Our Renewable Energy Blogs

We’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the AIKO Neostar 3 in the UK—and it’s finally here. Now available to order, this panel is already our new standard offering at Spirit Energy. But what makes it so special? Is it really a leap forward from the Neostar 2? And is this the right panel for your roof?

In this post, we’ll take a deep dive into the performance specs, design choices and technology that make the Neostar 3 one of the most advanced residential solar panels currently available in the UK.

Choosing the right time-of-use tariff can transform a solar-and-battery setup from a novelty into a genuine money-saving powerhouse. An energy tariff determines how much you pay for every unit of electricity you import, and what you receive for every kilowatt-hour you export. While most standard plans charge a flat rate, Octopus Energy’s smart tariffs use time-of-use pricing to reward off-peak consumption and peak exports, perfect for households with solar panels, home batteries, EVs or even heat pumps. Though rates vary regionally (London tends to be about 10 % higher than Yorkshire), the principles we explore here apply across the UK.

Pictured -
Archie Helas, Technical Designer, Spirit Energy
Tok Charles, Technical Designer, Spirit Energy
Greg Jackson, CEO, Octopus Energy

Spirit Energy has just been crowned Octopus Energy’s Customer‑Focused Installer - and we couldn’t be more thrilled! On 4 April 2025, CEO Greg Jackson presented us with this prestigious accolade, recognising our passion for putting customers at the heart of everything we do.

With rising energy costs and growing environmental pressure, UK farmers need practical solutions to cut expenses and meet sustainability goals. The government’s Improving Farm Productivity Grant, administered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), offers a direct route for farmers to install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and improve their bottom line.

Our recent project for Philip Dennis Foodservice is a standout example of how choosing solar can yield impressive financial returns while also making a positive impact on the environment. It’s our largest commercial solar installation to date, and the results truly speak for themselves.

Sustainability has become a major buzzword in the corporate world, with increasing numbers of companies pushing the green agenda both in the boardroom and in their branding. But what benefits does this bring for companies, and with governments increasingly bearing down on Net Zero ambitions, are companies legally required to publish data on their carbon footprint?

For those who have their finger on the pulse of the solar energy market, it's becoming obvious that there is an increasing shift towards the manufacture and use of n-type solar from p-type panels in both commercial and domestic settings, to the point where the former now dominate. But why has this shift come about, and more fundamentally what is the difference between the two?

In the space of just a few years, the average panel we install on domestic projects has shot up from around 315W to at least 375W, with more and more residential modules breaking the 400W barrier.

This is down to a few factors, such as the widespread adoption of new, more efficient technologies, bigger cells and bigger modules:

When researching solar PV, you may have come across the phrase ‘tier 1 solar panels’. It’s used as a selling point by some manufacturers and installers to demonstrate the reliability of their products. But is that really the case?