Solar panels in the UK are experiencing a boom, with installations reaching a 12-year high in 2023 at levels not seen since the government offered incentives to encourage uptake. Despite this promising progress, Good Energy, a renewable energy installer, has five suggestions for accelerating the trend and achieving the goal of 70GW of solar capacity by 2035.
The first recommendation is that new-build properties should have up-to-date solar specifications incorporated within them under the government’s Future Homes Standard, which comes into force next year. Although it is unclear whether this will happen, this regulation aims to ensure that new homes make significant carbon savings. British homeowners could save up to £2,120 annually on fuel bills by going solar, while housing associations could benefit from selling any surplus electricity generated to the grid.
Secondly, Good Energy established the need for grants and 0% interest loans for homeowners for retrofitting their homes using green energy technology such as solar panels. The Scottish government already provides £7,500 grants and an optional interest-free £7,500 loan to encourage greater uptake and bring it in line with the rest of the UK. Good Energy believes that if the UK government did the same, the market would open up to millions of households and there would be a stronger case for the government to support households with these costs.
Thirdly, despite progress being made in updating the infrastructure to accommodate solar panels, some commercial solar projects face delays of up to 15 years due to the UK’s creaking grid infrastructure and the waiting list for new connections. Good Energy proposes that these barriers be loosened by untethering rural areas, allowing greater competition between both energy companies and consumers. The idea is to allow customers greater choice of operators for the supply and export of electricity.
Fourthly, the UK has to find an industrial strategy where it can manufacture its photovoltaic (PV) panels domestically and reduce its exposure to China, which produces over 80% of all PV worldwide. “What we’d like to see from the government is some real ambition around industrial strategy – not just for solar but for other key low-carbon technologies too,” explains Simon Shaw, regulatory affairs lead at Good Energy. He believes that by investing in British manufacturing, there would be increased economic independence in green technologies.
Finally, Shaw asserts that a surging customer market means that companies have to create better home energy kits for consumers. “We believe customers should be able to choose the operators they want,” explains Shaw. Good Energy and smaller firms can be more innovative with export tariffs, but there is not throughout the sector enough incentive to be more innovative
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