A leading figure in the solar industry has called for the “right support and financial” mechanism to encourage the growth of solar-powered heating systems.
Speaking at the New Energy Focus Renewable Heat conference in London on Thursday, Solar Trade Association chairman Howard Johns said that solar thermal technology was “ready to go”, but was waiting for government support.
“Solar thermal is ready to go, what we need now is the right support and financial mechanisms behind the industry to really get that out there,” he said.
Mr Johns, who is also managing director of solar installation company Southern Solar, highlighted the potential of solar thermal district heating to provide 9% of the UK’s renewable energy mix by 2020.
However, although the government is looking to provide a Renewable Heat Incentive from 2011 to subsidised the technology, the Solar Trade Association chairman said there were many uncertainties to come before such measures arrive.
He said: “This is where we could go if the heat incentive or other support mechanism comes in to place, bearing in mind there’s potentially going to be a change of government in between the feed in tariff coming in and the heat incentive coming in.”
District heating
Highlighting the possibilities of solar power, Mr Johns showed delegates a picture of a solar field, or large out-of-town array, which in Germany is being used to fuel a district heating alongside a biomass boiler.
“In Europe, they’re doing things quite differently,” he said. “You actually get more energy out of a field full of solar panels than you do from a field full of biomass. In this case they’ve got a biomass district heating system and a solar thermal district heating system all plugged in to that town. No-one’s done that in the UK yet, but hopefully if the incentives are right, they will be doing it.”
During his presentation, Mr Johns highlighted the fact that solar thermal technology was both low cost and versatile.
“Solar thermal fits on most houses and it is simple,” he said. “And it can be easily retrofitted, which is very good considering that in 2050 70% of our housing stock will have already been built.”
He also emphasised that in the UK solar thermal could provide most, if not all, of a household’s heating from April to September.
Source - New Energy Focus
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