UK energy secretary Ed Miliband will push the use of rooftop solar panels on new homes and buildings to help triple the UK’s solar capacity by 2030.
In an announcement on Sunday, the Labour Party said it aims to work with the construction industry to make it easier to install solar panels on existing homes or build new homes with panels pre-installed.
This could see rules about where solar panels can be located, with current restrictions covering listed buildings or limiting how high panels can be based, changed to encourage more uptake.
Reforms under the proposed Future Homes Standard would effectively mandate the installation of solar panels on newbuild homes and non-residential buildings.
Miliband said: “I want to unleash a UK solar rooftop revolution. We will encourage builders and homeowners in whatever way we can to deliver this win-win technology to millions of addresses in the UK so people can provide their own electricity, cut their bills and at the same time help fight climate change.”
Solar Taskforce
Following the announcement, the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero also confirmed plans to relaunch the Solar Taskforce, which would bring together industry experts and government to achieve its solar ambitions.
Jointly chaired by the energy secretary and chief executive of Solar Energy UK, Chris Hewett, the taskforce aims to rebuild momentum on the deployment of solar.
The taskforce had previously created a Solar Roadmap, which was almost ready for publication when the general election was called.
Its original aim of establishing the practical measures needed to reach 70GW of generation capacity by 2035 will now need to be revised to align with Labour’s goal of 50GW by 2030.
“I very much look forward to returning to chair the Solar Taskforce and I am sure that its expert members would echo my thoughts. A lot of the groundwork for the Solar Roadmap has been done already. I have every confidence that we will be able to publish it within a few months,” Hewett said.
“However, the new government’s eagerness to generate more solar power means redoubling efforts to make the electricity networks fit for purpose, equip Britain’s workforce with the right skills for the solar rollout, and invest in a UK supply chain in areas like batteries, steel mounting and engineering, procurement and construction. This will ensure the UK economy really gains from the growth in clean power,” he added.
In addition, as part of Labour’s plans to triple solar power the government said it will consult on extra measures in the National Planning Policy Framework that highlight the importance of solar power to the UK’s clean energy ambitions.
It added that the government will consult on revising planning policy to increase the threshold for larger solar projects in the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects Regime.
Solar farms approved
The move comes as Miliband approved three major solar power projects – Gate Burton, Mallard Pass, and Sunnica.
Sunnica will be based across three sites in East Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk and will connect to the national electricity grid at the Burwell National Grid Substation.
The solar farm will also include battery energy storage infrastructure.
The 350MW Mallard Pass Solar Farm will be located on either side of the East Coast Main Line near Essendine, partly situated in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, and partly in Rutland.
It will send power to the National Grid Ryhall 400kV Substation at Uffington Lane.
The 500MW Gate Burton Energy Park will be built on land near Gate Burton in Lincolnshire, connecting toe National Grid’s Cottam Substation in Nottinghamshire.
Taken together, these projects could potentially unlock over 1.3GW, powering the equivalent of up to 400,000 homes per year.
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