Sunny side down

Britain's fledgling solar energy industry fears it is being abandoned by the government, Mark Tran reports

Friday April 8, 2005

The solar energy industry is under a dark cloud. Amid growing suspicion that the government is about to pull the plug on grant money for early adopters of solar energy, the industry has openly accused Tony Blair of reneging on previous commitments.

According to the Renewable Power Association (RPA), an umbrella organisation for renewable energy companies, the government plans to end its 2002-2012 programme for solar photovoltaics (PVs) - cells that convert solar radiation into electricity - prematurely in March next year. This means that the government will no longer give out grants for solar projects.

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The solar industry has relied on such capital grants to households and industry to build up domestic demand and hence a market for solar panels. It fears that once these grants dry up, demand will vanish and the market will collapse, and with it the UK solar industry.

Since the government started its solar PV programme, the UK has seen the growth of a fledgling industry. Sharp UK has a manufacturing plant in Wrexham, Wales that employs 150 people, while firms such as Romag and BP Solar have plants in the north-east.

The UK is also a world leader in the integrated solar PV market, with companies such as Marley and Solarcentury developing new solar tiles that have export as well UK potential.

But uncertainty over the government's commitment to solar is causing mounting anxiety and anger within the solar power industry. The industry first expressed its concerns last November, but recently cranked up the volume. It is now openly accusing the government of bad faith and of not living up to its rhetoric on climate change.

Jonathan Bates, a director of PV-UK, a solar industry group, said "The UK PV industry has taken the government at its word and invested millions of pounds in response to the white paper commitment. This money will have been wasted and many of our members will find it hard to continue trading should the government now decide to abandon the industry as it did the nascent UK wind industry 20 years ago."

Solar energy firms cite the 2003 energy white paper, which called for "2002-2012 implementation of solar PV demonstration programme in line with our competitors as set out in the Opportunities for All white paper". They also cite the principal recommendation of the government-industry PV group report of 2001, which called for a 10-year, £150m programme with a target of 70-100,000 roofs.

Sebastian Berry, a policy manager at the RPA, told Guardian Unlimited: "The bottom line is that the government has gone back on its previous commitments to a 10-year PV programme at a time when Tony Blair is stressing the need for more not less action on climate change."

Faced with growing disgruntlement within the solar energy industry, the government insists that it remains strongly committed to long-term funding for solar power, an industry to which it has given £31m since 2002.

The Department of Trade and Industry said in a statement: "We have reassured the solar industry that we have a long-term commitment to them, and look forward to working with them on the new arrangements."

But DTI officials have made it clear that the government favours wind and tidal power as renewable energy sources.

"The climate we have does not lend itself to solar energy and the government has to decide which kind of renewable power is most viable. The government has to prioritise," a DTI official said.

So far, the UK has installed six megawatts (MW) and may have trouble meeting its target of nine megawatts - or the approximate equivalent of 3,000 domestic roofs - by this year. By contrast, Germany last year installed 300MW of solar PV and on 12 separate occasions since 1999 the German solar programme has delivered the equivalent of the UK's three-year target in just one month.

The government has said it wants five per cent of the UK's electricity supply to come from renewable energy sources this year, 10% by 2010 and 20% by 2020. Currently, the figure stands at 3.86% of the total electricity supply. Most renewable energy experts believe that Britain will miss those targets.

This is a great shame, I think we should lead the world in alternative energy, from petrol / vegetable oil for cars, to wind power.

The more the better for me, it might cost more, but if we have the R and D rights on this stuff, we will get the money back for and some things are just worth paying that bit extra for.

Solar industry is not the sort of renewable energy we should be looking at. We should be concentrating on offshore wind and wave farms! This sounds like a good move, as the manin focus of solar energy should be for homes, not large scale power plants.

Solar stations arnt much good but it would be great if buildings had their own individual solar panels on the roof like my school does.

Surely it must be feasible for all new skyscapers to have solar panels on the roof?

I think there is more energy to be made with wave & wind plants than solar. With wave and wind you can produce energy all year round whereas solar is no good in wintertime.

Solar industry is not the sort of renewable energy we should be looking at. We should be concentrating on offshore wind and wave farms! This sounds like a good move, as the manin focus of solar energy should be for homes, not large scale power plants.

This article isn't talking about solar power stations though. If every new home had to generate 25% of its annual energy needs from renewable sources such as solar panels or possibly domestic wind turbines, coupled with capital grants for older properties this would surely go a long way to meeting our renewable energy targets.

With our climate maybe mini hydro-electric generators fixed into drainpipes on houses would be a better idea though ;)

I think there is more energy to be made with wave & wind plants than solar. With wave and wind you can produce energy all year round whereas solar is no good in wintertime.

modern solar technology doesn't actually require the sun to be shining though. It can still produce small amounts of electricity from the general ambient light.

But surely solar energy generation is much more efficient in summertime.

But surely solar energy generation is much more efficient in summertime.

Yes, and its more windy in the winter so they complement each other rather than competing.

Every little helps. If Every new build house in the UK had solar tiles then it would soon add up to a huge saving, even when the sun isn't shining.

I'd like the see more tidal power being generated, that is probably the most promising in terms of reliability.

indeed, every new built house in the uk should have solar panels on it which is basically what happens in germany these days. if the germans can generate hundreds of megawatts of power from solar why cant we? the fact is the govt are going to miss their own pathetic little targets, and probably fail to make the kyoto grade too and one reason is this. solar isnt perfect but if every house on every street has its own little power station in it you can generate a hell of a lot. you can also have rechargeable fuel cells in each house to store excess generated in sunny periods, it is possible to store thousands of megawatts this way.

Microgeneration is the future!

If homes can generate a proportion of their own power it would impact upon the power companies.

The free market only applies when the powers that be want them to.

Microgeneration is the future!

What the F**k is that? :dunno:

Solar power is good for individual buildings and things like car park ticket machines. Also I think most new homes should use solar panels. However the UK has far more potential when it comes to tidal and wind power and I do think we should focus on those. It would however be useful for the UK if we lead in solar equipment production and research and it could give us a lead in the industry.

indeed, every new built house in the uk should have solar panels on it which is basically what happens in germany these days. if the germans can generate hundreds of megawatts of power from solar why cant we? the fact is the govt are going to miss their own pathetic little targets, and probably fail to make the kyoto grade too and one reason is this. solar isnt perfect but if every house on every street has its own little power station in it you can generate a hell of a lot. you can also have rechargeable fuel cells in each house to store excess generated in sunny periods, it is possible to store thousands of megawatts this way.

better still, have two meters in your house - incoming and outgoing. While you are buying electricity from your supplier, you are also selling it back to them. They store it - say in pumped-storage hydroelectric (along with excess off-peak wind generated power for instance) - and supply it back on demand.

entirely correct toady. i was thinking that earlier.
itd be great to generate all our power from wind but we cant, its never windy enough. the maximum currently we could is 30-35% of our total electricity requirement. having seen the figures solar can apparently generate another quarter maximum with current microgeneration technology.
microgeneration involves turning every home into a mini power plant, the culmulative amount of power generated adds up into the thousands of megawatts. selling electricity back is great except for one thing, once everyone has solar power there wouldnt be a need to buy it when its sunny.

If homes can generate a proportion of their own power it would impact upon the power companies.

The free market only applies when the powers that be want them to.
In The NL a home can sell energy to the company. So to some, having solar panels can be quite lucrative. You could go to Brussels Court with your case and probably win. The power companies usually like their resources to be widespread (strategy) so they will take from 'your' resource.
In my city we'll be having energy from Iceland's geysers or something, or Norwegian hydro-electricity.

Why shut down Solar Power, I wonder if money and backhanders from the nuclear industry has anything to do with it.

In The NL a home can sell energy to the company. So to some, having solar panels can be quite lucrative.

The same happens in the UK.

I have been thinking more about my "hydro-electric in the drainpipe" brainwave. Is there currently any way of generating electricity from harnessing the energy of falling rainwater?

^^ There is a system I believe that collects all the rainwater that is captured by the roof through the drainpipes, and that there is either one or two small turbine machines and then a generator system much like a mini-hydro electric dam.

Of course such systems are not exactly cheap.

however apparently the electricity company pays a quarter of the cost for your electricity that they charge you for for theirs although yours being carbon free should be more expensive.
i dont think there is the regulatory desire to have every house as a power plant as it would radically change their business plan and threaten the position of those companies

Every home should have exercise bikes that are hooked up to generators.

Each home has to fulfill their quota each month by doing a certain amount of exercise. This would also help the fitness of the country, and lessen obesity.


WHO'S WITH ME????? :)

Every home should have exercise bikes that are hooked up to generators.

Each home has to fulfill their quota each month by doing a certain amount of exercise. This would also help the fitness of the country, and lessen obesity.


WHO'S WITH ME????? :)

:yes: Great idea!

I'm with you. I've thought before about having exercise bikes that powered your TV so if you want to watch it you have to cycle to keep it running but it's certainly not practical or ever going to happen.