The Solar Trade Association has rebranded to Solar Energy UK this year to reflect the “new era of solar in the UK”, with plans for increased member activity as well as striving for a target of 40GW installed capacity in the country by 2030. We caught up with chief executive Chris Hewett to find out what the trade body has in store for 2021.
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The Solar Trade Associations Jonathan Selwyn takes a look at solar in 2020, the challenges but also the resilience and the optimism going into 2021.
Modelling as part of the government’s long-awaited energy white paper shows that between 80-120GW of new solar could be needed by 2050 in higher scenarios.
To help drive decarbonisation in the UK, the government has committed to publishing a Net Zero Strategy.
The Solar Trade Association (STA) has teamed up with techUK and Renewable UK to help encourage power purchase agreements (PPAs) to help stimulate the UK’s renewable generation.
Solar projects have been granted a further six months to complete and register under the feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme due to the long-lasting impacts of COVID-19.
UK energy trade bodies – including the Solar Trade Association and Regen – are calling on the Treasury to implement tax relief for clean energy technologies.
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Ministers have passed secondary legislation to allow battery storage to bypass the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project process in Britain.
The Solar Trade Association (STA) has released a new report detailing how mass adoption of residential solar, storage and smart controls could completely remove the evening peak.
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The Solar Trade Association (STA) has called on the UK government to target 40GW of solar capacity by 2030.
Solar Power Portal chatted to Richard Palmer, a senior consultant at independent power and energy consultancy Roadnight Taylor about what needs to change to make business rates work for solar.
Low-carbon infrastructure must be at the heart of the COVID-19 recovery to provide jobs and economic security, with fairness embedded throughout.
UK solar has smashed generation records, hitting a peak of 9.68GW this week.
Now as we approach one year on, Solar Power Portal had a chat with Solar Trade Association CEO Chris Hewett about how the industry has fared in the post FiT world.
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The solar sector will face significant challenges due to the global pandemic COVID-19, as the challenges shift from manufacturing to logistics and demand.
Solar is once again absent from the Budget as nuclear fusion and carbon capture technologies receive funding boosts.
Exemption from business rates, fair tax treatment and zero-interest loans for green home improvements are needed to unlock the potential of solar power in the UK.
German supermarket chain Lidl has seen its business rates soar by 528% due to changes in the valuation of solar installations at its sites.
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The number of jobs in the solar sector has dropped "disappointingly" since 2015, according figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show.
The Solar Trade Association (STA) is joining forces with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) for a new offering.
The Solar Trade Association today paid testament to Léonie Greene after it was announced she would be standing down from the trade body after more than eight years.
Solar has continued to be the most popular renewable technology with the public as of September 2019, a factor which must be considered by any prospective government the industry has said.
Solar could play a pivotal role in the government’s proposed Future Homes Standard, with a more ambitious option for carbon emission reductions in new build housing preferred.
Solar is “ready to deliver” in the transition to a net zero future but the Labour Party is facing a “considerable challenge” in its proposed target of net zero by 2030.
The solar industry has hit back at official government deployment statistics, arguing that without an improved collation system they have become “meaningless”.
Solar will face the “greatest potential impact” from new proposals by Ofgem to apply fixed residual charges to all final demand users and end the Embedded Benefits for smaller generators under its Targeted Charging Review (TCR).
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As the tariff and potentially export payment regimes comes to an end, never before has it been more important to look at alternative means to ensure rooftop solar continues to play a part in national decarbonisation. However, international comparisons raised at an event yesterday demonstrate how more needs to be done to move the conversation on from tariffs to planning, with the government far from off the hook.
UK solar industry stalwart Ray Noble has been recognised within the Queen’s birthday honours list, leading a crowd of renewables advocates to have received honours this weekend.
Ongoing frustration with national solar policy has allowed local authorities and regional government to take the lead in UK solar deployment, the Solar Trade Association has said in a new report.
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is calling on the sector to engage with the development of business rates that will be applied to energy storage projects in 2022, including those attached to subsidy-free solar farms.