Dr Toby's Blog

Toby is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Engensa. Toby leads our procurement and installation teams and has responsibility for the operational side of Engensa's business. He has experience working for General Electric building their renewable energy business in Munich nestled in the heartland of the German solar industry. Prior to GE, Toby worked for New Energy Finance in London. Toby has a BA and MSci in Physics from Cambridge and a PhD in solar technology from Imperial College, London

British Gas announce the latest rise in energy costs, bringing solar electricity closer to retail prices

14 Nov 2010

Last week British Gas announced a sharp 7% rise in electricity prices that will affect 8 million customers. British Gas are just the latest energy company to raise prices in recent weeks citing high wholesale gas and electricity prices as the underlying cause. Many commentators expect this rise in fuel prices to extend to all other UK energy suppliers in the near future and predict further price increases lie ahead. Whilst these increased costs are undoubtedly extremely difficult for many families to cope with, we feel this is an example of why we should be investing more in alternative energy sources....

Solar panel efficiency, how important is it?

07 Nov 2010

Solar panels are by far the most expensive item in a solar panel installation. Understanding the features that differentiate a good solar panel from a bad one is not so straightforward. In several instalments I’d like to give a guide to each of the key criteria to look out for. I will try keep it as simple as possible but it is something that many people ask me about so I think it isn’t a bad idea to discuss these issues in some depth. First of all I’d like to discuss solar panel efficiency. This defines how effective a solar panel...

Grid integration: What happens when the sun deosn't shine

17 Sep 2010

A big issue for solar and wind energy is that the power they deliver is not constant. Unlike coal or nuclear power stations which produce a steady stream of power whatever the weather, wind and solar suffer from extreme fluctuations. For wind energy, a drop in wind speed can mean a 90% power loss over a large area in just a few seconds. For solar energy, there are many different types of fluctuations. In the UK for instance, winter months produce only a quarter of the amount of energy as summer months. Obviously solar energy production takes place only between...

Smart appliances to ensure a smooth power supply

31 Aug 2010

An interesting article in the Times about Smart Devices such as fridges being rolled out under CERTi An energy-saving trial that will shut down home appliances when peaks of demand threaten to overwhelm the network began this week. About 300 homes in Sandwell in the West Midlands have received fridge-freezers that turn themselves off when the grid is overstretched. Altogether, 3,000 homes will take part in the two-year trial, run by npower. Energy companies plan to offer grants and cheaper tariffs to encourage all households to switch to such appliances. If all homes had smart fridges, Britain’s annual emissions would fall by two...

Thin Film or crystalline silicon

24 Aug 2010

Our technology adviser Dr Toby Ferenczi explains the different types of solar panels. Solar panels fall into two main technological categories. The incumbent, established type are called crystalline silicon solar panels and the exciting but unproven type are known as ‘thin-film’ solar panels. To understand the advantages and disadvantagea of each technology I’ll briefly explain how each type of solar panel is made. Crystalline silicon solar panels are made from 50 or so ‘solar cells’ connected together and encased in glass. Each solar cell is in fact a thin slice of large crystal of pure silicon (called an ingot). These large...

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