Solar Panel Energy Generation Defies 2012 Weather Extremes

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SEG Commercial, part of the Save Energy Group and a leading renewable energy provider for UK business, is pleased to report better than expected green energy generation from its solar photovoltaic installations in 2012. Despite some of the worst weather conditions since records began, particularly April, June and July – the company’s premium quality CIS Thin Film technology outperformed expectations and easily secured its return on investment.

Using the example of a dairy farm, owned and managed by The Crown Estate in Dorset – England and the second of three Solar PV installations – the company presented a 33.6kWh on-roof system to be positioned on one of their barn roofs. Due to the nature of farm production it was recommended they use Solar Frontier TUV certified panels, as they are designed with a resistance to ammonia which will play a significant factor in the longevity of the system.

Solar Frontier CIS Thin Film panels were introduced to the UK by SEG Commercial in early 2012. The superior yield performance of the technology, even under challenging low light conditions, has served installations well throughout the UK. Detailed estimates indicated early on that the CIS PV system would offer a better yield per kilowatt installed and therefore faster payback and a higher return on investment for the client.

The project was completed a year ago and when the system came online England was heading straight into what proved to be one of the wettest and certainly gloomiest spring and summer periods in recorded history.

Commercial Business Manager, Wolf Dietrich, explains: “Under these extremely challenging conditions, during which we frequently observed periods of successive days with dull and low light, the Solar Frontier CIS Thin Film PV system generated a total of 29,255kWh, compared to our predicted yield of 28,488kWh under normal conditions. This means that the actual generation was 102.3% of the output predicted by our standard simulations, which incorporate long-term climate averages. We are naturally delighted with this impressive result that underscores the performance of this technology for the UK marketplace. We look forward to a year of normal generation for the farm and therefore an even more impressive output.”