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Liam Stoker looks back at the contributing factors to UK solar’s record-breaking half-hour last Friday as the industry sets its sights on further landmarks to come this summer.

Solar farms on the Isle of Wight are set for a summer of rolling constraint periods while Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) and National Grid conduct work on the island’s infrastructure, SPP can reveal.

The UK’s energy market is braced for a potential new record for solar generation this weekend as industry professionals raise the prospect of negative pricing.

Western Power Distribution (WPD) has launched a consultation seeking views on the potential growth of energy storage on its distribution network after receiving an ‘unprecedented’ 8GW of applications in the last 18 months.

Any failure of the UK’s energy market to embrace the “rapidly changing” nature of generation and demand will lead to “intolerable outcomes” such as blackouts and brownouts, a new report from think-tank Green Alliance has warned.

The UK’s suite of renewables set new records last weekend as the country basked in unseasonably bright conditions for much of Sunday.

UK electricity prices tumbled last month as the peak-flattening effect of the country’s solar capacity occurred earlier than usual, according to monitoring and data firm S&P Global Platts.

Transmission system demand on Saturday afternoon dipped below overnight demand for the first time in the UK’s history, with increased solar generation the root cause.

Trade associations have warned that small-scale renewables are once again “in the firing line” with proposed reforms to embedded benefits.

Ofgem and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) are planning to publish their response to the smart power call for evidence (CFE) in late May or early June, according to the regulator’s Andrew Burgess.