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UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
Solar strategy will turn rooftops into power stations
Plans to turn the government building estate, as well as factories, supermarkets and car parks, into ‘solar hubs’ have been outlined in a new strategy by Energy Minister Greg Barker. The Solar Strategy sets out the government’s ambition to see solar energy schemes rolled-out more widely and, with it, the potential to support tens of thousands of jobs.
Among the proposed actions outlined in the document from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) are:
· The government aims to install 1 GW of solar PV generating capacity on the its own building estate through a major programme led by DECC and the Cabinet Office. As part of this, the government will lead an initiative specifically targeted at England and Wales’ 24,000 schools.
· This year, the government will identify the first 500 MW of deployment and seek private finance partners to incentivise installation.
· DECC will work with the Department for Communities and Local Government on extending permitted development rights in England for building-mounted solar PV to rooftop systems up to 1 MW.
· DECC ministers will meet with representatives of the large retail and finance sectors to identify how the complexity of the relationship between landlords and tenants might be overcome.
DECC says it wants to move the emphasis for growth away from large solar farms and instead focus on opening up the solar market for the UK’s estimated 250,000 hectares of south-facing commercial rooftops.
In a further initiative, the Department for Education is working on ways to improve energy efficiency across the 22,000 schools in England, to reduce their annual energy spend of £500mn. The initiative will encourage the deployment of PV on schools alongside promoting energy efficiency.
The new strategy was widely welcomed, not least by the solar energy industry. The Solar Trade Association (STA), which was involved in drawing up the strategy, estimates that around 4 GW of solar power generating capacity has already been installed, compared with just a few thousand solar roofs three years ago.
· Meanwhile, the BRE National Solar Centre (NSC) has carried out a comprehensive survey of jobs in the solar sector in 2013, detailing both staffing numbers and site installation activities. It concludes that, during 2013, there was a recorded deployment of approximately 521 MW of installations, each less than 1 MW in size, funded by feed-in tariffs, assumed to be predominantly building-installed; and 510 MW of installation above 1 MW, assumed to be predominantly ground-mounted solar PV. This led to an estimate of approximately 14,000 full-time equivalent jobs across both installation bands.
News Item details
Journal title: Energy World
Keywords: Solar - Solar / photovoltaic
Countries: UK -
Organisation: Department of Energy and Climate Change
Subjects: Energy efficiency, Solar energy, Power stations
