12 December 2006
Consecutive price rises in the domestic energy sector could provide the solar industry with the boost it has been looking for in the UK market, according to solar industry market analysts.
Soaring electricity tariffs combined with a reduction in solar power costs could lead many consumers to go green and save money by investing in a solar panel for their electricity needs, pulling the UK's energy production into the 21st Century.
Previously, the UK lagged behind its continental counterparts, such as Germany, where there is a healthy market for solar energy. Stephen Temple from ENF remarked: "A deep shadow has lain over the UK solar market in stark contrast to the German market, where growth in the solar PV market has been spectacular.
"The quite remarkable thing is how a very bleak UK story has been gradually transformed to a more encouraging picture, almost without anyone noticing it."
Consumers are likely to approve of the fact that they can sell any excess energy their panels create back to the energy companies, meaning that they will not only being saving money and producing less carbon, but also making a little cash on the side with relatively little effort.
"The UK has three key challenges," says Mr Temple: "The red tape needs to be slashed, there is still some ground to make up on the incentives and the local distribution industry needs better scale economies. Get these things right and a UK installed base of over one gigawatt (GW) peak of solar energy by 2015 becomes a real possibility".
Making small changes to your gas and electricity use can help save the planet and save you money too. Read tips on how to be more energy efficientRead tips on energy efficiency and see if you can Save by switching your gas and electricity supplier by using uSwitch.com's free and impartial comparison and switching service.