Greg Barker confirms support, vision for UK's solar sector

Dec 13, 2013 - UK’s Climate Change Minister Greg Barker yesterday affirmed his support for the solar power sector and said he and his team were working hard to remove the unnecessary regulatory barriers to on-site generation.

Addressing the “Solar Britain – It’s Happening!” event yesterday, Braker stressed on the need to stimulate the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity on industrial and commercial rooftops. Only about 100 MW have been installed in that segment as compared to 1,600 MW of home solar systems and some 700 MW of ground-mounted large-scale solar parks. The Minister and his team are already formulating measures to unleash the solar potential within the mid-size segment in collaboration with the Solar Trade Association (STA), he said.

Government calculations show that if 16% of all commercial rooftops had PV panels, the UK would achieve its 20,000-MW solar goal.

At the same time, Braker also noted that he wanted to also make sure inappropriate solar projects in Britain do not spoil the image of solar power.

At the Solar Britain event, the Minister also said that in 2014 the government would also make steps to become a part of the decentralised energy revolution. The plan is for the British government to set an example in solar deployment.

Barker earlier this year shared his “The Big 60,000” on-site generation vision of challenging the so called Big Six major power producers in Britain -- Centrica Plc (LON:CNA), EDF Energy, E.on (FRA:EOAN), RWE Npower, Scottish Power and SSE (LON:SSE). “I want to use technology, innovation and disruptive new entrants into the market to unleash a whole new generation of energy companies,” the Minister said yesterday.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!