• UK solar power growth halves for second year running
    12 replies, posted
New solar power installations halved in the UK last year for the second year in a row, as the fallout of government subsidy cuts continued to shake the sector. Labour said the figures showed the government’s commitment to green energy was “nothing but an empty PR move”. The UK numbers were so poor that they caused overall EU solar growth to flatline at a time when record amounts of new solar were added globally. Europe’s solar trade body said the UK had the slowest growth of the world’s top 20 solar markets, the lowest prospect for growth among its European peers in coming years and the worst political outlook. ... Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, said: “Tory policies on solar including dramatic cuts to feed-in tariff subsidies, business and VAT rate hikes, and obstruction to clean power auctions have held back one of the cleanest, cheapest forms of energy.” UK solar power growth halves for second year running | Environme.. With the FiT being so poor now, and disappearing completely next year solar is completely dependent on energy storage to be viable. If you don't use it yourself you're essentially giving it away for free.
Or perhaps this is just evidence solar can't survive without Crony-style subsidies? Even more impressive when you consider that the cost of solar recently went down because of US tariffs (that is, the prices when down outside the US). It's interesting they solely blame the UK for flat-lining solar growth when their own article includes a graph that shows solar growth in the EU plummeted after 2012, primarily because of plummeting German and Italian installations.
I knew you was going to post that. It's nothing to do with that, and simply that the feed in tariff is disappearing. If you don't utilize the power then you are going to be giving it back to the grid for free, that's not hard to understand is it? If you have a 4kW array on your roof and no way to store it, and considering in the UK we don't have AC then what's actually going to use that power? You'll probably have 3750w going into the grid when your array is at max output. Regardless of the power source, if you are giving away the vast majority of the output for free you aren't going to make any money.
They're still getting 4.39p/kWhr which is probably better than what most power stations in the UK are getting, for power that's completely non-dispatchable. For someone who complains about Hinkley Point being too expensive it's strange you don't complain about 12.47p/kWhr they were getting, a figure that's way above market price in the UK.
Not sure if you didn't read my posts, but I said next year that's going away completely. It's already less than 4.39p as well, so not sure what you are getting that from? As I've said in my Hinkley Point C posts, I'm fine about higher payments if it's actually an investment for something less expensive in the future. Solar prices have come way down, and are continuing to decline. Hinkley Point C is getting 10.8p / kWh. You also have to consider that these are residential purchases. Solar panels still make financial sense, but we are talking 20+ year paybacks rather than 5 to 10 year paybacks. Most people aren't going to remain in the same house for that long, so won't make the money back. Personally I'd be fine with them replacing the FiT with an energy storage subsidiy though, to help that industry grow.
Isn't Wind an absolutely massive power source in the UK? I'd be interested to see how it compares to solar growth.
https://www.gov.uk/feed-in-tariffs You're going to have to provide a source for your claim they're completely getting rid of tariffs because it's not in your OP. And I don't particularly care that they're going into residential homes. Most people who own homes are at the very least middle class, and the middle class certainly do not need a subsidy (and that's what it is for every cent above the market price of electricity). A subsidy in effect that gets passed onto solar panel manufacturers.
Tariffs are being ended after March 31 2019, this has been in legislation and many official documents for some time now. The FiT scheme has a fixed degression; those who first got into the scheme are paid more per KW/h than those who joined after and the rate you are eligible for decreases each year. The government commissioned several reviews on the FiT scheme (which can be found with a little searching on the .gov.uk website) and they determined that it was financially unsustainable going forward. Previously they have reviewed the tariffs and set additional ones. They have yet to enact any new provisions providing for a scheme after March 2019 or announce any new incentives and it is highly unlikely they will do so with the current state of our government.
It closes to new registrations by default starting April 2019, and the government has stated they aren't going to be reviewing it, and no more subsidies will be given until 2025. https://www.energylivenews.com/2017/11/29/feed-in-tariff-scheme-to-close-in-april-2019/ I don't have an issue with that in itself, if they provide a decent subsidy for energy storage.
I feel like the UK probably isn't the best place for solar panels with all that shitty weather.
It's fairly common for solar to be the largest producer of energy on the grid. This idea of bad weather = no solar needs to go, with a big enough array you can produce a fair amount of energy on a cloudy day that's even with solar panels being 20% efficient!
They could justify even higher grants, if as part of it you allow the national grid to use some of its capacity. It would probably be a cheap way of getting more storage capacity on the grid.
round up the local jobseekers and have them run in a wheel like rats, thats a better and cheaper source of energy
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