Guest post by Paul Barwell, Chief Executive of the Solar Trade Association
Today, solar farms up and down the country will be opening their doors to the public in an effort to raise awareness about how solar works and the environmental benefits it can bring. It is Solar Independence Day.
From Nottingham to Cornwall, Skegness to Swansea, local schoolchildren, community groups and decision makers will be making their way to local solar farms to see what it’s all about.
The UK’s solar industry wants to show how when done well the technology is a low impact, home grown and secure solution to Britain’s twin energy bill and security of supply crises.
Solar’s core output is of course electricity – the current that powers our homes and businesses. But alongside that solar farms can also enrich the countryside by supporting the bee population with wildflower meadows or creating havens for endangered birds.
The National Solar Centre’s Biodiversity Guidance, which was supported by RSPB and others, shows how.
Children at a local school in Gloucestershire have spent this week painting bird and bat boxes for their neighbouring Willersey solar farm, one of the 16 sites taking part in the open day.
Westmill schoolchildren seeing solar power and wildlife in harmony / Rowan Twine
Solar allows soil to rest, recover and have a break from the constant insecticides and fertilisers. Developments use land that is made temporarily available to solar for 25 years after which it is often turned back into farmland.
Contrary to what a lot of people might think, solar is right for Britain – despite our infamous weather. Solar in the UK generates 60% as much power as in the Sahara desert, and the panels work more efficiently in cooler British temperatures than in hot weather. On the longest day of the year – Saturday 21st June – solar generated 8% of the UK’s daytime power needs.
This all goes to show that solar, the most popular and second cheapest renewable, is a key part in our energy mix.
Solar Independence Day is also about another issue: the Government’s financial support for this simple technology
The cost of large-scale solar has fallen by a massive 65% since 2010 – welcome news for the climate and the environment. But it is not quite yet at the point of being able to go off on its own and compete subsidy-free with gas and coal. We reckon we can do it by the end of this decade – but not yet.
But solar will only get to that breakthrough moment of being able to compete without taxpayer help if the Government gives it a stable policy framework and a level playing field. At the moment, the Department for Energy and Climate Change, basing its decisions on out of date figures, is trying to pick the energy mix and the fact is that it is tilting the playing field against solar.
All that is doing is holding back the UK’s second cheapest renewable – and forcing consumers to instead spend on more expensive alternatives. After all, we still have to meet our renewable targets – for the sake of the economy, for the sake of the climate, for the sake of our natural environment, for the sake of public health – and solar is a big part of doing that.