SOLAR POWER SOLAR’S COSTS ARE FALLING FASTER THAN ANY OTHER ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
Solar power, or photovoltaics (PV), converts sunlight directly into electricity. Solar power is the UK’s most popular energy source, with 85% public support according to DECC.
The solar power industry sprang into life in the UK with the start of the Feed-in Tariff in 2010, secured following a campaign led by the REA with Friends of the Earth. There are now over half a million homes in the UK benefiting from solar power. 16,000 people are employed in the UK’s solar industry across more than 2,000 companies, most of which are SMEs. The start of the domestic solar power industry coincided with massive international investment in solar power manufacturing which, together with domestic investment in efficient installation, led to major cost reductions.
At the large scale, solar power became competitive with other renewables two years ago and this has led to the expansion of solar farms. The Solar Trade Association and National Solar Centre have published clear guidance to ensure that developers focus on solar farm quality, including sensitive siting, visual screening, and compatibility with food production. Further guidance on using solar farms to support biodiversity was published this spring in association with leading UK conservation groups.
The cost-effective rooftop market for commercial and industrial buildings has notably failed to take off in the UK, despite some high profile schemes. It is essential to address policy barriers in this sector if the Government is to fulfil the vision set out in its Solar Strategy.
Solar power is an exceptionally democratising technology that can work at all scales and opens up the electricity sector to very wide and diverse ownership. Despite preconceptions about the UK’s weather, solar could readily supply around a third of UK electricity demand from south-facing roofs and facades alone. It has an annual generation profile that is compatible with wind power, and the benefits of engineering the two technologies together has been a key lesson of the German ‘Energiewende’
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(energy transition). There is also strong interest across the industry in energy storage, to allow power collected from solar panels to be used to more closely match demand, including when it’s dark.
The UK solar power industry is keen to continue its unprecedented rate of cost reduction and to be subsidy free by the end of the decade. To achieve this, the Government must provide a coherent policy framework for all sub-sectors of solar power.
MANIFESTO ASKS
• Roadmap to grid parity - Develop a clear pathway to parity with grid and retail electricity prices for all sub-sectors of solar power
• Ensure cost effectiveness - Level the playing field for solar power and keep the RO open for large-scale developments until 2017
• Allow SMEs to participate in Contracts for Difference - Changes required include quarterly auctioning, guarantees that there will be at least a minimum level of funding available for each technology and a secure route-to-market for all SMEs
• Support mid-range technologies - Correct barriers in the FIT scheme and address the non- financial barriers under the Feed-in Tariff scheme to unlock growth in the cost-effective mid to large scale rooftop market
• Future proof new build - Focus on on-site solutions by ensuring carbon compliance standards in building regulations that promote cost-effective incorporation of solar in new build
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