Solar industry publishes UK sun power manifesto on eve of Scotland conference

The Solar Trade Association has published its ‘Great British Solar Manifesto’ which summarises the contribution solar can power make to the well-being and prosperity of the UK over the next Parliament in a ‘fair’ policy framework that works with market forces.

In less than a decade solar has transformed the future of energy; 882,228 homes now have solar power, communities; wholesale electricity prices have been lowered, cost reductions over this period of 70%+ have been unprecedented and solar growth has catalysed the development of smart local networks & technologies, including storage and battery powered vehicles (BPVs)

The STA has set its sights on achieving 40GW of solar by 2030, consistent with the Committee on Climate Change’s ‘high’ renewables scenario. Securing this trajectory would require the installation of around 10 GW of new solar capacity over the next parliament, a near doubling of current capacity that would see solar provide around 10% of UK power by 2022.

The STA Scotland is holding a solar power industry conference in Edinburgh on 12 Jun 2017 – just four days after the British general election – at which Scottish Energy News is pleased to be a media partner

For more information: http://www.solar-trade.org.uk/sta-events/solar_in_scotland/

Paul Barwell, Chief Executive, Solar Trade Association, said: “Whichever party wins this election, they should remember that solar has already won the public vote on energy by a landslide.

“Every day people recognise the overwhelming benefits solar offers, from cheap power to very real control over energy bills. If politicians really want to transform choice and competition in the energy market for good, their efforts are best spent making solar power and storage accessible to the millions of people and businesses who want it.

“But deployment of solar has dropped by 80% compared to average deployment over the past seven years. The solar industry has borne the brunt of Government policy cuts, despite being responsible for only 6% of the Government’s overspend on renewables.

“Over the past year the industry has been left fighting against shock business rate rises of up to 800% for rooftop solar – taxes that do not apply to solar competitors on the continent and to onsite fossil generation in the UK.”