Norfolk solar panels that track the sun

(not Norfolk)

On a rent holiday in Norfolk, I appreciated how sun worshippers were having to constantly re-position themselves and their windbreaks to catch the full rays of the sun.

It's a bit of a problem, and one shared by typical solar panel installations.

However, a development at Boyland Hall, in Norfolk, has got around that problem by being the first UK customer of a German tracking system which uses GPS technology to track the sun.

Remember that scene from the 'Bond film - The Man with the Golden Gun? This system couples GPS technology with astronomical calculations to always be facing the sun.

The result is a 9kW system which generates 45% more electricity than a fixed position system.

Now that is a figure to make heads (and solar panels) turn isn't it?

photo credit: paul stevenson

Planning rejections could delay Norfolk offshore wind farm by a year

New Energy Focus reported that a planning application for a substation - a vital component of a proposed 560MW off-shore wind farm off the Norfolk coast - has been rejected by the local council.

This is despite the go-ahead being given to the offshore farm itself as well as the point where the power cabling comes ashore (in a separate application).

The developers will be appealing against the decision on plans which included a 20 acre woodland being planted to hide the development from the surrounding environment, and after the site had been "carefully chosen" over a 100 similar sites under consideration, for the lowest overall environmental impact.

The process of appeal is likely to delay the development by a year, developers admitted.

Read the full article here.

photo credit: tpholland. Note* Not a picture of the actual chambers or council involved in the planning decision surrounding this article.

Swaffham Eco-centre gets UK's largest solar panel

When I was a lad and we went on our annual family holiday to Wells-next-the-sea on the Norfolk coast, Swaffham was a town to be avoided due to traffic jams.

Unless there's a new by-pass, that situation is unlikely to have changed with the introduction of the UK's largest solar panel at the Ecotech Centre earlier this week.

As the Eastern Daily Press reports, the centre hopes that in addition to the considerable cost savings to their own energy usage whilst also selling surplus back to the National Grid, the new solar panel will also play an important educational role for the centre's visitors.

The solar panel, which tracks the movement of the sun, making in 30% more efficient than a static panel, was part funded by the centre, Ecotricity, the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (now shut down) and the National Lottery. It cost £50,000 and the cenre hope to recoup their investment within 8 years.

photo credit: mykl roventine

Offshore wind farm story reminds me of holidays in Norfolk

You'll forgive me a moment of personal meandering but a story spotted last week on New Energy Focus about how a Wells-Next-The-Sea (on the Norfolk coast) safety and work boat provider had won a contract to support the Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm, sent me back to many a happy summer holiday spent in that lovely seaside town.

I don't know if the wind turbines will be visible from the beaches at Wells', and the subsequent walks along the coast.

I did manage to sneak back to Wells' a few years ago and very little had changed - the lifeboat station was still at the end of the long sea wall walk at the beach itself and the caravan and camping park, apart from newer buildings is still there.

Even from the air (Google maps) you can still see the walks through the pine forest.

A warm hello to anyone in Wells next the Sea - thank you for many happy holiday memories that remain as vivid as ever today, and congratulations to Safety Boat Services on winning the contract.

photo credit: russelljsmith


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