Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Where Will Your Energy Come From in 2020?

Always fun to look ahead.  Is anyone surprised that solar will provide much of the UK's, and the world's, future power?

Where Will Your Energy Come From in 2020?

The 2007 White Paper “Meeting the Energy Challenge” is the UK government’s international and domestic energy strategy designed to address long term energy challenges faced by the UK.  It aims to deliver four key policy goals:
  • To put the UK on a path to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050, with real progress being seen by 2020.
  •  
  • To promote competitive markets in the UK and beyond, helping to increase the rate of sustainable economic growth and to improve productivity.
  • To maintain reliable energy supplies in the UK.
  • To ensure that every home in the UK is adequately and affordably heated.
The policy also recognises that the UK will need 30-35GW of new electricity generation capacity over the coming two decades as many of our current coal and nuclear power stations reach the end of their lives.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has developed significantly in recent years and capital costs are falling as wide uptake is driving down costs.  As recent news reports revealed, the largest solar farm in the UK generated 15% more power than expected during the winter months of November to the end of January despite this period bringing some of the worst winter weather conditions we’ve seen in years.

With so many innovative solar power projects being undertaken at present, we’re beginning to see solar power as a viable alternative power for homes and businesses.  The Feed-in Tariffs scheme introduced in April, 2010 supports business, communities and individual homeowners to generate low cost electricity using small scale systems.  This serves to lower customers’ electricity bills while generating income from the electricity supplier – a win-win situation.

The use of solar panels in the UK is predicted to increase in coming years as more of us decide to invest in solar panels in order to power our homes and businesses.  Solar panel providers will supply and install panels free of charge as part of the government’s FiT scheme which was designed to promote investment in renewable energy.  This has resulted in solar panels popping up on roofs all across Britain as homeowners strive to reduce their household energy bills and adopt a cleaner, greener method of powering their homes.  In fact, a massive half a million solar panels have now been installed in the UK, a major milestone in the solar energy industry.

The solar energy industry is committed to a goal of installing one million solar arrays on homes by 2015 as the appetite for solar technology gains popularity.  With more panels likely to feature on the rooftops of offices and commercial properties across the land, Britain is racing towards a fossil fuel-free future.

Low installation costs and predictable output capacity means that solar power is the perfect renewable energy system for the 21st Century.  One renewable company, CBD Energy Limited recently completed its first UK solar installation. CBD Energy’s UK subsidiary, Secured Energy Bonds, was founded in order to secure funding for the installation of solar panels for UK businesses with no upfront costs and the lucrative prospect of income derived from feed-in tariffs.

No comments:

Post a Comment