The UK is currently Europe’s largest solar market, with capacity at the end of March standing at just over 5.7GW. This has all been achieved against the backdrop of a changing and challenging regulatory environment. Alessandro Ceschiat of SunEdison Europe discusses how the industry can build on this remarkable achievement.
During one day in June, 15 per cent of the UK’s electricity needs were met by solar and a recent REA Review reported that solar secured £4.5 billion pounds of investment in 2014. Globally the renewable energy industry employs more than 7.7 million people, an 18 per cent increase from the year previous. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA, solar PV remains the largest renewable energy employer, with 2.5 million jobs worldwide, up from 2.3 million last year. The IPCC says it supports seven times more jobs than wind and 18 times more than nuclear.
Despite recent changes in regulation, the industry now needs to focus on continuing this progress and ensuring that the actions we take now don’t hinder our future.
The solar industry’s recent success in UK is born out of many factors including a lower cost of capital together with cost reductions throughout the supply chain, the savviness of landowners to diversify land assets amidst tough times for farming and stable political support. Complimentary to this, 74 per cent of adults in the UK support the use of renewables to generate electricity, with solar leading the pack as the most popular, followed by offshore and onshore wind.
Alongside these changes, SunEdison is transforming the way energy is generated, distributed and owned around the world. We manufacture solar technology and develop, finance, install, own and operate wind and solar power plants to deliver predictably priced electricity and services to residential, commercial, government and utility customers.
Within the UK we are continually adapting to meet customer needs, with our Energy Saver Plan for homeowners and unlocking the potential commercial rooftop solar. SunEdison has democratised solar for UK homeowners and businesses, removing the main barrier identified in market research: the upfront cost. The Energy Saver Plan marks a step-change in solar power in UK and promises consumers up to 15 per cent saving on their bills, recognised immediately following installation.
