The lowering of the barriers on the opening day of the Ecobuild Exhibition in London ushered in a rush of expectant attendees, who flooded the booths and stands of the soon-to-be-bustling concourse within minutes. Such a scene, replicated the world over whenever solar is in town, took on added symbolism in the U.K., where many thousands of British businesses and independent consumers have waited a long time for the barriers to greater solar adoption to be lowered. Despite last year's bumper solar crop augmenting the U.K.'s multi-MW scale ground mount portfolio, solar PV has long been a domestic affair in Britain. Around 3.35 GW of the country's 5.3 GW installed PV is deployed across the residential sector, and with impending subsidy changes set to suppress large-scale solar further next month, Ecobuild offered the perfect opportunity to gauge the direction, pace and volume of PV's alternative U.K. avenues - namely commercial rooftops and greater innovation in the residential sector, particularly in terms of financing. Technical innovation was also a noticeable trend, with many leading solar providers showcasing their solutions to U.K.-specific problems, while the consumer-focused nature of the exhibition meant that much of the discussions on the concourse dealt with identifying technical solutions to specific customer requirements. Condensing such a vibrant show into five bite-size themes is a hard task, but these were pv magazine's five main takeways from the exhibition... 1. U.K. is a funding test bedThe creatively liberalized financial industries of the U.K. could prove handy bedfellows for those leading global solar companies keen on rolling out new financial packages to a credit-savvy market. SunEdison launched its new energy saver plan at Ecobuild - a zero-cost funding model aimed at U.K. homeowners eager to enjoy the benefits of solar energy without the maintenance risk and upfront costs. "SunEdison will install, maintain and operate the system, removing both the upfront investment and system risk to the client, and locking in pricing for 20 years," said Mark Babcock, VP for residential and commercial Europe. "We sell customers the power that is produced by that system on a PPA basis, while also bumping up the EPC rating on the home." Reza Shaybani, head of the British Photovoltaic Association (BPVA) spoke more widely at the show of how the U.K. is now being offered real choice and innovation when it comes to solar financing, which in turn is prompting other solar markets to look to the U.K. for guidance and inspiration. With many leading U.S. solar companies eager to explore new markets in which to roll-out their own financing schemes, the U.K. appears to be an obvious choice - a country with a shared language, similar legal framework and equally credit-hungry populace. 2. Making a pitch for commercial rooftopsMost of the U.K.'s largest EPCs in attendance ...Den vollständigen Artikel lesen ...