Contractor Blog

Spirit recently installed solar PV at the new home of one of our sales team. Since there’s no better way to live and breathe the technology than through personal experience, Mark shares his take on the process of installing SunPower panels with an integrated GSE mounting system.

As we settle into life on lockdown, we’re all finding new ways to keep our businesses running and make the best use of our time. The Spirit team is working remotely, but we’re determined to keep sharing our knowledge, even if we can’t visit companies to deliver our usual CPD sessions.

So, after a bit of testing, we’re delighted to announce that we can now offer online CPD training. Your staff can dial in from wherever they’re based for a virtual session on solar PV, battery storage or EV charging.

And best of all - it’s entirely free.

One of the questions we hear often is ‘Do I need to clean my solar panels?’. The short answer - it depends. So when should you invest in solar panel cleaning?

As it’s our 10^th birthday today, we felt that it would only be right to reflect on some of the most significant moments of our lifetime. It has been a decade of change within the company and the world of renewable energy, with shifting government incentives, growing awareness of climate change and improving technology. The makeup of Britain's electricity supply has changed dramatically over recent years, with approximately a third of the energy now coming from renewable sources. As Spirit continues to grow we will hopefully see the number of homes and businesses generating their own free and clean electricity increase, helping to further decarbonise the UK’s energy mix.

London has high solar ambitions. The city is committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. To reach this, the Mayor aims to install 1GW of new solar by 2030 and 2GW by 2050.

The solar manufacturing industry is devoted to trends - from bifacial to PERC - always seeking ways to maximise energy generation. One technology that’s seen a meteoric rise in the last few years is half cell solar panels (or half cut solar cells), on track to become near ubiquitous across PV modules.

When researching solar PV, you may have come across the phrase ‘tier 1 solar panels’. It’s used as a selling point by some manufacturers and installers to demonstrate the reliability of their products. But is that really the case?

We are very excited to announce that we’ve been chosen as one of two installers for Solar Together’s current round of PV installations in London. Solar Together is a group-buying scheme, enabling thousands of people to sign up for a personal solar recommendation, which they can purchase at a very competitive price.

Our vision since we started the company almost a decade ago has been of a country where every homeowner can generate their own clean, renewable energy. Technology and costs have changed enormously in that time, but a project like this goes even further towards making solar an option for many more people. We’re delighted to be part of this journey.

The electric vehicle boom is imminent. The government recently pledged £400m investment towards EV charging infrastructure as part of its commitment to net zero by 2050. Emission-free number plates are set to turn green to boost driver benefits, awareness and uptake.

In a perfect world, UK roofs would all face south, with a 35° pitch and no shading in sight. But we don’t live in a perfect world. As solar installers, we have to find clever ways to maximise the potential power from roofs of all make ups, orientations and shaded spots.

This is best achieved by using micro-inverters or power optimisers - nifty bits of kit, collectively known as Module-Level Power Electronics (MLPEs). As that name implies, these bring a degree of power optimisation at the module level (i.e. at the level of each individual solar panel). This means you can get the most from panels under different levels of sunlight (facing varying directions or affected by shading, dirt etc).

But which is the best solution? Let’s focus on our favourite brand of power optimiser, and compare SolarEdge vs micro-inverters.