The new tariff, Empower Exclusive, is designed to spur yet more uptake of Britain’s estimated 1.2 million homes fitted with solar PV arrays.

Exclusively available to new customers who install a panels-plus battery bundle through EDF’s in-house installer, Contact Solar, the Empower Exclusive tariff is promoted as saving a standard home more than £800 per year against EdF’s standard variable tariff.

EdF is also offering £500 off a new panels-plus-battery installation to the promotion’s first 500 customers, and without any deposit before installation.

EdF bought Chorley-based Contact Solar earlier this year and has integrated it into its operations.  The supplier says more price & package deals related to home solar are in the offing.

This first deal helps customers charge their batteries overnight, providing three hours of discounted, zero carbon electricity for three hours starting at 1:00am.  By charging the battery more cheaply overnight, the discount helps householders reduce their reliance on external supply during peak hours.

With systems available for on average £8,500 for a typical 3-bedroom house, Contact Solar’s package offer includes 10 panels, a 5kW hybrid inverter and 5.32kWh battery, all installation and scaffolding costs, a 10-year battery and inverter warranty, a 25-year panel warranty, virtual and technical survey costs, and access to a system monitoring and performance app.

All combinations of solar and battery installs will also benefit from 0% VAT.

Tom Taylor, director at Contact Solar, said: “We’re delighted to now be a fully integrated part of EdF, bringing exceptional new benefits to customers such as this new exclusive energy bundle.

Philippe Commaret, EdF’s managing director of customers, added: “We know more and more people are looking for ways to save cash and carbon, which is why we’re pleased to bring this unique solar product bundle to the market.

To check eligibility for the tariff, click here: Tariff Eligibility Criteria | EDF (EdFenergy.com)

For more information or to sign up to the Empower Exclusive tariff, click here: https://www.EdFenergy.com/solar#empower

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Now approved by East Suffolk Council, Park Farm solar park will generate up to 21MWp, the notional equivalent of the power needs of just over 5,000 family homes, and displace 4,600 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.

In January, the same authority green-lit the nearby Town Farm Solar project, with a similar generating capacity.

Together the projects will generate enough renewable energy to meet the electrical needs of over 10,000 family homes, while helping East Suffolk Council tackle its declared Climate Emergency.

Both projects include a series of ecological enhancements, such as species-rich grassland, re-planted native hedgerow, and the creation of meadow grassland beneath and between the solar panels.

Over its 29 hectares, the Town Farm development will deliver a 178% net gain in nesting units and a 52% net gain in hedgerows. Park Farm Solar Park also boasts a 106% net gain in habitat units for wildlife and a 116% net gain in hedgerow units.

British Solar Renewables is the UK’s largest privately-owned, integrated solar developer, with more than 700MW of solar PV delivered.

Its 57 UK projects include two in Wiltshire with aviation connections; the 250-acre Bradenstoke park on the old RAF Lyneham airbase,  and the Swindon Solar Park, built on the old RAF Wroughton air yard and military hospital. At just under 70W, Bradenstoke was then Britain’s biggest solar farm when completed in the early 20teens.

The developer also has projects in Australia and the Netherlands.

East Suffolk is among councils to have declared a climate emergency in recognition of the need for urgent action to combat climate change.  The develolers contend that the two solar parks will play an important part in meeting the authority’s climate action framework.   BSR has established a community benefit fund, assisting parish councils with funds from both projects.

Carla Hardaker, the firm’s development director, said:  “These two projects exemplify our commitment to leading the charge towards a greener future.

“We are proud to pioneer a new era of responsible renewable energy development—one that not only generates clean electricity but also enriches the local ecosystem througbh ecological enhancements”.

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Benefitting for at least 10 years will be the UK subsidiary of Kerry Group, the global supplier of nutrition ingredients.  The deal will meet at least half of the company’s electricity consumption.

The agreement is structured as two separate financial pay-as-produced PPA deals. It commits capacity from two of RWE’s imminent solar farms, Cotmoor in Nottinghamshire and Copse Lodge in Northamptonshire.

Each has a potential capacity of 49.9MWp.  Construction of the Cotmoor farm begins this year, with Copse Lodge expected to follow in 2025.

Olaf Lubenow, RWE’s head of trading solutions covering the UK: “Solar power is one of the quickest and easiest renewable technologies to deploy, and can quickly make a significant contribution to the UK’s energy system.

“Through the build-out and operation of our UK portfolio of over 4.4GW of solar, our clean electricity can help even more businesses like Kerry Group to decarbonise for the future by sourcing clean green electricity for years to come.

“We’re delighted to be able to support the transition of businesses away from fossil fuel-sourced electricity and to be making a meaningful contribution to the UK’s net zero ambitions.”

 Juan Aguriano, Kerry’s global head of sustainability added: “Kerry intends to reduce our combined Scope 1 & 2 carbon emissions by 55% by 2030 and achieve Net Zero by 2050.

“PPAs represent a key pillar of Kerry’s renewable energy strategy to deliver on these commitments.

The agreements with RWE are Kerry’s first PPAs in the UK and represent approximately 50% of Kerry’s electricity volume used in the country. We look forward to supporting more projects like these in the future in Europe and around the world.”

Essen-headquartered RWE seeks to commission on average 450MWp of new solar and storage projects in Britain every year. It is committed to investing 8 billion euros every year this decade in support of its Growing Green strategy.

The company was the most successful solar developer in last year’s Allocation Round 5 for Contracts for Difference, securing agreements for six UK solar projects.

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The pair intend generating up to 31MWp from 63,000 solar panels – covering the area of 18 football pitches – now being installed on 26 buildings of the Port of Liverpool.

The combined arrays are expected to amount to the nation’s biggest at rooftop level.  Together they will generate up to 25% of the port’s electricity needs, equalling that of 10,000 UK homes. Carbon emissions from the site will drop by 6,500 tonnes each year, the equivalent of taking 2,250 cars off the road.

Construction now under way is to due to finish by summer 2026. The pair are committed to engaging local contractors wherever possible.

More than 6,000 panels have already been delivered, ready to be installed on the new 240,000 sq ft Alexandra Dock warehouse, itself nearing completion.  All materials will be brought to the site by sea, minimising impact on local roads.

Financed and delivered by E.ON, the port’s massive solar investment is the first stage of a 25-year agreement will help Peel Ports Group reach its goal of Net Zero emissions by 2040.

Bringing closer the operator’s ambition to run Liverpool docks solely on renewables, a second project will be to replace five onshore wind turbines existing with four larger ones, lifting their generation close to 20MW.

Subject to local consultations and planning consent, work could begin as early as 2027.

Peel Ports CEO Claudio Veritiero said: “We’re proud to be embarking on this long-term partnership with E.ON and to be undertaking this important project together, revolutionising the Port of Liverpool’s energy system.

“Ports of the future need to become more sustainable environments and we must play our part in a greener supply chain.”

E.ON UK head Chris Norbury said: “The Port of Liverpool is a critical piece of infrastructure for the UK and decarbonising sites like this will be vital for the UK to achieve its environmental goals.

“Simply put, we all need to move faster on reducing emissions and this huge project will be a massive step in the right direction. We’ve been the energy supplier for Peel Ports Group for more than 20 years and I’m proud they’re putting their trust in us.

Planning applications have been lodged with Sefton and Liverpool City Councils.

Peel Ports has put more than £1 billion of its own money over the last ten years into sustainable infrastructure, with a focus on reducing the emissions associated with its operations.

Specialists involved in the project include EMTEC, FES, Absolute Solar and Cogeo as planning co-ordinators.

The port of Hull, owned by Peel’s rival Associated British Ports, currently houses Britain’s biggest rooftop PV array.  Installer Custom Solar completed the 6.5MW project in 2020.

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New solar arrays on or near each of the company’s UK sites lead its plans.  Facilities earmarked for more solar PV include its HQ at Gaydon, near Coventry, for the volume Halewood plant near Liverpool, pictured, and at its specialist Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton.

The EPR’s roof is, according to a JLR statement, destined to have existing PV arrays expanded to nearly 19MW, meeting over one-third of the site’s power needs.

At the company’s Gaydon centre, planning approval has already been won for 18.2MW of new ground-mounted solar, adding to existing roof top arrays.  The expansion will meet 40 per cent of the HQ’s power needs.

Solar car ports as well as conventional ground and roof arrays will feature in plans to grow the company’s solar PV capacity by 16 per cent overall. The first of three identified off-grid installations is scheduled to begin generation by late 2026.

All sites covered by the plans will retain grid connections, ensuring continuity of supply.

Tata-owned JLR’s drive towards more self generation is part of its global strategy to cover 36.4 per cent of its global consumption be the end of this decade.  The automaker is working to the same schedule to cut carbon emissions across its operations by 46 per cent.

Under its ‘Reimagine’ programme, the UK operation has already rolled out energy efficiency projects, reducing emissions by 26% in 2023 compared to 2020. A total of 53 energy optimisation projects have been implemented in the last year, with savings in CO2e of 10.9ktonnes, equivalent to 5.5 million fire extinguishers.

“JLR is committed to managing its net zero energy transition against the challenging backdrop of volatile energy prices,” said Francois Dossa, JLR strategy and sustainability executive director, declared.

“We are working hard as a business to improve our energy efficiency across our entire global operations.

“These new projects will diversify our energy portfolio, to reduce our reliance on grid electricity and help us to reduce our energy bills”, Dossa said.  “The steps we are taking further support our ambitious goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2039, and to hit our mid-term science-based targets along the way.”

Earlier this week, JLT’s parent Tata Group confirmed it will build a multi-billion-pound electric vehicle battery gigafactory at its Gravity Smart Campus near Bridgwater in Somerset. JLR and Tata Motors are scheduled to be the factory’s first customers, but the new plant will also sell to third-party vehicle makers.

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The firm, a fourteen year spin-off from Oxford University, has allied with scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer Solar Energy Institute to make a perovskite-based panel which achieves a record 25% conversion efficiency, advancing on conventional panels’ benchmarks in the low 20s.

Last May the firm achieved a world-beating rate of  28.6% for energy conversion by a single perovskite-coated cell. Small losses are incurred when as many as 72 cells are assembled into a single solar panel.

Greater things are yet to come. According to the company, stabilising the volatile perovskite mineral and layering it on standard silicon cells grant a theoretical maximum efficiency of over 43%, compared to less than 30% for standard silicon-based cells.

More efficient panels generate greater power from the same area, thus reducing the cost of electricity output, and making solar technology more attractive to investors and site owners.

Solar power accounted for an estimated three-quarters of renewable capacity additions worldwide in 2023.  So panel efficiency offers transformative potential in developers’ drive worldwide towards an all-electric future.

Dr Chris Case, Oxford PV’s chief technology officer, said: “Our record-breaking solar panels demonstrate that we are on the cusp of the next solar revolution, which will be delivered, in part, by our tandem cell technology.

“Solar energy is currently among the most cost-effective and sustainable energy sources“, Case added. “Our continuous advancements in technology will further enhance module efficiency – producing more electricity from the same area – and extending their use to all market sectors from residential, commercial through to utility scale.

The manufacturer’s CEO David Ward added: “This new world record is a crucial milestone for Oxford PV, proving that our tandem solar cells can deliver record-breaking performance when assembled into solar panels.

“It is the first step in what will be a transformative 2024, as we begin to deliver market-ready panels from our factory in Germany and continue our global search for a new high volume manufacturing site which will enable us to bring our technology into the mainstream.”

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Three more sites will benefit from PV before July, adding over 2,600 new panels this financial year to the chain’s parc of installed PV panels, towards an intended yearly output of over 930MWh.

The planned expansion adds to on-roof arrays installed already on the chain’s Leicestershire HQ, plus its stores in Swansea, Derby, Romford and Bristol.

Across its portfolio of over 150 outlets, Dunelm says it sourced 99.7 per cent of its power from renewable sources in the last financial year.

The retailer’s property director Steve Barton declared: “We’re very proud to be stepping up the solar panel roll-out in line with our ambition to reach net zero by 2030.”

“The investment comes in support of Dunelm’s greenhouse gas emissions targets, which were approved by the Science Based Targets initiative last autumn

Within a broader target to reach Net Zero emissions by 2040, Dunelm has in addition committed to an SBTi-validated near term target to halve absolute emissions from Scopes 1, 2 and 3 against a 2019 benchmark by the same deadline.  By 2040, it has a goal to cut Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 90 per cent.

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The developer-generator entered in 2020 into a conditional agreement to buy rights to the sites, but has re-considered its plan.

Exiting the option now at a value above its holding value was a more attractive proposition than committing to the projects’ construction, the investment trust said today.

Octopus Renewable Investment Trust said it had recovered its initial deposit paid and negotiated a termination payment from the vendor.

The moves result in a net gain on the investment, ORIT said, of approximately £3.0m over the €2.0m initial deposit, equivalent to approximately £1.5m over the £3.2m holding valuation of the option.

ORIT chairman Phil Austin commented: “Exiting this option demonstrates ORIT’s ability to remain flexible as market conditions change and reflects our disciplined approach to capital allocation, allowing us to capitalise on opportunities to enhance value for shareholders when the right deals arise.”

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A review published this week considers how the 350,000 listed homes and 2.8 million in conservation areas can be more easily adapted to improve their energy efficiency.

Doing so “in a sensitive fashion is key to ensuring their long-term survival,” notes a ministerial foreword, as occupants are frequently paying higher energy bills than other households.

The review, jointly conducted by the Departments for Energy Security and Net Zero, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Culture (DLUHC), Media and Sport, broadly concurs with Solar Energy UK’s view that rules on installing solar panels on them are unduly complex and restrictive.

A common perception among contributors to the review was that, “obtaining planning permission or listed building consent took ‘too long’. Frustration among applicants and possible loss of  financial support could result.

As things stand, certain energy upgrades require planning permission, some require separate listed buildings consent, whereas others require neither.

A way to cut through such red tape is already available, via Listed Building Consent Orders (LBCOs) which can authorise some alterations or extensions to listed buildings in England. LLBCOs may also be issued by English local authorities.

So far only one council, Kensington and Chelsea, has eased restrictions for solar on protected buildings. The London borough allows panels to be installed if they do not face roads in conservation areas and do not protrude more than 20cm from the roof.

The government review speaks positively about extending such provisions, not least because there is “significant variance” in how applications for solar photovoltaics are handled across the nation, “sometimes owing to poor planning knowledge and/ or practices”.

Now DLUHC will work with Historic England to issue clearer guidance on which energy efficiency measures require planning permission or listed building consent. Historic England will also publish planning advice for councils on climate change and historic buildings.

A consultation will follow on the role of LLBCOs and the potential for an LBCO to be made granting consent for certain upgrades across the whole of England. This could include solar panels.

“It is plain to see that there is far too much bureaucracy getting in the way of installing solar panels and other energy upgrades, where they can be done in an appropriate and respectful fashion, on England’s older buildings. So I am glad to see that the government is pushing forward with making the confusing series of existing rules clearer, while easing them in the longer term,” said Chris Hewett, Chief Executive of Solar Energy UK.

The government’s plan follows legislation issued late last year. Amendment No. 2 to The Town and Country Planning General Permitted Development Order extends permitted development rights for solar power to domestic flat roofs and most commercial buildings, including the establishment of a new permitted development right for solar canopies

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Industrial roofs and public buildings such as schools will gain most.  Systems of up to 1MWp – very broadly between 300 and 350 panels – will no longer be required to endure delays of up to eight weeks – or so ministers estimate –,  while town hall planners ponder projects.

Flat surfaces above homes no longer need approval either, bringing them in line with commercial roofs.  Curbs in conservation areas, which typically make it hard to erect systems visible from ground level, remain in force however.

Yesterday’s move by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities extends the scope of what planners refer to as permitted development.

It will ease the work of a joint industry-government solar task force, aiming to persuade indifferent or conservative landlords of shopping malls, factories, car parks and logistics depots to embrace PV, enabling tenants to slash electricity bills.

From its outset the group saw planning rules as a major barrier to productive use of largely unseen, unlovely, otherwise wasted surfaces.  Remaining obstacles include big installations’ waits for grid connections and shortages of technically qualified staff in electrical trades.

Announced in May, the taskforce is currently scheduled to cease work when it reports in February.  Though the body’s working groups  are dominated by supply-side participants such as installers, developers and kit importers, SolarEnergy UK is believed to have approached the UK Warehousing Association, RICS the landlords’ advisory body and the Local Government Association.

It was set up to speed up the government’s goal of 70GW of solar on UK roofs by 2035, stepping up by five times current PV deployments.

Trade advocates Solar Energy UK welcomed the improvement. Their chief executive Chris Hewett said:

“The potential of installing solar power on large commercial rooftops is vast, estimated at 15 gigawatts across the country”.

“Eliminating one of the stumbling blocks on the way to fulfilling that opportunity is extremely welcome, helping to make British businesses more competitive by slashing energy bills, bolstering the economy and pushing us further towards Net Zero.”

Property developers and house builders provided at least ten per cent of all donations to the Conservative Party since 2010, the Guardian reported in October, using figures compiled from public records. The same source estimated property owners had benefitted by at least £15 billion since 2015 by building homes to old, high carbon standards, without PV panels or batteries, heat pumps and effective insulation.

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Sparking up of the 30-acre plot follows the company’s successful equity flotation of £65million, supporting its goal to boost by 2025 its constructed and operational UK portfolio to over 500MW of solar.  Over 80% of that figure is already generating, with another 200MW at various stages of planning consent.

The 8.99 MWp project at Bryngolwg, 20 miles east of Swansea, has capacity to power a nominal 2,500 homes, offsetting around 3,700 tonnes of carbon emissions ever year for the next 40.   That’ll take the west Wales plant beyond the Principality’s goal of achieving Net Zero by 2050.

The project is constructed on low grade agricultural land, previously associated with coal mining.  Rhigos Community Council supports it.  Only twelve months ago, councillors on Rhondda Cynon Taf’s planning committee unanimously gave the farm their permission.

With all existing hedgerows retained, the development introduces extra planting of native bushes and trees in a biodiversity area. Sheep will continue to graze on the site, helping to increase the scheme’s considerable net gain in biodiversity.

Enviromena will manage the farm under a long-term O&M contract, which includes monitoring for performance security, maintenance and landscape management.

Chief operating officer Gary Hales said: “We are pleased to have energised our first project in Wales, safely and on time. The team has designed and constructed a high yielding project which can help to make a difference in achieving Wales’s net zero targets.”

The deal includes the developers funding a solar roof for a village hall run by Rhigos Community Council, cutting power bills and shrinking the rural settlement carbon footprint.

“Supporting the local community is one of our core values”, said Lee Adams, Enviromena’s sales director.

“Our commitment to leave all the communities and places that we touch in better condition than when we arrived begins with constantly evaluating the long-term impacts of all that we do.”

Enviromena has a second solar project on nearby land currently before planners.  The company anticipates their decision before March.

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Nuneaton & Bedworth councillors voted unanimously last month to green-light the Tolldish Hall scheme, positioned as generating enough power for 7,000 homes. It is the latest in the London- and Cheltenham-based developers’ 23GW pipeline of battery & solar projects.

Innova’s managing director of development Ryan Adams said:  “As a local resident to the site, I am particularly excited to have secured planning permission for this solar farm which will help get Coventry, Nuneaton and the surrounding area closer to Net Zero.

“Early community engagement and thorough site selection from our planning and business development teams were paramount to securing this unanimous decision”.

The planning committee’s chair Cllr Richard Smith hailed the Tolldish Hall farm as “a fantastic and very positive development for Bulkington and the surrounding area”.

The landowner at Tolldish Hall will be able to continue grazing around the ground frames when built, meaning no loss of land for food production.

Founded by Robin Dummett & Andrew Kaye in 2014, fast-growing Innova employs over 120 people at its two headquarters.  It now boasts 60 DNO- or Grid-connected UK projects currently under development.

In April Innova began a strategic partnership with financiers Schroders Greencoat to bring to market 5GW of UK project to operation before 2028. ISG Renewables, the joint venture company set up to advance their portfolio, made as its first buy Carn Nicholas, pictured, a 10MWp park constructed by Innova near Swansea.

It has a long-term mission to create utility scale renewable energy projects using multi-technologies that take large energy intensive users off-grid, positively improving the environment, and benefit local businesses and communities.

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The 59MW-rated facility newly built in Ockendon – a patch of half-rural, half-industrial Essex that even county natives look down upon – commands an output nominally equivalent to 15,000 homes’ consumption in a year.

Frames at the Ockendon establishment now support 107,000 PV modules, each rated at either 540Wp or 545Wp, thanks to their bi-facial ability to convert light reflected up from the verdant Essex sod.

Gloucestershire-based technology provider REG Power Management came up with the kit. The Essex order includes inverters changing the panels‘ DC output into AC, ready for being stepped up to a grid-ready 132 kV by transformers at the Warley substation, 2.6 miles north.

Recycling leviathan Veolia already generates 800GWh of renewable electricity – a baseload nominally meeting 240,000 homes’ use – from its collection of UK assets in solar, biomass, biogas, and Energy Recovery facilities (ERF).  Ockendon is its third British ground-mounted solar farm, after Ling Hall, Warwickshire, and Netley in Hampshire.

More roof-mounted modules commissioned by Veolia power UK hospitals, offices, water treatment works and recycling centres.  All the output qualifies as low carbon under the Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) regime.

Hailing Veolia’s Ockendon achievement, Donald Macphail, its chief operating officer for treatment, said “This development is a further step towards achieving a Net Zero carbon future for the UK, and a demonstration of how we can transform this restored landfill to give it a new life.

“This (Ockendon) project also has greater significance, “ Macphail explained, ”as the solar arrays have minimal ground level impact, so the wildlife that has repopulated the restored land can continue to coexist with the technology”.

Matt Partridge, development director at REG Power Management added: “We’re delighted to have worked with Veolia to help deliver another significant clean energy development”.

Veolia Group aspires from its Paris headquarters – a city rarely confused with the Essex edgelands  – to become what it calls the “benchmark company for ecological transformation”.  With 220,000 employees and operations on five continents covering recycling, waste disposal  & water treatment, last year the group generated 44TWh of energy internationally.

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Yorkshire’s largest city has opened Britain’s first predominantly solar-powered park’n’ride car park at Stourton, its canopies topped with 1.2MWp of PV modules over 480 parking bays, plus a 950 kWh battery. The ensemble is set to save as much as 471 tonnes of CO2e every year, assuming 2022’s rates of occupation.

Israeli technologists SolarEdge provided Stourton’s modules & inverters, 950kWh battery and EV charging infrastructure.  They promise 852 MWh of clean power every year. On-site use of the power includes the depot’s lighting, CCTV and heat for the waiting room.

By load shifting using the battery, grid import to the site is expected to be zero for most of the time.

With the storage set-up in operation, around 12% of the site’s generation will be exported to the grid.  The bulk will be stored, and used to help power the facility outside daylight hours.

Besides power, the solar canopies above Stourton’s bays provide shelter from the elements for Yorkshire shoppers.  The park’n’ride lies two miles south of Leeds’ city centre, next to the A61 and M621.

Two years ago, Stourton debuted solar generation in UK municipal parking, using clean power to re-charge electric shuttle busses that make the frequent 2 mile trip to Leeds’ shopping centres.

Stourton’s extension this month is part of Leeds City Council’s strategy to hit carbon zero by 2030, on the way cutting congestion & pollution in its centre.

The project was partially funded by the Department for Transport and with a grant awarded by the European Regional Development Fund.

Installers Evo Energy chose a SolarEdge DC-optimised system to compliment Stourton’s curved solar arrays. Conventional string inverters, Evo reasoned, would have struggled to overcome energy loss due to module-level mismatch.

Each pair of solar modules is connected to a SolarEdge Power Optimiser, enabling every module to operate at its maximum efficiency, regardless of its neighbours. Shading, uneven panel degradation and heavy soiling – all the enemies of old-style string arrays – are all thus avoided.

Optimising external aesthetics, nine SE82.8K and one SE17k SolarEdge inverters are located inside the terminus.  The configuration permits a touch-safe, non-lethal 1V contact with the canopies, permitting easy routine maintenance. A SolarEdge Firefighter Gateway allows the whole system to be shut down just as easily.

“This project is a sustainable example for other cities in the UK to follow”, commented EvoEnergy’s principal consultant Jonathan Roper.

“The Stourton site highlights how a project can positively impact a community, the local economy, and businesses throughout the city by enabling renewable energy powered transportation and enhancing the volume of transport links.

“It’s a great step forward in sustainable electrification of transport, while overcoming local grid limitations”.

Legislation in France now compels larger out-of-town supermarkets to install solar canopies above their parking bays.

In May British energy minister Graham Stuart and trade body SolarEnergyUK announced a purely voluntary, time-limited Solar Taskforce, supposedly incentivising the installation of more arrays above car parks and on roofs of commercial buildings.

No major commercial property owner is yet to be named among the Taskforce’s corporate members. The government-industry venture is scheduled to wind itself up in February, after only ten months of existence.

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Last week energy ministry D-ESNZ published its latest revisions of levelised “generator-gate” costs, comparing costs of production across the lifetimes of rival generation plants, benchmarking big solar farms against new gas-fired generation, and marine and onshore wind turbines.

Over a farm’s decades of output, solar output cost now averages £41 per MWh from utility-scale projects coming online next year, the department now reckons,

For new gas power stations, equivalent lifetime costs will be in the region of £114 per MWh, or almost three times as expensive.

Photovoltaic’s “solar farm gate” average of £41 per MWh next year is itself a fall from the £47 registered as recently as 2022.    The minstry’s revisions tweak figures from a 2020 study by energy economists WSP.

More and bigger PV farms receiving planning approval, boosted by continuing breakthroughs in panel efficiency, will push solar’s unit costs of output lower yet, D-ESNZ’s analysts believe.

£30 per MWh is the ministry’s likeliest estimate for solar in 2040, or even £26/MWh if the strain’s various emerging technologies such as perovskite continue its two decades of outpacing experts’ predictions.  Over the same period, the cost of gas generation would have risen – see chart -to an eye-watering £165/MWh.

Little changed in D-ESNZ’s figures, as cited by trade body Solar EnergyUK, are costs related to deployment of new wind farms in England.

Though the Johnson administration nominally lifted David Cameron’s ban on shire-mounted turbines imposed in 2016, a brace of Conservative successors since 2022 have neglected to lift the planning guidelines which in effect maintain it.

Solar farms are getting bigger, aided by falling costs of modules, a fall now mimicked by battery makers.  Britain’s biggest utility-scale PV farm to date, EDF’s 400MWp Longfield plant near Hatfield Peverel, Essex received the Planning Inspectorate’s blessing in June, as a nationally significant infrastructure project.

The Essex venture surpasses joint developers’ Hive and Wirsol’s 350MW Cleve Hill project in north Kent, consented in 2021 with 700MW of battery storage.  Construction began near Faversham this spring.

Commenting on D-ESNZ’s latest cost revisions, solar industry spokesman Chris Hewett said “This is yet another ringing endorsement of solar energy in the UK. It further justifies the government’s target to reach 70GW of capacity by 2035.

“In Britain, power generated by the sun is now a third of the cost of power made from burning gas and it will only get cheaper. The fastest way to permanently drive down energy bills is to build more renewables,” the Solar Energy UK chief executive went on.

Representing importers, manufacturers and installers of solar kit, the trade body says true costs of sun-orginated electricity may be lower yet than the ministry’s benchmarks.  Grid connections sharing with battery energy storage systems could further depress costs, and speed deployment.

Yesterday developers IB Vogt and Leeds-based Firma Energy announced their joint intention to site 150MWp of solar arrays and 100MW of batteries on 300 acres at Dean Moor, near Branthwaite in west Cumbria. Public consultations will begin this autumn.

With now 40GW in its global pipeline, IB Vogt have a ten-year presence in UK solar. Launching in 2021,  Firma Energy’s founders Andrew Jones and Rufus  claim 260 MW of generation, plus 347MW of utlity-scale storage, in development.

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