UK May Become A GW PV Market Again This Year

The latest figures released by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero Emissions (DESNZ) show that cumulative photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the UK stood at 15,292.8 MW at the end of July, with 643 MW of new capacity installed in the first seven months of the year, which Solar Energy UK's Gareth Simkins described as 'relatively low'. 'relatively low'. But he explained that so far some utility-scale PV plants have not been included in the statistics, so the UK has reason to be optimistic.

At the end of August 2023, the UK's Department of Energy Security and Net Zero Emissions (DESNZ) published cumulative PV capacity figures up to July of 15,292.8 MW.

Between January and July this year, 634.8 MW of new PV systems were installed in the UK, compared to 315.5 MW in the same period last year.

The country set a record of about 71.3 MW of new capacity in July alone, and this is only provisional data, which is expected to be revised upwards after more data from brand-new operational power stations are received. 2022 saw 46.4 MW of new PV capacity installed in July, compared to a total of 84 MW installed in June this year.

Gareth Simkins, a spokesman for the London-based British Solar Energy Industries Association, told PV magazine that the figures were "relatively low".

However, I suspect that this is only a temporary deviation," he said. Secondly, I would emphasize that the statistics are not very reliable."

Chris Hewett, chief executive of the British Solar Energy Industries Association, explained that the government tends to "lag behind" in its statistics on the operation of utility-scale PV plants, and that there is a lack of "reliable data" to quantify the amount of electricity generated by commercial rooftop PV. He said, "Commercial rooftop PV is a very important part of the commercial PV industry. Commercial rooftop PV is on par with government statistics for the past few years," he said. But we all know that the actual capacity is much more than the government statistics."

Hewett said the market for commercial rooftop solar and residential small-scale solar systems continues to grow, based on feedback he has received from association members, and Simkins estimated that the July figure would have been 16 GW. He predicts that the "strong growth" in the industry will be reflected in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 figures.

To reach the UK government's target of 70 GW by 2035, we need to install 4.5 GW of capacity per year by then," Simkins said. And as the industry continues to evolve, this is something we can do within our capacity. Obviously, we won't achieve this target right away, but we will accelerate our pace to reach it, and quite possibly exceed it."

In March 2023, the UK government established a PV Task Force, a coalition of PV industry stakeholders led by Hewett Participation, to accelerate the development of the PV market and achieve the target of installing 70 GW of PV systems by 2035. Its plan focuses on increasing rooftop and ground-mounted PV systems, but also includes securing investments and increasing the skilled workforce in the PV industry. The working group aims to publish a roadmap next year for achieving the 2035 target of 70 GW of installed PV capacity.

Hewett said the biggest challenge facing the UK solar PV industry is grid connection and investment, which has historically been affected by the introduction of regulations by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), the UK government agency that regulates electricity and downstream gas markets.

Some of Ofgem's rules have depressed investment because it is seen as increasingly being paid for by consumers," Hewett said. At the same time, solar and wind are clearly the cheapest generation technologies on the market right now, so the quicker you can bring solar and wind installations to market, the quicker you can reduce the price of electricity."

The second major issue facing the PV industry is developing a skilled workforce.Hewett says this means ensuring that installers and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms are able to recruit qualified workers in sufficient numbers to meet market demand. We are starting to hold recruitment events and more training activities," he said. It's a real challenge, but one that the PV industry is just beginning to face."

Other issues, Hewett added, include improving supply chain reliability and internal capacity building (e.g., to manufacture and sell packaged cells), as well as more broadly eliminating the "important details" associated with rooftop solar.

Issues. There will be challenges, such as the possibility of tenants negotiating with landlords to install rooftop PV systems on rented properties.

Interestingly, according to Hewett, the British Solar Energy Industries Association is seeing a lot of domestic PV systems being fitted with battery storage systems, "so at least 50% of all PV systems are now fitted with battery storage systems. This is a big feature of the UK PV market." According to data released on the UK government website, more than 1 million British households have installed rooftop solar panels, but there is still more "untapped potential" as commercial buildings, schools, warehouses, parking lots and bodies of water can be fitted with rooftop solar.

Notably, utility-scale solar PV projects in the UK include the 350 MW Cleve Hill Solar Park on the north Kent coast, scheduled for completion in 2024, and the 840 MW Botley West Solar Farm in Oxfordshire, which has yet to be submitted for planning permission.