25GW! Another New PV Market Discovered!

A team of researchers from international building analyst firm Barbour ABI found that warehouses have significant untapped potential to create up to 25GWp of new rooftop solar capacity.

The company also found that for the first time, UK rooftop solar capacity exceeds 3GWp in 2022 as businesses work to find solutions that can reduce energy costs.

The announcement comes after Conservative councillors in Lincolnshire and neighbouring counties said they were concerned about the number of large-scale solar plants in the area, given the existing grid-connected capacity.

In September 2022, SPP reported that the British Warehousing Association said unused warehouse roofs totalled 18,500 acres, meaning the UK was missing out on 15GW of solar.

Barbour ABI's AMA research team estimates that there are over 165 million square metres of existing UK warehouse rooftops, equivalent to 30,834 football pitches, with a potential solar capacity of around 25GWp.

The UK government aims to achieve 70GW of solar electric capacity by 2035, with the government's Solar Task Force highlighting the potential for commercial rooftop solar. The National Council on Climate Change has also said that the UK will need 40GWp of solar by 2030 to meet its 2050 net-zero emissions target.

Alex Blagden, senior research manager at Barbour ABI, commented, "Rooftop solar PV on commercial and industrial buildings is likely to be the fastest way to add renewable energy capacity in the UK, in large part due to the fact that the majority of schemes will face little opposition from local residents, unlike ground-mounted PV and wind farms."

Blagden added: "The potential for expanding commercial and industrial rooftop solar PV is considerable, combining a trend driven by home working and online shopping with a more holistic approach to renewable energy than sacrificing green belt and natural landscape areas."

According to Barbour ABI, Amazon UK and Associated British Ports (ABP) are the largest users of rooftop solar PV in the U.K. Amazon has 26 arrays with a total capacity of more than 20 MWp, and ABP has a capacity of 29 MWp with plans to reach 40 MWp by 2025.

There has also been an increase in large-scale solar installations on factory roofs, with the 6.7MWp array at the Don & Low Nonwovens factory in Forfar being the largest solar project installed to date.

The number of very large installations on the roofs of factory buildings is also increasing. There are seven sites with arrays of more than 5MWp covering the equivalent of 25 acres. The 6.7MWp approved project at the Don & Low Nonwovens manufacturing site in Forfar will be the largest rooftop project to date, larger than the 6.5MWp project at the ABP Ports-owned Port of Hull, which opens in 2020.

Barbour ABI said volatility in the energy market, the impact of ESG policies on business decisions and the falling cost of solar PV power are the main factors driving the growth of rooftop commercial solar investment.