UK breaks 5GW solar capacity milestone

Solar panels can power six per cent of households according to NPD Solarbuzz, but Britain still trails far behind market leader China

Britain's solar electricity market has passed a major milestone this week, according to new figures which suggest solar panels can now power six per cent of all UK households.

Analysts at NPD Solarbuzz released new data showing the UK now boasts 5GW of solar power capacity, following an uptick in construction during the last month.



Unsurprisingly, the figures reveal that nearly half of all capacity is located in the sunniest part of the country, with 46 per cent in the South West and East regions. The East of England holds 15 per cent of capacity, while London and Northern Ireland both have just one per cent.

The figures also reveal the growing popularity of large scale solar farms that cover more than 50 acres of land. Many of these are built on disused air fields or industrial land, but ministers have also raised concerns that they are using up farm land.

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According to NPD Solarbuzz, these large scale solar farms account for one fifth of all solar capacity, while another fifth is made up of slightly smaller solar farms that are still bigger than 5MW in capacity.
It is these solar farms that are perceived to be under threat from government plans to change the current solar subsidy regime. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is mulling plans to halt the Renewable Obligation (RO) subsidy mechanism for all ground mounted projects bigger than 5MW from April 2015 in a bid to refocus the market onto large rooftops.

But NPD Solarbuzz said that without new incentives for the rooftop market, this shift is unlikely to take place. Its figures show that large solar rooftops to date represent just three per cent of the market.
The government has proposed a series of regulatory measures to boost the rooftop market, but the industry claims that these will fail to drive change without additional financial incentives too.
Finlay Coleville, vice president at NPD Solarbuzz, said it was too early to tell if the government's proposals had caused a surge in new solar developments. Since the announcement in mid-May, the industry has installed 35MW of new capacity, but much of this was to be expected regardless of government policy changes, he said.

"May and June were quiet months, but things have started to take off again during July and the first half of August," he said. "So we can start to see the ground-mount segment seeing strong growth.
"What we have seen is a push to find as many new sites, to have as many options under [the current] 1.4 ROCs before 1 April 2015, or as a back-up for the new Contract for Difference regime."
However, analysts are expecting capacity to double to nearly 10GW as the April 2015 deadline draws nearer, with much of the construction expected to occur between October 2014 and March 2015.
But while the UK may be celebrating hitting a 5GW milestone, it is still trailing behind other countries, such as China, Japan, Italy, and the United States, which all have more than 10GW installed.

Separate analysis by solar company Hanergy and China New Energy Chamber of Commerce this week, revealed China's installed solar capacity grew by 232 per cent last year, reaching 12GW.
Li Hejun, chairman and chief executive of Hanergy and president of the China New Energy Chamber of Commerce, said the figures confirmed China's position as the leading market for solar PV.
"Our research shows that China has already become the world's biggest solar market. Now the country is moving to a more green and sustainable model of development which will drive future global growth in renewable energy," he said.

The figures also show that China accounted for the largest proportion of global solar industry financing at $23.56bn, equivalent to the entire amount raised in Europe last year.
"Governments are turning to greater use of renewable energy to tackle pollution and deliver energy security, underpinning growth momentum in the global renewable energy industry," he added.

Regardless of policy uncertainty, the global surge in solar investment looks set to continue as technology costs continue to fall and the solar panels enter the energy mainstream

By Jessica Shankleman

12 Aug 2014

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/analysis/2359863/uk-breaks-5gw-of-solar-power-milestone