A further 1GW of subsidy-free solar could also be added this year as decarbonisation of buildings and energy gathers pace, Solar Energy UK claims
Just two years after the closure of a key government support scheme for small scale renewables, the UK has now isntalled 1GW of subsidy-free solar, and the sector's outlook looks bright for the rest of the year as the decarbonisation of buildings and energy gathers pace, according to Solar Energy UK.
The trade association, alongside analyst Solar Media Group, said "market confidence in solar remains clear" even despite successive coronavirus lockdowns posing challenges for overall deployment over the past year.
Statistics jointly published by the two groups yesterday reveal 1.3GW of solar projects have been installed across the UK since the closure of the government's feed-in-tariff (FiT) subsidy scheme for small-scale renewables two years ago, with 175MW of solar deployed in the first three months of this year, which they touted as evidence of a robust domestic solar market.
The UK could well be on track to deliver a record 1GW of solar capacity in 2021 as various government clean energy policies and building decarbonisation schemes are rolled out, including the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme geared at schools and hospitals and the introduction of stricter energy efficiency regulations for new homes, they added.
Roughly 160MW of solar could be installed on public sector buildings alone in 2021 through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which has already committed nearly £140m of funding for solar projects, they said.
Finlay Colville, head of research at Solar Media Ltd, said the "strong deployment figures" from the first quarter of 2021 proved the UK solar industry was now operating "efficiently and profitably" in a zero-subsidy environment.
"2021 could still be the most significant year for solar in the UK, if the industry succeeds in deploying above 1GW of new PV installations, fully absent of any government incentive schemes," he said.
Overall, the UK now boasts 14GW of capacity, according to the data, which shows all three solar market segments - residential, commercial rooftop and ground-mount installations - saw year-on-year growth, despite a dip in installations during the first lockdown last year.
Solar Energy UK chief executive Chris Hewett said the UK solar industry was going from "strength to strength", pointing to solar's role in driving record levels of clean energy generation in the UK over the recent Easter weekend.
"Great Britain had its cleanest ever grid electricity over the Easter Weekend, with solar providing 21 per cent of generation at one point," he said. "The growing pipeline of subsidy-free projects reflects the confidence investors have in solar technology, and the UK can look forward to solar delivering an increasing amount of clean, affordable power."