Scotland's solar power capacity increases by nearly a third
The Scottish Government has said it will continue to encourage solar power north of the border. The reassurance came as a result of WWF Scotland, Lightsource Renewable Energy and Solar Trade Association publishing figures showing the total installed capacity of solar photo-voltaic systems in Scotland had reached 140 Megawatts. This is a rise of 32% on last year.
The group has said that the installations would prevent thousands of tonnes of climate-damaging carbon dioxide from being emitted every year.
The published figures reveal the following:
1. Scotland’s installed solar PV capacity is now 140MW. This is an increase of 34MW (32%) on the same time last year and rise of 138MW (+6900%) since 2010.
2. Over 35,000 homes and 600 business premises in Scotland now have solar PV arrays fitted.
3. ??During the year, the total installed solar PV capacity on homes was in excess of 100MW (126MW).
WWF Scotland Director, Lang Banks said:
“The total installed solar capacity may be small when compared to wind energy, but together these solar panels are helping to prevent thousands of tonnes of climate-damaging emissions being emitted every year. The great thing about solar is that it can deployed easily and quickly in towns and cities or in places not suitable for wind turbines. Solar is also complimentary to wind and can share sites and grid connections.”
“Alongside energy saving measures, renewable energy technologies like solar and wind will be important to enabling Scotland meet its climate change targets. We call upon the Scottish Government to do all that it can to help ensure Scotland switches on to the full potential of solar power.”
Nick Boyle, CEO at Lightsource Renewable Energy added:
“Advances in solar PV technology have seen increased efficiency of panels and reductions in manufacturing costs, making solar PV a viable power source to add to Scotland’s overall energy mix. Lightsource has already identified around 70 potential sites for ground-mounted solar PV farms in Scotland, as well as opportunity for commercial and domestic rooftop solar PV systems.”
“To ensure Scotland has opportunity to benefit from solar energy as the rest of the UK has, we need Scottish Ministers to use whatever powers are at their disposal to influence energy policy in support of solar technology deployment.”??
Leonie Greene of the Solar Trade Association said:
“Nearly 600,000 households have gone solar across the UK of which 5% are in Scotland. But, we’d like to see Scotland fully share in the many benefits solar can provide.??"The Scottish Government has provided world class leadership on renewable energy so we urge them to throw their weight behind solar too. No other energy technology has delivered the scale of cost reductions seen in solar and no other technology has empowered such vast numbers of everyday people to take control of their power supply. It is vital to retain this momentum.”??