The Energy Crisis: What Can The Government Do About Solar?

The energy crisis

In February 2022, Ofgem announced that the UK’s cap on energy prices was to soar by a record 54%. In the weeks and months that followed, the escalating cost of living constituted a full-blown crisis for many households. With increasing pressures, the Government responded by outlining plans to publish an “Energy Security Strategy” to explain short- and long-term measures to mitigate the energy crisis.

A few months later, the long-awaited Energy Security Strategy was published. In the words of Sky News, “Government’s energy security strategy will harm the environment and won’t ease the cost of living crisis, critics say”.

With no end in sight for the countless families being pushed to the brink by the energy crisis, critics are now calling for the government to do more in providing a solution — in particular, to take more positive steps in increasing the energy independence of the UK and accelerating the development of solar.

The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) has warned that unless dependency on fossil fuels is dramatically reduced, and renewable alternatives are developed, households will continue to suffer from unpredictable and damaging energy bills in the future.

Dr Nina Skorupska CBE, Chief Executive of the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology stated that the proposed commitments to solar and other renewable sources were welcomed, but the majority of the Energy Security Strategy “locks the country into more expensive, longer to build, non-renewable power sources”.

Power to the people

Some people have taken matters into their own hands. Across the UK, community energy schemes have begun working independently to establish democratically owned supplies of renewable energy — ‘community energy’.

Nationwide, the number of community energy groups is now in the hundreds, with many communities choosing to develop their own solar energy generating assets via private shareholder investment.

This community driven approach has been successful on a small scale, but speaks volumes about the lack of investment from governing bodies which could be doing a lot more to support solar generation across the country.

Cutting red tape

Aside from the community approach, much more can be done to assist commercial solar and renewables companies.

Speaking to the BBC, joint managing director of renewable company, The Abbey Group, Nick Sutton said “planning, red tape and grid capacity are the areas holding us back”.

Investment

According to the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO), Easter 2021 was the “greenest ever” on record, with renewable energy generation from natural resources at an all-time high.

The science is all pointing in one direction, but investment is needed in the electricity network to help build more renewable sources, said Nick Sutton.

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) have suggested that the UK should pursue a flexible strategy that is owned by the central government and supported by numerous stakeholders — rather than a fully market led approach.

Review the rules

ICE have also acknowledged that solar generation can be integrated quickly into the grid; therefore, the government could explore options to incentivise new investment. The rules on solar panel installation have not changed for years and could be reviewed to boost sales.

Fiscal incentives

Lastly, the UK can look at solutions which have proven effective across the world.

The US solar market has exploded thanks to generous Federal and State tax incentives. According to the Financial Times, the government’s independent energy forecaster predicted the addition of 21.5 gigawatts of large, utility-scale solar generating capacity in 2022, nearly half of the nation’s total and surpassing the previous year’s record 15.5 gigawatts.

The desire to change

The solar energy industry continues to boom abroad, and as shown by community energy projects in the UK, the desire for renewable, sustainable and independent solutions to the energy crisis is very much shared by the British public. The government’s options are plentiful — but as explained by the Energy Security Strategy publication in April, the disconnect between the powers that be and the public desire for solar is yet to be bridged.