(Words: renewable energy consultancy Longevity Power).
The ongoing lack of a government-backed guaranteed price for selling back surplus clean power to the UK energy grid is discouraging businesses, property firms and commercial landlords from installing solar PV systems at their properties and holding back the expansion of solar across the country.
Anthony Maguire, Managing Director at Longevity Power, explained why the absence of a government-backed fixed export tariff is hampering commercial and industrial (C&I) solar rollout and causing the UK to fall behind other European countries including Germany, the Netherlands, and France.
He said, “The biggest obstacle to the UK fulfilling its solar potential is the lack of a stable and supportive policy from Westminster. There is no fixed export price, no net metering framework, and no ecosystem for mid-sized community-level solar installations.
“Solar in the UK doesn’t require direct subsidies – but what it does need is better long-term pricing certainty to unlock investment, which current Smart Export Guarantees (SEGs) set by energy firms don’t provide.”
Maguire’s comments follow the announcement last month by energy secretary Ed Miliband about new rules that will require nearly all new homes in England to be fitted with mandatory solar panels. The rules will form part of the Government’s new Future Homes Standard, which is set to publish this autumn.
Earlier this year, in March, the Government announced a £180M investment for installing solar panels at hundreds of schools and hospitals across the UK, to be delivered via new state-owned energy company Great British Energy.
But according to Maguire, the Government is overlooking the significant contribution that solar systems installed on the roofs of offices, warehouses, factories, retail centres, and other commercial buildings such as car parks could make to reducing emissions and decarbonising the UK’s energy system.
He said, “The business case in the UK simply isn’t compelling enough right now for companies, landlords or tenants to invest in rooftop solar systems. The UK lacks a properly priced export tariff that would allow asset owners whose own electricity consumption is modest to sell on the surplus power that they generate at a guaranteed price.
“The limited financial incentive to installing rooftop solar is the reason why it’s still a “nice to have” for businesses and not a strategic priority.”
Maguire identified other measures that the Government could put in place to encourage more solar uptake among UK companies and commercial property owners.
“Establishing a framework that corresponds to the US community solar model could dramatically expand solar installations. In American states where these policies are in place, large rooftops and brownfield sites host mid-scale PV systems built by private developers or energy providers that supply power to offsite residential customers and businesses alike on a subscription basis.”
He continued, “Another measure for the UK to adopt would be a regulatory rooftop usage mandate similar to the legislation approved by France in November 2022, which requires minimum solar coverage on all new and existing commercial roofs and car parks. It’s these kinds of policies that shift solar from being optional to becoming essential.”
Maguire concluded by saying, “The current Government has taken major steps in recent months to grow solar uptake in the UK. But Westminster must do more if it wants to stand a chance of hitting its stated goal of hosting 47GW of solar capacity by 2030, as laid out in its Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.
“Putting in place a guaranteed multi-year export price would provide the stability and certainty for businesses and asset owners to commit to solar for the long term with the knowledge that they can make a reasonable return on their investment.”
