How Solar Energy Fits Into the UK’s Energy Policy
Very simply, the UK Energy Policy has four main goals and solar energy can help the nation achieve each goal. First, the UK wants to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050. The generation of solar energy has no carbon dioxide emissions. Homeowners who have electricity generating solar panels installed on their roofs typically get 40% of their electricity supplied by these panels.
Second,the UK wants to maintain reliable energy supplies. The sun will certainly be in the sky well after 2050 providing, clean solar energy, barring some cataclysmic event in the universe. Should the sun explode, the question of energy supply would be a mote point
Next, the UK wants to promote competitive renewable energy markets in the UK and they have done so with the Feed-in tariff which prompted manufacturers to ramp up production ODF solar panels for homeowners looking to take advantage of the tariff.
Last, the stated goal of the UK government is to ensure that every home can afford heat. The use of solar panels to generate electricity required an investment in the panels and installation but the the heat is free for the life of the panels which is approximately 25 years. Homes which use electric heat and solar panels can cut their heating bills by 40%. No electricity generated by fossil fuel fits so nicely into the energy plan.