PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Solar Power (16 January 2020)

Low carbon electricity, including solar – whether at the household level or the national level – is central to the transition to the smart and flexible energy systems of the future.

Since 2010, we have quadrupled the electricity we generate from renewables – installing 99% of the UK’s solar capacity and over 800,000 installations – exceeding our historic projections on solar PV deployment. We now have over 13.3GW of solar capacity installed in the UK, which is enough to power over 3 million UK homes.

The Smart Export Guarantee, which came into force on 1 January 2020, gives small scale low-carbon electricity generators, such as homes with solar panels, the right to be paid for the renewable electricity they export to the grid. Renewable generators now have a several competitive tariffs to choose from, in some cases even higher than the FIT export tariff.

Permitted development rights have been introduced allowing the installation of solar panels up to 1 megawatt on domestic properties, schools, businesses and farm buildings without any need for planning permission.