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United Kingdom PV technology status and prospects Gary Shanahan, Renewable Energy Development and Deployment Team, Department of Trade and Industry |
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In the UK, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is the lead Department dealing
with energy issues. Other Departments with significant interests are the Department
of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister (ODPM), the Cabinet Office and the Treasury.
The increasing importance of renewable energy sources to the UK in terms of meeting emission reduction targets, contributing to diversity and security of supply and developing internationally competitive industries has been recognized and has led to a number of significant policy initiatives.
The Government has imposed an Obligation on electricity suppliers (the Renewables Obligation) which requires them to deliver a specified proportion of their supplies from electricity generated from specified sources of renewable energy, or to buy Renewables Obligation Certificates or to make a buyout payment. This will enable the UK to make progress towards its target of generating 10 % of its electricity from renewable energy sources covered by the Obligation by 2010. This forms the main element of the Government’s strategy for renewables deployment but it has been supplemented by a number of other initiatives described below.
In November 2001, the Performance and Innovation Unit (part of the Cabinet Office) published its report detailing how an additional 100 MGBP of funding for renewables - previously announced by the Prime Minister - should be spent. The Performance and Innovation Unit has also been conducted a review of Energy Policy which was published in February 2002. The review addressed issues such as the scope for increased targets for renewables in the post 2010 period and the Government has responded to the recommendations made in the Report in an Energy White Paper published in February 2003.
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The overall goal is to develop the capabilities of industry and to encourage sustainable growth in the market by removing barriers to the deployment of PV.
A Photovoltaic Government – Industry Group, set up at the request of the then Minister for Energy, Helen Liddell, made a series of recommendations to Government in its final report, dated 26 March 2001. These included the need for a market stimulation programme for housing and non-residential PV systems, simplified connection arrangements, planning guidance on PV, and setting up a national training and accreditation scheme for installers and service personnel. These and the other recommendations of the group have being taken forward by the Department of Trade and Industry and others.
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The existing DTI Renewable Energy R&D Programme has been strengthened through
the preparation of “Technology Route Maps” for each technology in consultation
with industry. This has resulted in an improvement in the quality of proposals
received as response to the periodic competitive calls for proposals. Funding
of the PV element of the programme is running at about 3 MGBP per annum.
The current priorities for work supported under the R&D Programme are as follows:
The DTI is working with a number of industrial partners to pursue these objectives. Work includes development of amorphous silicon, high efficiency thin film silicon and organic cells.
The Field Trial of Domestic PV Systems referred to in the previous IEA PVPS Annual Report is underway. The budget of 1,4 MGBP is supporting 9 projects with 166 dwellings totaling 220 kWp. A second phase of the trial was announced in October 2001 with a budget of 4 MGBP. This will allow for PV to be installed on 379 dwellings on 23 sites with a total capacity of over 600 kWp. A similar field trial for larger systems (non-residential) for public sector buildings was launched in November 2001 with a budget of 3 MGBP – the budget was subsequently increased to 4,2 MGBP in view of the significant number of high-quality applications, with 18 projects for installations above 20 kWp (covering areas of more than 200 m²) awarded grants. Both the Domestic and Non-Domestic Field Trials are now closed to new applications.
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The programme aims to support some 1 500 small scale application (less than 5kWp), 140 grouped domestic installations (comprising 1 500 roofs in total) and 140 non-domestic buildings. The total capacity installed under the programme should be approximately 9MW. The programme has also put in place an installer accreditation scheme to ensure the quality of installations which are receiving grant funding. The quality of installers will also be underpinned by the establishment of training schemes for PV installers.
The process for obtaining network connection for small PV systems has been simplified and improved. Network connection guidelines (G77/G83) have been put in place following consultation involving the PV industry and utilities.
Planning Policy Guidance annex specifically for photovoltaics applications was published in April 2002.
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Anecdotal evidence suggests that at least a further 1 MW was installed during 2002, but this is subject to confirmation. Solar Century, a solar solutions company has been very successful in building new business although BP Solar remain responsible for the lion’s share of installations, largely on BP’s own buildings and service stations.
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The Major PV Demonstration Programme will provide a significant boost to PV in
the UK. Installer accreditation and training, and grid-connection issues will
become more important as the level of installed capacity begins to ramp up significantly.
There has been a significant increase in the level of interest in the UK PV market
from manufacturers across the world since the programme was announced.
Significant cost reductions together with steady improvements in the quality, reliability and service of systems will be vital to underpin the sustained growth of the sector.
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