South West tops the leader board for solar

Latest Ofgem figures reveal that over the last year the south west has topped the league table for households installing solar panels, with more than 15,000 confirmed installations and around 57 MW installed capacity.

This compares to the next closest region, the south east with 13,000 followed by the east midlands with just over 12,000 installations.

In the last year Bristol and the surrounding areas alone contributed around 3,000 installations, about 10 MW of installed capacity, testament to the high uptake of green energy in the region.

The south west also tops the leader board for domestic solar PV installations since the government’s ‘feed-in-tariff’ incentive was introduced in 2011, with nearly 65,000 PV systems on homes compared to the south east (circa 55,000) and the next highest overall, the east of England with about 40,000.

Merlin Hyman, chief executive of Regen SW, said: “Householders in the south west have embraced the potential of solar energy to turn their energy bills into an income – as well as move to clean green power. As prices have come down many more could benefit from solar and other renewables.”

Kerry Burns of Bristol Solar City said: “If you live or do business in the south west, you really couldn’t be in a better place to take advantage of solar energy. Solar electricity continues to make fantastic sense, with low installation prices and steady government ‘feed-in-tariff’ payments meaning that PV is a great investment with an 8-15 per cent rate of return.”

The government has given the sector a further boost recently announcing a double grant for solar thermal systems via the Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme, equating to £600 off the purchase price for households.

The public and local businesses have two opportunities coming up in the region to learn more about the exciting opportunities surrounding energy efficiency technologies: 

• Renewable Energy Marketplace, organised by Regen SW: 18 June at the Bournemouth International Centre - an opportunity to meet a range of installers and attend the the “What next for Solar” seminar. For more information please visit http://regensw.co.uk/renewable-energy-marketplace or contact the Regen SW team on 01392 494399.
• The Bristol Solar City weekend-long launch: 21-23 June at College Green, Bristol. This FREE solar-powered event will showcase some of the best solar installers working in our region, future technologies and community projects as well as music, demonstrations and workshops. It forms part of the Bristol Big Green Week and will be formally launched by Mayor George Ferguson on Friday 21 June, appropriately the Summer Solstice! For more information please visit www.bristolsolarcity.com