Untapped potential of commercial buildings could revolutionize UK solar power

Schools, warehouses and parking garages could be at the forefront of an affordable solar energy revolution, according to plans discussed at the first meeting of the government’s new Solar Taskforce.

The government has a clear target of nearly quintupling solar capacity to 70 GW by 2035 as part of wider plans to provide Britain with cleaner, cheaper and safer energy sources.

Even if this were met, the UK would use only a very small fraction of its landmass for solar panels.

More than a million homes in the UK already have solar panels on their roofs, providing reliable energy to homes across the UK, while significantly reducing consumer bills and creating thousands of highly skilled jobs across the country as part of the growth of our economy. However, the Taskforce, led by Energy Minister Graham Stuart and Solar Energy UK CEO Chris Hewett, highlighted the untapped potential of commercial buildings, schools, warehouses and car parks, as well as the possibility of floating solar energy.

The government pledged to set up a task force to boost further solar energy growth as part of Powering Up Britain, and accepted Chris Skidmore’s recommendation in his Independent Review of Net Zero, which details how the UK is achieving its net zero obligations in an affordable and efficient manner.

Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero Graham Stuart said:

UK households are already contributing to cleaner, cheaper and safer energy sources with the solar panels on their roofs, but with acres of roof space in car parks and supermarkets in every community we can do even more.

This new dedicated Solar Taskforce will have a laser-like focus on cutting costs and breaking down the barriers to harnessing the power of the sun in every way possible while using a small portion of this country’s land.

This will make an important contribution to increasing our energy security, lowering people’s bills and creating jobs for the long term.

Chris Hewett, CEO of Solar Energy UK and co-chair of the Taskforce, said:

Installing rooftop solar, whether on a residential or commercial scale, is one of the best investments out there. It offers huge savings on utility bills and the ability to get paid for feeding excess power to the grid. The benefits can also be greatly increased by adding a battery storage system.

Solar power is the most popular form of power generation among the UK public and consumer demand is at an all-time high, although the number of rooftop installations needs to double to reach 70 GW by 2035. The number of solar parks will also have to increase significantly. I’m excited that we now have industry leaders working directly with the government to solve the stumbling blocks and maximize the benefits that solar energy brings to the nation.

Part of the discussion at the first meeting was how to encourage more rooftop installation, such as enabling cost savings for households and businesses that want to install solar panels, so that even more people can enjoy the benefits of solar energy, such as lower their bills.

This would be in addition to solar panels on the ground with the unified Taskforce that the solar and agricultural sectors can support each other in achieving energy security goals and maintaining our nation’s food security.

The Task Force also discussed plans to:

• publish a solar roadmap in 2024 to continue the actions needed to meet the UK’s ambition to increase solar capacity nearly fivefold by 2035
• upskilling and expanding the solar workforce to meet increasing demand, while creating long-term well-paying jobs for Britain
• identify opportunities to secure resilient supply chains and innovation in the global marketplace, giving UK companies opportunities to export their expertise around the world

The Taskforce will support the UK solar industry at a time when it is going from strength to strength:

• as of May 2010, over 99% of the UK’s solar capacity has been installed on the ground as well as on rooftops, equivalent to powering nearly 4 million households
• in 2020 the solar energy industry supported 11,500 jobs nationwide and that figure is now expected to be even higher
• in March of this year, more than 19,000 small-scale roof installations were made, at a rate of more than 500 per day. If this continues, there will be 230,000 installations by 2023, breaking the current record set in 2011

Ben Fawcett, Head of Solar at EDF Renewables UK and member of the Solar Taskforce, said:

To achieve our net-zero ambitions, we need to encourage deployment of all types of solar energy, from rooftops to small and large utility-scale solar farms. Bringing together government and industry, the Solar Taskforce is a big step in the right direction as we work hard to unlock the potential of solar energy in the UK.

Lawrence Slade, Chief Executive, Energy Networks Association, representing the UK’s energy network operators, said:

I look forward to working with Secretary Stuart and his department, as well as partners across the industry, to address the challenges we face on the road to net zero. We know that accelerating and improving grid connectivity is such a challenge and linking the task force’s work to our industry action plan will be critical.

Ian Rippin, Chief Executive of the renewable energy standards body, MCS, said:

The growth we’ve seen highlights the hunger for solar power PV and provides some insight into the UK’s growing reliance on homegrown energy. More people are turning to renewable solutions to generate their own energy at home and it’s great to see that there is increasing confidence in solar energy.

Notes to the editor

More details about the Solar Taskforce.

Taskforce membership includes the heads or senior officers of:

• MCS, standards body for renewable energy
• Commercial scale developer Evo Energy
• Solar investor NextEnergy Capital
• Energy supplier and developer of solar parks EDF
• International solar energy company Lightsource bp and leading distributor Segen
• The British Infrastructure Bank
• Energy Networks Association