Commercial buildings and car parks could be the answer to UK's solar goals

UK Energy Minister Graham Stuart has highlighted the untapped potential of commercial buildings, schools, warehouses and car parks to meet the UK's solar power targets.

This was one of the key discussion points at the first UK Solar Taskforce meeting held this week.

The Taskforce was created as part of the Powering Up Britain initiative and aims to map a path to reach the government's target of 70GW solar power by 2035.

According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, currently, over a million UK homes have solar panels fitted to their roofs.

However, the Taskforce, led by Energy Minister Graham Stuart and Solar Energy UK chief executive Chris Hewett, suggests that there is a great deal of untapped potential for rooftop, as well as floating solar power.

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Chris Hewett, chief executive of Solar Energy UK and co-chair of the Taskforce, said: "Installing rooftop solar power, whether at residential or commercial scale, is one of the best investments available, offering dramatic savings on energy bills and the opportunity to be paid for sending excess power to the grid.

"...The rate of rooftop installation must double to help hit 70GW by 2035. The number of solar farms will also have to increase significantly.

"I am delighted we now have industry leaders working directly with the Government to resolve the stumbling blocks and maximise the benefits that solar energy offers to the nation."

Part of the discussion at the Taskforce meeting was how to drive more rooftop installation and enable cost reductions for households and businesses looking to install panels.

The Taskforce also discussed plans to:

• Publish a solar roadmap in 2024 to drive forward the actions needed to deliver the UK’s ambition to increase solar capacity by nearly fivefold by 2035;
• Upskill and expand the solar workforce to meet increasing levels of demand, while creating well-paid long-term employment opportunities for Britain; and
• Identify opportunities to secure resilient supply chains and innovation within the global market, helping to generate opportunities for UK businesses to export their expertise around the world.

Ben Fawcett, head of Solar at EDF Renewables UK and member of the Solar Taskforce, said: "If we are to achieve our net zero ambitions, we need to drive forward the deployment of all types of solar, from rooftops to small and large utility-scale solar farms. By bringing the government and industry together, the Solar Taskforce is a great step in the right direction as we work hard to unlock the potential of solar in the UK."

In March 2023, over 19,000 smaller-scale rooftop installations were made, at a rate of more than 500 a day. If this continues, there will be 230,000 installations in 2023 – beating the current record set in 2011.