation potential. The move is expected to enable the viability of many solar projects in the UK that have previously been discounted because buildings are not south-facing or roofs have chimneys or other obstructions, and to increase awareness of best practice solar installations.


Available for free the software allows users to enter building data such as location, dimensions, roof type and obstacles (such as windows, chimneys etc.) to create an attractive 3D graphical model. A simulation of sunlight over the course of the year highlights areas of shading so solar panels can be positioned accordingly.


“Solar can be a great investment if you put the right panels in the right places,” said Robert Goss, Managing Director of Conergy in the UK. “The Conergizer will help people work out just how much they


individual financing arrangements.


can make from their rooftops, whether they’re in Aberdeen or the Scilly Isles.”


Climatic conditions for the whole of Great Britain have been mapped, including maximum wind and snowloads, supporting decisions on what type of frames are best employed. The system then takes into account the building’s orientation and tilt of the panels in relation to the sun, as well as obstacles such as chimneys and dormer windows and local sunlight data, to accurately forecast power generation for the year. This enables detailed estimates of the end- customer’s return on investment, based on the cost and size of the installation, its feed-in-tariff, expected off-grid energy use and energy prices, and the customer’s


3 Solar Power Plants built in 10 weeks


ISOLUX CORSÁN has successfully finished building and commissioning three photovoltaic solar power plants on a budget of approximately EUR 40m. They are currently considered to be the largest in the United Kingdom, with a total installed capacity of 15MW.


The project comprises three power plants with 15 MW installed capacity, online since mid-July, and a capex of €40m.The power plants are located in Cornwall and were built on a tight schedule of just 10 weeks .With these facilities, the Groups consolidated photovoltaic energy projects world-wide have accumulated to 290 MW in the last three years.


The three solar power plants are located in Langform, Churchtown and Manor, where 22,000 crystalline modules are set on fixed arrays, each with 5MW installed


“One change to the design and the financial picture changes dramatically,” said Robert Goss. “This shows you just how important professional planning is in solar installations. There are investors right now passing over houses in the UK because they have chimneys or they’re not south-facing. There are installers squeezing in as many panels as they can to maximize power output but that doesn’t always generate the best returns. Solar has massive potential in the UK and this tool can help deliver that.”


Installers are expected to be the biggest users of the Conergizer: its German- language parent has been used in some 10,000 installations in Europe. The software list parts requirements and quotation print-outs can be branded with the installer’s logo. In Germany, installers have reported a halving of planning times, freeing up their businesses to focus on sales. Meanwhile investors, facilities managers, building professionals and even home-owners are using the financial planning element of the software to assess proposals from solar companies.


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capacity. The company delivered them after completing their engineering, procurement and construction (EPC). Development and investment was arranged by Banco Santander and a local partner.


This project is Isolux Corsán’s first photovoltaic venture in the UK. It was rolled out in less than ten weeks. The link-


up with the Western Power Distribution electricity grid was established before the latest change in regulations this summer, which reduced photovoltaic feed-in tariffs in the UK. The Group has already shown its ability to complete major infrastructure projects in record time. It built the 72-MW Rovigo PV power plant, the largest in Europe, in just eight months.


www.solar-pv-uk.com Issue IV 2011


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