United Kingdom, Photovoltaic technology status and prospects - Contribution to the Annual report 2003

United Kingdom
Photovoltaic technology status and prospects
Gary Shanahan, Renewable Energy Development and Deployment Team, Department of Trade and Industry

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Last updated: 30 May 2004

General Framework

Fig. 1 - 30 kWp glass/glass laminates at the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth.

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 recognised 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. The Government has an aspiration to reach 20 % of electricity from renewables in the UK by 2020. 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.

The Government published an Energy White Paper in February 2003 “Our energy future – creating a low carbon economy.” The White Paper sets out the long term strategy for the UK’s energy policy based on the four pillars of the environment, energy reliability, affordable energy for the poorest and competitive markets for businesses.

The Government has also recently undertaken a Renewables Innovation Review:

to identify which are the key renewable technologies for the delivery of the UK targets and aspirations for renewables, the UK's wider carbon reduction aspirations and for the creation of UK economic benefit;
to identify the barriers to the development and deployment of the key renewable technologies;
to better understand better the innovation process in key renewable energy sectors; and
to identify the most cost effective Government measures to facilitate delivery of the UK targets.

The Review was published in February 2004 and can be found at: http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/renewables/policy/renewables_innovation_review.shtml
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National Programme

For photovoltaics, the UK’s National Programme consists of the following elements:

Research and development, under the DTI Renewable Energy Programme and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) programme
Field tests and demonstrations, under DTI programmes
Participation in international programmes (EC and IEA)

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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Research, Development and Demonstration

Fig. 2 - 115 kWp roof-mounted and glass-glass canopy at Ford's Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence in East London - largest installation in UK at time of commissioning.

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 GBP 2 million per annum.

The current priorities for work supported under the R&D Programme are as follows:

The identification, development and evaluation of novel materials and/or cell structures which offer significant improvements to current PV performance and costs;
Innovative approaches to existing cell or module technologies with the goal of improving performance and/or reducing costs;
Identification, development and evaluation of new production methods and processes which offer significant potential for cost reduction;
Innovative approaches to balance of systems technologies such as power conditioning equipment, metering, wiring and installation systems with a view to significant improvements to the cost or performance.

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 GBP 5,4 million is supporting around 30 projects with 500 dwellings totalling 750 kWp. A similar field trial for larger systems (non-residential) for public sector buildings, launched in November 2001, with a budget of GBP 4,2 million awarded grants to 18 projects above 20 kWp (covering areas of more than 200 m 2 ). 11 projects, totalling around 550 kWp, had been installed by the end of 2003, and monitoring has begun on half of these. Both the Domestic and Non-Domestic Field Trials are now closed to new applications.
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Implementation

A Major PV Demonstration Programme was launched by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in March 2002. The programme will provide capital grants for the installation of domestic and non-domestic PV systems in the public and private sectors. The budget was increased by a further GBP 5 million in February 2004.

The programme aims to support some 1 200 small scale applications (less than 5 kWp), and 140 grouped domestic installations (comprising 1 300 roofs in total) and non-domestic buildings. The total capacity installed under the programme should be approximately 7,5 MW. 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 is also being 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, and DNOs do not now require prior inspection of network connections for systems less than 3,7 kWp.

The Planning Policy Guidance annex specifically for photovoltaics applications was published in April 2002. This will be superseded by the Planning Policy Statement 22 and a series of Companion Guides on individual technologies in Summer 2004.
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Industry Status

The UK’s only indigenous producer of photovoltaic panels (ICP Solar, formerly known as Intersolar) has trebled its capacity to 3 MW using private capital. ICP is continuing Intersolar’s major R&D programme covering both manufacturing process and product development with assistance from the Department of Trade and Industry. Crystalox has doubled its capacity, for the third year running, to maintain its position as one of the world’s major suppliers of silicon ingots. In addition, 2003 saw the announcement of a 20 MW module assembly plant at Wrexham in North Wales by Sharp, and a 6 MW glass/ glass lamination plant at Consett, County Durham by Romag. Both of these plants are expected to be in production by Spring 2004. Several roof tile products are under development, as well as roof mounting and cladding systems.
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Market Development

Fig. 3 - 99 kWp roof-mounted system on housing estate in Woking, Surrey.

By 31 December 2002, the totalled installed PV capacity in the UK was 4 136 MW, of which 3 568 kW (86 %) was on-grid distributed. This represents a 50 % increase over the previous year. This is expected to increase to around 6MW by the end of 2003, due primarily to commissioning of installations under the Field Trials and Major Demonstration Programme. Solar Century, a solar solutions company has been very successful in building new business although BP Solar remains responsible for the lion’s share of installations. Other significant installers are PV Facades, PV Systems, Sundog and Solar Energy Installations.
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Future Outlook

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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