UK solar still small but growing

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by Mark Hoskin, 26th May 2011

Today Mark M Little, the global research director for General Electric Co. forecast that solar power might be cheaper than fossil fuel and nuclear alternatives within three to five years in sunnier parts of the world, because of innovation. The cost of solar cells in the US, the main component in standard panels, has fallen 21 percent so far this year, and the cost of solar power is now about the same as the rate utilities charge for conventional power in the sunniest parts of California, Italy and Turkey, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

In the UK the growth of the industry is reliant on the tariffs introduced by the government in April 2010. 108MW of new renewable capacity has been added in the UK as a result of the FIT Scheme in the first year, of which 72% was from 28,505 solar photo voltaic installations.

Thus in the first year of the FIT the UK has added 77.8 MW of power to the grid from solar photo voltaic panels. To put this in perspective Drax power station, produces 3,960 MW of power each year. So in one year solar has added just under 2% of the capacity of Drax. It is a start, but we have a long way to go…

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