Solar Taskforce: Commercial buildings should be playing their part

The Solar Taskforce, the formation of which was announced in the Government’s ‘Powering Up Britain’ report in March, has met for the first time and has immediately looked to the commercial sector to become more involved in generating solar power.

Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero Graham Stuart who is joint chair of the taskforce, said: ‘Households across the UK are already doing their bit to provide cleaner, cheaper and more secure energy sources with the solar panels on their roofs – but with acres of rooftop space on car parks and supermarkets in every community, we can be doing even more.’

The government has set of target achieving a solar capacity of 70GW by 2035, a challenge indeed given the current capacity is under 16GW. 

More than a million UK homes benefit from solar panels but the Taskforce have highlighted the untapped potential of commercial buildings, schools, warehouses and car parks. The taskforce discussed incentives to drive more rooftop installation, such as enabling cost reductions for households and businesses looking to install solar panels.

Also covered were plans to publish a solar roadmap next year which will focus on how the country can increase its solar capacity by nearly fivefold in 12 years.. The taskforce also recognised the need to ‘upskill and expand the solar workforce to meet increasing levels of demand.’ 

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 benefits can also be greatly enhanced by adding a battery storage system.

‘Solar is the most popular form of power generation amongst the British public and consumer demand has never been higher, though 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.’