Solar generation is surging as a new record for solar is forecasted as Britain is heading to generate record levels of solar power this summer, according to expert forecasts, as the government plans to triple the country’s solar energy capacity by the end of the decade The Guardian reports.
Despite a relatively dull summer solar generation is surging with power output between June and August is likely to climb by almost a quarter compared with the same period last year. The forecasts, compiled for the Guardian by the energy market data company ICIS, show solar power output climbing 16% above the previous summer record from 2022.Solar power generation in the meteorological summer (which begins on 1 June; and ends on 31 August) is likely to reach 5.86 terawatt hours * by the end of August. Even with an overcast Summer, it is still possible to generate significant solar power during the months with more daylight hours. The photovoltaic cells in solar panels do not need direct sunlight to operate they work even on cloudy days.
Britain’s solar generation is on track to increase further in future after the Labour government approved three major solar farms in the east of England within weeks of coming to power. The previous government had blocked the projects because of local opposition.The Guardian goes on to report that the government is expected to make another decision within weeks on whether to ignore local opposition by approving Britain’s biggest solar farm at Cottam on the Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire border. It would cover an area eight times the size of Hyde Park in central London.The government has also promised that millions more homes will be fitted with solar panels in order to bring down domestic energy bills and help meet its manifesto pledge to make the UK ‘a clean energy superpower’.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “solar power is at the heart of our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower and more energy independent. In one week, the energy secretary consented to more solar power than has been installed in the past year and more widely, we are going further and faster with a solar rooftop revolution to ensure new homes are fit for a net zero future.”
* A terawatt-hour (TWh) is a unit of energy that is equal to 10 raised to the power of 12 watt-hours. It is also equal to 1,000,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) or 1,000,000,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh). Terawatt-hours are used in measuring quantities of electricity or heat produce and is commonly used for large amounts of electrical energy for easier understanding in a practical context.