News

The latest addition to our fleet of in house solar generators is Cygnus. This 2.5kVA solar unit is a compact, forkliftable unit that really packs a punch. With a footprint of less than 1 square meter it is around a fifth of the space of the Orion generators per kilowatt of power. The built in battery bank can be charged using a range of renewable sources including wind and pedal power, it can even be charged using the excess capacity of biodiesel or hydrogen generators or from a green mains supply.
The Cygnus is Firefly Solar’s first commercially available solar generator set which can be purchased as well as hired. For more information on Cygnus and on how to own or hire one get in touch or visit the services page.

Firefly Solar's MD Andy Mead is working with the MAMA music group to help their festival division review and develop strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The new role of sustainability consultant within the group is designed to help formalise some of the existing environmental policies that the group operate as well as developing new ones.

In 2010 particular attention will be paid to Lovebox Festival which is taking several significant steps with immediate effect to cut this year's emissions. Lovebox Festival Creative Director Tim Harvey said;

"The team at Lovebox have always been green minded individuals and the creation of this role helps to recognise the work they've done and to develop their policies, it’s been great to pull everything together and get a real idea of the environmental impact of the event so we have something to build on."

The move follows similar role creations within the industry at larger music groups like Live Nation and Festival Republic who now monitor the environmental impact across all the festivals they operate. Firefly Solar's Andy Mead said "It’s great to see the groups taking greenhouse gas emissions seriously. So often this issue can be overlooked by big organisations which have some of the highest emissions in the industry."

Firefly will be launching their new range of Kinetric Bike Generators this summer, this new service offers an interative experience to event attendees. The Kinetric systems are versatile and can be used singularly to power Nintendo DS consoles or charge mobile phones and other low voltage appliances or they can be linked up our Orion solar generators to power a live music stage. The Kinetric generators enable the audience to participate in the running of the stage and contributes the energy they produce by pedalling to power the stage. Up to 12 bikes can be linked up to the Firefly stage and they can be used in conjuntion with our solar arrays.

Firefly’s Richard Randall, Production Co-Ordinator said “This new service builds on our range of renewable power solutions for events giving another option to event producers. The Kinetric Bike Generators encourage audience participation giving people tangable results for their efforts by charging devices or powering the stage. The system also shows people how hard you have to work to produce a relatively small amount of power educating people about the need for sustainability.”

Firefly Solar are collaborating with Bredenoord, a leading supplier in the field of temporary, permanent and mobile power solutions to bring sustainable power to festivals.

Bredenoord are a well-established Dutch company that have been providing energy and power solutions for over 70 years. The company are now collaborating with Firefly Solar to bring new and innovative technology to power festivals such as Glastonbury, Lovebox and High Voltage.

Firefly will be working with Bredenoord to supply power through the use of a Purity Hydrogen Fuel Cell which will deliver 5KVA of energy.

Firefly’s MD Andy Mead went out to Lowlands last Summer, where Bredenoord was trialling a prototype hydrogen fuel cell capable of providing 8kva. Mead commented “It’s great to see a big company like Bredenoord investing in R&D on this, so it’s not all down to government organisations and small companies like ours.”

Firefly Solar’s MD, Andy Mead and Technical Consultant, Daniel Spencer, met with Greg Clark, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, this month to discuss the viability of portable solar generators instead of diesel.

Greg Clark, a member of the conservative party, was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in October 2008. Ever since he has been working to find more efficient ways to source energy and control climate change.

In the run up to the 2010 general elections, Greg Clark came to Brighton to visit eco-businesses. Members of the Firefly Solar team met with Greg Clark and prospective MP for Hove and Portslade, Mike Weatherly, to discuss the viability of using solar generators as an alternative to the traditionally used diesel generators. The discussion included the efficiency of the solar generators, the emissions from diesel generators, the effect on the environment and the possibility of applying feed in tariffs to mobile and temporary solar generators.

Firefly’s MD, Andy Mead commented: “Meeting with Greg Clark was a great opportunity as we got to discuss how our solar generators could benefit the environment with someone of influence. We hope to meet members of other parties in a similar position to have a say on how solar power is the way forward and a viable alternative for diesel generators.”