Every UK Commercial Rooftop To Be Solar By 2018?
An industry expert has predicted that Solar PV will be on virtually every commercial rooftop in the UK within five years. Mariano Costa, Business Development Director of Renewable Resources (Energy Solutions) Ltd, made the claim following a recent report from the Committee on Climate Change highlighting that investing in renewable energy would eventually lead to substantial savings.
Simultaneously the UK's Energy Bill, aimed at addressing the issues of security of energy supply in the immediate future, and the need to invest in renewables for long-term energy generation, passed through the House of Commons with an overwhelming majority. The Bill will now make its way through the House of Lords.
Mr Costa told delegates at the recent Sika Trocal conference it was inevitable that UK companies would soon realise the economic benefits of solar with dramatic price reductions and the incontrovertible evidence that cost-effective, clean, home-produced energy lay on their doorstep.
He said: "Solar PV in the future will be a common reality. From an economic standpoint alone solar will be the most affordable form of power in large parts of the world within a few years. Couple that with the environmental benefits and the associated corporate social responsibility kudos and the switch to solar will be a no-brainer. A crucial factor also is the UK's Energy Security which solar can ensure as domestic fossil fuels decline. I am convinced that Solar PV will be on virtually every commercial roof in the UK by 2018.
"Furthermore I will offer a challenge to every commercial rooftop owner or tenant in the UK to run a desktop analysis on their property, and I will prove to them that they will financially benefit in savings and/or less expensive electricity."
Mr Costa said claims, propagated largely by traditional utility companies that renewables were very expensive, were starting to fall on deaf ears as the smoke and mirrors of subsidies and false costs were being exposed.
"For an industry which was once derided as having "˜pie in the sky' economics many PV projects are now bearing fruit with a high number in the 5 to 7-year payback timeframe, depending on the location of the building.
"Solar power is almost at the point where it can compete on a level playing field with conventional energy and shortly it will leave it trailing in its wake. Countries such as Germany have taken the lead and they are really reaping the benefits of their faith in solar. Europe's largest economy now gets a quarter of its electricity from renewables. We should take a leaf out of their book and I think that industry will lead the way. Once companies invest in Solar PV - and they will - the rest of the country will follow suit.
"A massive increase in global production has meant that solar power has dropped dramatically in price, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many things happening. The UK is one of 10 founding countries who have established the Renewables Club, a political group intended to help scale-up the deployment of renewable energy worldwide.
"Among other things it will promote renewable energy as one of the important elements of energy security, economic prosperity and sustainable development. We are also thriving in spite of serious undercutting from countries such as China and it is positive that the EC is imposing anti-dumping tariffs on their economy".
New figures had in turn revealed that the UK was Europe's strongest market for large-scale solar installations and the UK large-scale market was set to continue its expansion this year and beyond, he added.
Mr Costa, a specialist in both renewable energy and solar photovoltaic fields, was Corporate Accounts Manager (UK and Spain) at Sunpower Corporation, prior to his appointment at Renewable Resources this year. Before that he was Country Manager UK and Ireland, Spain/Portugal for Solyndra and has also worked in a wide range of roles with companies such as Kimberly Clark and Avnet across the US, South America and Europe.
