UK Reaches 300,000 Solar Installations

Online, April 17, 2012 (Newswire.com) - There have been enough domestic solar photovoltaic systems installed over the last 2 years to replace a Nuclear power station.

According to the Department of Energy and Climate Change April 2012 recently released figures there have been 300,000 solar photovoltaic installations on homes in the UK over the past 2 years. The figure includes solar PV systems up to a 4kWh capacity but does not include the larger commercial sized installations.

With domestic rooftop panels alone this gives the UK a capacity of 846MW which is equal to two Magnox type Nuclear power stations or nearly the equivalent of the UK's most modern reactor, Sizewell B.

Solar gained popularity in the UK after the introduction of the feed-in tariff in 2010 where homeowners receive tariff payments for all the green electricity their panels produce.

Solar panels on homes now cover the equivalent area of over 1,000 football pitches.

Whilst a majority of these installations are from private households buying their own systems free solar panels provider A Shade Greener http://ashadegreener.co.uk estimates that as many as 50,000 of these installations have been installed under the rent a roof scheme.

Stewart Davies, Director of A Shade Greener states:

"We have installed over 7,000 free systems and estimate there could be as many as 50,000 free systems in total if you combine the installs from all the other providers over the last two years."

Other estimates include that of BPVA Chairman Reza Shaybani who estimates a lower figure of 30,000 homes under the rent a roof scheme.

Home solar photovoltaic installations reach 300,000 in the UK. Domestic solar now provides 846MW capacity, enough to displace a nuclear power station. The total amount of solar capacity including the larger commercial plants takes the UK's total solar photovoltaic capacity to well over a gigawatt. This is potentially enough to power 700,000 homes in the UK.