SolarPV set to prosper without subsidy in UK
Solar power will prosper without subsidies in the UK as early as 2020, especially in the commercial rooftop market, according to a report* that uses the experience of Germany to project the outlook for solar costs in Britain and impacts on utilities. During 2015, solarPV will overtake both gas and coal to become the number-one power-generation technology in terms of annual installations.
Solar-hardware costs have fallen relentlessly over the last decade, recalling the semi-conductor industry. The British market will also benefit from a maturing supply chain, which will see the costs of full systems converge with those in Germany.
‘The notion that solar is expensive is over,’ said Guido Axmann, co-founder of THEM1, a Berlin-based think-tank which supported the report and its cost projection based on the German market. The report was written in the context of Britain’s plan to force large-scale solar to compete with onshore wind for a smaller pot of support.
The report suggests that solar power would become competitive without subsidies as soon as 2020 in the British commercial rooftop market — including schools and offices. The domestic rooftop and large-scale solar markets would also become economic within the next 10 years.
Among policy recommendations in the report is: ‘Solar PV will be a critical technology in the 21st century. The British Government should continue to support the industry until it is fully economic, under a regime of progressive, predictable reduction in support.’
*See link below
