Ambitious Labour Party plans to install solar on 1.75 million homes in the UK have been strongly welcomed by the country’s domestic solar industry.
Last week Labour outlined proposals which would effectively treble the number of domestic solar installs in the UK.
Those proposals, while vague and devoid of detail as they stand, have been strongly welcomed by the industry.
Neil Perry, CFO at industry stalwart Solarcentury, highlighted how Labour was throwing its weight behind the solar industry at a critical time given the country’s ambition for a zero carbon future.
“Financing the upfront cost of residential solar has always been a barrier to solar power adoption, so Labour’s plan to offer interest free loans to encourage take up is particularly welcomed by us.
“The plans are ambitious in terms of costing and scale, but this is the time to be bold in adopting renewable energy and moving towards a greener way of living… This move from the Labour Party is the leadership we need on renewables as we work towards a future where the majority of the world is powered by clean, solar electricity by 2030,” he said.
Meanwhile Nina Skorupska, chief executive at the Renewable Energy Association, highlighted the “positive ambition” that Labour had afforded solar.
“Solar is one of the cheapest forms of energy. After years of damaging policies we would welcome the kick start to an industry that was thriving three years ago,” she added.
A critical component of the proposals is the installation of solar on 1 million council homes, saving residents an average of £117 on their energy bills each year.
Solarplicity is currently embarking on a major rollout of solar on council-owned properties and David Elbourne, chief executive at Solarplicity, challenged political parties in the UK to support its initiative.
“This programme has been implemented without any government subsidy or grants, and no support from any political party. We don’t just talk about our ideas we put them into action, and we are challenging the UK political parties to get behind our scheme.”