Solar Energy

Solar energy based on photovoltaic (PV) cells converts sunlight, the most abundant energy source on the planet, directly into electricity. The equipment required for this process has no moving parts and as a result requires minimal maintenance. In addition, the electricity is generated with no emissions and no noise.

A PV cell consists of two or more thin layers of semi conducting material, most commonly silicon. When the cell is exposed to light, electrical charges are generated and this can be conducted away by metal contacts as direct current (DC). The electrical output from a single cell is small, therefore multiple cells are connected together to provide a more useful output and inverters are used to convert it to Alternating Current (AC).

Unless there are corporate governance reasons, it is unlikely that PV will provide a commercially viable project in the UK. However, in mainland Europe there are significant feed-in tariffs in countries such as Italy, Germany, Spain and France.

IPS specialises in the development of Solar Parks on industrial sites in Southern Europe where large numbers of roof mounted or ground mounted PV cells are connected into a single ring main circuit and then connected directly to the site substation.

To give an ideal of the scale of a typical 1 MWe solar park, the land necessary will be slightly greater than a football pitch and the assembled panels will generate between 1,000 and 1,600 MWh per annum depending on the site's latitudinal location.