the UK is seizing the solar opportunity – Inside track

This post is by Chris Hewett, chief executive of Solar Energy UK.

We are at the dawn of a transformative era for how the UK powers itself. Following two years’ work, over two governments, the Solar Roadmap has been released, marking out dozens of practical measures needed to meet national goals to expand solar generation.

It is poised to play a pivotal role in achieving the government’s mission for the UK to become a clean energy superpower, aligning with last December’s Clean Power Action Plan. The plan seeks to boost the supply of cheaper and more secure power, foster new industries, create skilled jobs, significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance biodiversity. Though it is little-known outside the sector, solar farms provide extraordinary havens for wildlife, and we have copious evidence to prove it.

The roadmap springs from the efforts of the Solar Taskforce, led by Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband and me. The taskforce will soon transition into the Solar Council, which will oversee the plan’s implementation.

In future, solar will sometimes provide virtually all the UK’s power
The industry is already growing quickly, with capacity expected to grow by up to 17 per cent this year and even more in the following years. By 2030, when the electricity system will be largely carbon-free, capacity will be about triple what it is now, with solar, at times, providing virtually all of the country’s power. The UK could have around nine million small-scale solar rooftops by then, five times more than now, with the sector as a whole employing twice as many people as now.

Despite such transformative pace, at this level solar farms would occupy less than one per cent of the country’s farmland, far too small an area to make any meaningful dent in food security. We also know that the sector is helping to keep many farmers in business by providing a reliable source of income.

We have a generational opportunity to create high quality jobs in the this sector. The roadmap outlines 11 actions to address skills shortages, including improving training provision, mapping routes to competence for core occupations, connecting colleges with businesses, producing materials for schools and improving retention.

Too many barriers to rooftop solar still exist
Despite significant cost reductions, the upfront cost of rooftop photovoltaics remains a significant barrier to more widespread adoption by homeowners and businesses alike. Accordingly, the government plans to collaborate with the Green Finance Institute, the finance sector, consumer bodies and the solar industry to provide financial solutions for all customers. Red tape that can lead to rooftop installations being unduly small, limiting the bill savings they offer, is also being addressed.

The solar industry is a responsible industry. We have tackled forced labour in the supply chain for raw materials through establishing the Solar Stewardship Initiative. Backed by the government and the roadmap, the traceability system will be used by GB Energy to ensure that it avoids tainted products.

Domestically, the paper underlines a unique opportunity to grow the solar supply chain and manufacturing capacity. While domestic manufacturing of conventional silicon-based panels may not be economically viable in the UK, there is potential for producing transformers, inverters and other components. The government will consider supporting companies looking to scale up production.

But some challenges are more difficult to resolve than an anomaly in planning law or ensuring that installations are properly reflected in home valuations. My sector faces a torrent of misinformation and sometimes active disinformation from certain quarters.

Fossil fuel companies are spreading misinformation
The International Panel on the Information Environment’s recent report on how fossil fuel companies are obstructing climate action by weaponising false information, trolls and bots more than struck a chord. My colleagues and I have been on the sharp end for years.

Latterly, it was falsely blaming renewables for the power cut in Spain and Portugal. We have also had to clarify that solar panels do not fail in the heat and that nothing untoward happens when a bird lands on them, as you can see for yourself in the picture above.

To be candid, it’s not always clear how to fight back against this nonsense. Denying a lie only repeats it, while stressing the manifold benefits of solar energy can look like deflection.

Nevertheless, it does give me some renewed confidence that almost 700 small scale rooftops are being upgraded with panels every day. So too does the government’s fulsome support for solar energy, for which we are grateful.

It is also good to know that solar farms are overwhelmingly popular among people who already live near them, going by polling for Copper Consultancy. Only a tiny and unrepresentative minority are vocally opposed to them.

The oddity is that, when asked by Climate Barometer what they think about how other people view solar farms, the public seriously underestimates support and overestimates opposition. The effect is even greater among MPs, or at least it was in the previous parliament.

I suspect that a greater part of the blame for such skewing lies with elements of the media that have allied with fossil fuel interests, promoting falsehoods and disregarding the benefits of decarbonisation.

But we cannot let them win. Our world is at stake.

[Image of a Yellowhammer on a solar panel supplied by the author, courtesy of Wychwood Biodiversity]