Transforming Scotland with Solar Energy

“A Solar Vision for Scotland”

Neil Robertson

University of Edinburgh and SISER Director

Scottish Universities Insight Institute

The Vision Document

Builds on the October 2013 workshop at SUII, feedback on drafts, other information gathering and some data analysis.

– The scale of solar in Scotland– The benefits (environmental, economic and social)– The barriers– The cooperation and actions needed

Download from www.siser.ac.uk

Presenting the Vision

10.45 – 11.15 Solar Energy Vision for Scotland Neil Robertson, School of Chemistry at The University of Edinburgh and Director of SISER

11.15 – 11.35 The Business Picture – Scotland in the UK, EU and Global Context

Finlay Colville, Solarbuzz 11.35 – 11.55 Solar opportunities and socio-economic impact in cities and

rural communities - e.g. fuel poverty, public and community-owned asserts etc.Colin Porteous, Mackintosh School of Architecture, The Glasgow School of Art

11.55 – 12.15 Questions and DiscussionChair: Iain Weir, Optimat

12.15 – 13.30 Lunch and networking

2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland:

Oct 2012 – no strategy for solar !!

Dec 2013 – Solar sectoral routemap update

Solar energy is coming to Scotland in a large way whether we realise it or not.

Can we properly plan for this to maximise the benefits to meet renewables targets, provide business opportunities within Scotland, to generate IP in new technologies, to address fuel poverty, community sustainability and security of supply.

We believe that these can be achieved through concerted action by government, industry and academia.

Solar Likely To Become Dominant Source Of Electricity Globally By 2050, IEA Forecasts

Trends in PV Module Costs

SUII Project – original objectives

• We will bring together stakeholders from business, the science community, local and national government, Scottish Enterprise, international experts and experts from complementary renewables.

• A workshop in October will probe ways solar energy can transform Scotland.

• A period of data analysis on the resource will add solid numbers to the debate.

• A 2nd workshop in May will deliver a Vision report to maximise the impact of solar in business opportunities, social change, renewables targets and intellectual property within Scotland.

Solar energy can deliver a substantial contribution to Scottish

renewable energy generation and will be a key contributor in delivering

“nearly zero” energy buildings and addressing fuel poverty.

Scotland’s irradiation levels are about 80% those of Northern Germany or southern UK, although higher where most people live.

Source: Burnett (2011) based on UK Met Office

Comparison for domestic PV across the UK, benchmarking predicted annual yield for a typical domestic installation in 18 UK locations (SISER).

Each house is over 80% electricity neutral

It is estimated that an average sized solar thermal roof mounted array in Scotland can provide 40-50% of the annual hot water requirements for a family home, and up to 100% of summer requirements.

Conservative estimate – installed capacity of around 7 GW of domestic and non-domestic rooftop solar PV is technically feasible in Scotland. Generating around 5.6 TWh per year, this would cover approximately one-sixth of Scotland’s electricity demand (SISER).

The Committee on Climate Change

• Estimated around 900 000 households in Scotland in fuel poverty: evidence that fuel poverty in Dundee can be totally eliminated using solar energy technologies

• National and EU policy on sustainable buildings

• FiT, ROC, RHI driving growth

• UK target suggests Scottish PV should grow from 116 to 860 MW by 2020 (1500-2000 installation jobs), or with per capita catch up to around 1.7 GW

Other examples and drivers…

• A review of 122 social housing tenants, over 100 of which were in Scotland, which highlighted that solar PV “can make a valuable contribution to reducing social housing tenants’ fuel bills and alleviating fuel poverty”

• Fully integrated solar PV installation at Fife Housing Innovation Showcase: 2016 zero carbon Scottish Building standard could be achieved using PV roof tiles

• Sporsnis Community project on Isle of Lewis where the output over a four year period demonstrated its efficacy.

Actions

• Developing a common vision

• Encouraging short term adoption

• Integrating solar in the wider Scottish renewables strategy

• Developing sustainable buildings

• Monitoring progress and assessing impact

• Developing a longer term road-map

Responsibility – government, academia, industry

Developing a Common Vision

• Recognise the huge growth anticipated over the period to 2020 under the current incentive regimes (FiT, RHI and ROCs).

• Plan to maximise Scottish benefits (including jobs, zero-carbon buildings, social returns in cities and rural communities, novel products and niche IP).

• Define and confirm an action plan to achieve these• Identify Scotland’s “solar champion”• Establish a leadership group

A Solar Vision for Scotland

“We will bring together stakeholders from business, the science community, local and national government, Scottish Enterprise, international experts and experts from complementary renewables.”

– The scale of solar in Scotland– The benefits (environmental, economic and social)– The barriers– The cooperation and actions needed

Download from www.siser.ac.uk

Scottish Universities Insight Institute

Solar energy can deliver a substantial contribution to Scottish

renewable energy generation and will be a key contributor in delivering

“nearly zero” energy buildings and addressing fuel poverty.

Conservative estimate – installed capacity of around 7 GW of domestic and non-domestic rooftop solar PV is technically feasible in Scotland. Generating around 5.6 TWh per year, this would cover approximately one-sixth of Scotland’s electricity demand (SISER).

The Committee on Climate Change

Developing a Common Vision• Recognise the huge growth anticipated over the period

to 2020 under the current incentive regimes (FiT, RHI and ROCs).

• Plan to maximise Scottish benefits (including jobs, zero-carbon buildings, social returns in cities and rural communities, novel products and niche IP).

• Define and confirm an action plan to achieve these• Identify Scotland’s “solar champion”• Establish a leadership group

Responsibility – government, academia, industry